
We’re bringing Central Perk to you! Enjoy a tasty beverage, something sweet and a few performances to start off your week. Winters Café is here and we’re providing you with a cozy environment to chill out and listen to a variety of performers: musicians, comedians, playwrights, poets – you name it!
Interested in performing? Email us at wcmaster@yorku.ca or drop-in to the Office of the Head (121), or the Junior Common Room (012), Winters College and sign-up. Drop-in performances are also allowed if there are open spots!
50 years since its founding, Theatre @ York opens the 2018-2019 season with the premiere of rochdale, a new play by David Yee under the direction of Nina Lee Aquino, featuring the fourth-year acting ensemble.
Opened in 1968, Rochdale College was an experiment in student-run alternative education and co-operative living. The project ultimately failed when it could not cover its financing and neighbours complained that it had become a haven for drugs and crime.
“We are delighted to open our season with a new Canadian play that embraces the same spirit of experimentation and social advocacy that guided the founding of the Department of Theatre at York 50 years ago,” commented department chair Marlis Schweitzer. David Yee and Nina Lee Aquino have collaborated on a play that not only gives voice to the youth, energy, and passion of the 1960s but also resonates with students today. We are incredibly fortunate to have such Canadian innovators kick off this season, as we reflect on the past 50 years and look ahead to the future.”
David Yee is a Canadian actor, playwright and the artistic director of fu-Gen Theatre Company. His play carried away on the crest of a wave won the 2015 Governor General Award.
Nina Lee Aquino is an award-winning director and dramaturge, and the Artistic Director of Factory Theatre. She is committed to the development of new works, and to the manifestation of interculturalism in theatre.
Performance Schedule:
7:30 p.m. on November 17, 19-23
1:00 p.m. on November 21 & 23
2 p.m. on November 24
Tickets $7- 20
Online Box Office or call 416-736-5888

We are excited to bring you a new tradition to celebrate the end of a semester, and another year. The first ever “Winters Frolic” at Winters College, with a theme of “Havana Nights”! A formal dinner party event where Cuban-inspired dinner and drinks will be served along with exciting performances by both musicians and dancers. We will be raffling away fantastic prizes, with all proceeds going towards our Winters College student scholarships and funds. Follow us on Instagram: @WintersCollege for a sneak peek of the big day and the prizes we will be raffling off!
Catch a rising wave of electrifying film talent!
Now in its 16th year, CineSiege presents a collection of short films – riveting fiction, cutting-edge alternative works and provocative documentaries – selected by leading lights of Canadian film and media culture.
Screening one night only, this juried showcase features the best productions created in 2018-2019 by undergraduate students in York University’s Department of Cinema & Media Arts. The films selected for CineSiege 2018 were chosen from a shortlist, culled from 186 productions made last year.
The nominees were reviewed by five jurors: Adam Cook, Elise Cousineau, Debbie Ebanks Schlums, Peter Mohan and Myrocia Watamaniuk. The jury picked the productions to be shown at CineSiege, with “best of” awards for each genre and craft area (directing and screenwriting, cinematography, production design, and editing and sound).
The best first year film was selected by the Department’s Production Committee. The best second year films were selected by the second year students through anonymous vote.
Jurors will be in attendance at CineSiege to introduce the winning films and explain why they were selected.
CineSiege is made possible through the generous support of
Theatre @ York presents Middletown by Will Eno, featuring the acting students in the MFA program and directed by the esteemed Jackie Maxwell.
Lives of the inhabitants of Middletown transect in an emotional journey that takes them from the local library to outer space and beyond. The moving and funny play emerges as a meditation on loneliness, birth, death, and the anxieties of our contemporary lives.
Performance Schedule:
Thursday, January 24 7:30pm Opening
Friday, January 25 2pm & 7:30pm
Saturday, January 26, 2pm
Theatre @ York presents Orlando by Sarah Ruhl, directed by MFA candidate Lindsay Bell and The Balcony by Jean Genet, directed by MFA candidate Margaret Legere. The two shows will be performed in repertory and feature the MFA and fourth-year actors.
Orlando is a dramatic adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s feminist classic by contemporary playwright Sarah Ruhl. It investigates the adventures of a poet who changes sex from man to woman and lives for centuries, meeting the key figures of English literary history.
