📣📣Giveaway Alert!!!!📣📣  

We're giving away two tickets to Toronto's Immersive Van Gogh exhibit! If YOU want a chance to win tickets to exhibit, all you need to do are follow these three steps! 

 1) Make sure you're following us on Instagram! (@theatreinsomnia)  

2) Give our latest IGTV video a like! 

3) Comment on the video tagging the person you'll bring with you if you win!   

That's it! Contest closes at 6 pm on Saturday, July 18th and a winner will be selected and random and contacted via DM on Sunday, July 19th.   

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On today's episode of Artists at Home, we're chatting with Valeriy Kostyuk, Assistant Producer at Starvox Entertainment and Associate Producer at Theaturtle, about Toronto's new Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit! Val walks us through the process of bringing this exhibit to Toronto, how they adapted it with social distancing in mind, and how this exhibit created tons of jobs for people who may be facing financial hardship caused by COVID-19. Whether on foot or in the comfort of your car, this is an experience you won't want to miss!

In this episode, we take a look at the challenges comedians are facing during quarantine with comedian Amanda Custodio. She walks us through what it's like doing stand up comedy on Zoom - the ups and the downs - and how her artistic process has changed due to the pandemic. 

 Amanda Custodio is a comedian born and raised in Toronto, ON. Before Comedy, she pursued Theatre and obtained a degree in Theatre with a specialization in playwriting. Following that she trained at the second city Toronto, working with comics Todd Van Allen and Jim McAleese to name a few. Last year she was a quarter-finalist in Toronto’s Annual Comedy Brawl and has performed at big venues such as Absolute Comedy and Comedy Bar. Prior to the COVID-19 epidemic, she started running a show at the Social Capital theatre called “the Amanda show: a comedy/variety show.” She has continued to run this show online since on zoom, as well as a personalized birthday roast, and “It’s gonna be May,” a show revolved around the “it’s gonna be May,” meme of Justin Timberlake we all love.  Follow Amanda on Instagram to hear more about her stand up @amandacustodio.comedian

In this episode, we're chatting with professional guitarist and freelance musician Dave Kirby about everything from teaching guitar online, to the Ramone's show they worked on together and Charlie Puth. Their conversation was too long for IGTV, but check out our podcast (available now on Apple Podcasts and coming soon to Spotify and Google) for the full interview! Link in our bio!  Dave Kirby is a professional touring guitarist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  As a freelance musician and sideman, Dave has been involved in countless projects but has carved out a reputation for himself in the country music scene.  Dave has played for Madeline Merlo, Shawn Austin, Kira Isabella, Alli Walker, Kentucky Rails, and many more.  Recently, Dave has launched a comprehensive online guitar program called String Theory Online Guitar Courses that teaches guitarists of any level the foundational principles of music theory and improvisation as it applies to the guitar.  Whether you are new to the guitar, or you’re already well on your way, Dave’s online guitar courses will push your guitar playing to the next level.  Learn more about Dave’s online guitar courses at www.davekirbymusic.com, and follow him on Instagram @davekirbymusic.

Today, Wendel Wray is back to chat with the amazing Chi-Chi Onuah about her blog and podcast, Northern Roots Canada, as well as auditioning in New York, and the importance of creating safe spaces in theatre.

Chi-Chi Onuah is a Toronto-based actress with a BA in Devised Theatre from York University. She is the creator of Northern Roots Canada, an artist lifestyle blog and podcast that shines the spotlight on Canadian artists, both at home and abroad.

In her downtime, she enjoys finding new horror films to watch and daydreaming about her next getaway.

Follow her on social media to stay up-to-date with Northern Roots Canada and more!

Instagram: @chichi.onuah

Twitter: @chichionuah

Today, our Artistic Director, Ashley Elliott, sits down with Nightwood Theatre's Director of Development, Victoria Laberge, to talk about their Lawyer show on June 18th, and how it's gone virtual this year!

Victoria Laberge is a Toronto-based arts administrator originally from Montreal. In addition to her role as the Director of Development for Nightwood Theatre, Canada’s flagship feminist theatre company since 1979, she also serves as the Publicist for Sex T-Rex Comedy and as the Marketing Coordinator for Puppetmongers Theatre. She was a Co-Producer of the award-winning People Suck in 2015 (Best of Fringe, Toronto Fringe Festival), Morro and Jasp: Save The Date for the 2020 Next Stage Theatre Festival, and of Confabulation Storytelling from 2016-2019. As a freelance publicist, Victoria has had the honour of working on such productions as Theatre Inamorata’s Gray; Cue6 Theatre’s Dry Land (One of the 10 best theatre productions of 2018, The Globe and Mail); Dive Bar Theatre’s Lighters in the Air (Outstanding Production of the 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival, NOW Magazine); and Scantily Glad Theatre’s Pack Animals. Victoria has served on the jury of the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival since 2018. In 2019, she received the My Entertainment World Honourary Critics’ Pick Award for Publicity.

We kick things off with Theatre Insomnia's Managing Director, Wendel Wray, chatting with guest Emily Dix about everything from Zoom performances to making fake food with a three-year-old!

Emily Dix is a Toronto based theatre artist and photographer. She has been directing, producing and designing for theatre for over 10 years, and is the Artistic Executive Director of Bygone Theatre. She currently works as the AXTP Producer for Crow's Theatre. Recently, she launched a new initiative, the Toronto Independent Theatre Coalition (TITC) which she runs as Founder and Executive Director. She also works as a freelance photographer, specializing in theatre and live events.