The Balcony uses the setting of an unnamed city and a distant background of a revolution and counterrevolution to explore strains of power in a society. The play compelling examines the delicate equilibrium of reality and illusion.
Performance Schedule:
Orlando
Sunday, March 24 at 7:30pm (Preview)
Tuesday, March 26 at 7:30pm (Opening)
Wednesday, March 27 at 1:00pm
Friday, March 29 at 7:30pm
Saturday, March 30 at 1:00pm
The Balcony
Monday, March 25 at 7:30pm (Preview)
Wednesday, March 27 at 7:30pm (Opening)
Thursday, March 28 at 7:30pm
Friday, March 29 at 1:00pm
Saturday, March 30 at 7:30pm
Tickets $7- 20
Buy online or call 416-736-5888
Scenes by Design, the annual showcase exhibition of the Department of Theatre, offers an insider’s look at the creative work done behind the scenes before the curtain rises on a stage production.
The exhibition features original set designs and maquettes, costumes, props, scene painting, renderings, drawings and lighting design by students in the production/design area.
Exhibition Hours:
Wed. March 27: 11am – 8pm Opens with 2019/20 Season Announcement
Thur. March 28: 11am – 8pm
Fri. March 29: 11am-8pm
Admission is free and all are welcome.
Free and open to the public, the Ontario University Fair is the only event where you can interact with all 21 universities in Ontario in one place. Come meet York AMPD professors, students and admissions representatives. We can answer your questions about programs, admission requirements, student life and much more.
Visit the OUF website to register in advance for an OUF Passport!
September 27 to 29, 2019
10 am to 5 pm daily
Catch a rising wave of electrifying film talent!
Now in its 17th year, CineSiege presents a collection of short films – riveting fiction, cutting-edge alternative works and provocative documentaries – selected by leading lights of Canadian film and media culture.
The films selected for CineSiege 2019 were chosen from a shortlist, culled from 186 productions made last year.
The nominees were reviewed by five jurors: Maya Bankovici, Franci Duran, Stuart Hands, Adina Pintilie and Ravi Srinivasan.
Jurors will be in attendance at CineSiege to introduce the winning films and explain why they were selected.
CineSiege is made possible through the generous support of
After Party
Immediately following screening (approx. 10:30pm)
The Monarch Tavern
12 Clinton St, Toronto, ON M6J 2N8
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is a beloved feminist revisioning of two of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays, Othello and Romeo & Juliet. Written by Canadian playwright Ann-Marie MacDonald, the play explores the hypothetical question: what if Shakespeare’s tragedies were actually intended to be comedies? To learn the answer to this question, please join us November 16-23 in the Joseph G. Green Theatre to find out.
Performance Schedule:
Sat, Nov. 16 (preview 1) @ 7:30 pm
Sun. Nov. 17 (preview 2) @ 7:30 pm
Tues. Nov. 19 (Opening) @ 7:30 pm
Wed. Nov. 20 @ 1:00 pm
Wed. Nov. 20 (Relaxed Performance) @ 7:30 pm –Plan your visit
Thurs. Nov. 21@ 7:30 pm
Fri. Nov. 22 @ 1:00 pm
Fri. Nov. 22 @ 7:30pm
Sat. Nov. 23 @ 2:00 pm
Tickets $7- 20
Online Box Office or call 416-736-5888
Belly Dance as Mindful Movement for Stress Reduction
This movement-based workshop utilizes belly dance vocabulary designed for self-soothing. Learn movements that support the reduction of stress and anxiety symptoms. Participants will leave with applications on how stress responses can be experiences on a spectrum from hyper-arousal (feelings of overstimulation) to hypo-arousal (feelings associated with low-energy or burnout). Belly dance used as mindfulness offers gentle wavey movement designed to down-regulate physical stress responses. This workshop also combines more energizing vocabulary through shimmying and shaking as well as core engagement to support up-regulation of the nervous system, based on internal rhythm and percussion.
About the Facilitator :
Shaila is completing her Masters in Dance at York University. She concurrently training as a Dance Movement Therapist through the National Centre for Dance Therapy in Montreal. Her work focuses on belly dance practices that use sensuality as a healing tool within dance interventions. Her movement offerings look at building resiliency, decoupling stress responses and promoting body positivity. Shaila provides a unique framework that maps belly dance vocabulary for nervous-system regulation. Shaila has been an active member of the Toronto belly dancing community for over a decade, both as a performer and instructor. She currently works as a Health Educator and Training Specialist and enjoys offering students training on mental health and well-being.
Hollywood Old and New: ReDesigns for Student Engagement in eLearning with Gillian Helfield & Dan Becker
Thursday, March 12
12:00 – 1:30 PM
AMPD Faculty Lounge (GCFA 214)
Free
RSVP
Join us for this lunchtime talk about the evolution of “Hollywood Old and New”, a fully online class that offers students an understanding of Hollywood film genres from a historical and social perspective. In this talk, the presenters will discuss their pedagogical strategies for the new course redesign to facilitate student engagement in a large format class. This course is offered by the Department Cinema and Media Arts in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design.
Gillian Helfield lectures at York University, in Cinema and Media Studies in AMPD, Humanities in LAPS, and Canadian Studies at Glendon College. Though she has specialized in Canadian and Quebec Cinemas, other areas of academic interest include Genre Studies, Cultural Studies, Women’s Cinema, National Cinemas, Diasporic and Exilic Cinemas, Middle Eastern Cinemas, and Rural Cinemas. In 2006, her book Representing the Rural: Space Place and Identity, in Films About the Land, was published by Wayne State University Press.
In collaboration with AMPD, Gillian has developed and redesigned two large-enrolment online film courses, which have earned recognition from international eLearning associations (IELA) and the Teaching Commons at York University (York’s nomination for the STLHE Brightspace /D2L Innovation Award). In 2017, she received the AMPD eLearning Teaching Award.
Dan Becker is the Educational Designer and Developer for the Faculty of Education. He works extensively with instructors to operationalize educational theory and current research within courses that utilize technology. Dan develops learning experiences that engage students, build communities of inquiry and employ meaningful assessment strategies, while avoiding excessive effort on the part of the instructor. His approach of simplicity and depth has produced a variety of courses that are enjoyed by instructors and students alike.
Theatre @ York presents Elizabeth Rex by Timothy Findley directed by ted witzel
Timothy Findley’s Elizabeth Rex shares Good Night Desdemona’s interest in the Shakespearean canon.
Here, Findley imagines an intimate meeting between a group of players and Queen Elizabeth I, who has ordered a command performance of Much Ado About Nothing as she awaits the execution of a former lover, the Earl of Essex. With wit and poetry, Findley explores the entanglement of love, desire, and gender identity.
Performance Schedule:
Tuesday March 17th at 7:30 p.m. (Preview)
Wednesday March 18th at 1:00 p.m. (Preview)
Wednesday March 18th at 7:30 p.m. (Opening)
Thursday March 19 at 7:30 p.m. (Relaxed Performance)
Friday March 20th at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday March 21st at 2:00 p.m.
Saturday March 21st @ 7:30 p.m. (Closing)
Box Office Information
Previews: $7.00
All Other Performances:
Tickets: $20.00
Student: $12.00
Senior: $12.00
Groups of 10 or more: $10.00
(Group price applies when all group tickets are purchased at once for a single performance. Not available online, please phone or visit the box office)
Buy online or call 416-736-5888
Relaxed Performance: Thursday, March 19th at 7:30pm
A Relaxed performance is intended specifically to be sensitive to and accepting of audience members who may benefit from a more relaxed environment. The performance is designed to reduce anxiety and provide a safe, enjoyable experience, taking into account variable sensory, communication or learning needs and abilities. This means that there is a more casual-than-usual approach to front-of-house etiquette and we ask audience members to be aware of people’s needs to move or make involuntary noise.

Scenes by Design
The Theatre Department’s annual exhibition showcasing the work of the Design and Production area. Scenes by Design offers an insider’s look at the creative work done behind the scenes before the curtain rises on a stage production. The exhibition features original set designs and maquettes, costumes, props, scene painting, renderings, drawings and lighting design by students in the production/design area. Scenes by Design will also include the announcement of the 2020 – 2021 Theatre @ York Season.
Exhibition Hours:
Wed. March 25, 2020: 11:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. (Opening)
Thur. March 26, 2020: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Fri. March 27, 2020: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sat. March 28, 2020: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Closing)
Admission is free and all are welcome.