Theatre Without Borders AUTHOR: Robert Astle ISBN: 0921833784 160 PAGES $22.95 CDN $19.95 US SHORTLISTED FOR THE MANUELA DIAS BOOK DESIGN OF THE YEAR AWARD ABOUT THE BOOK: Who are the artists who are currently invigorating Canadian theatre? They are the artists who come to the theatre through the "back door"—eccentrics, absurdists, puppeteers, clowns, raconteurs, and solo performance artists who are looking at our place in the world through physical comedy, satire, subversive humour, ingenuity. Their creations are generous, inventive and always infused with a high level of virtuosity. Much of this work is "borderless"—that is to say it breaks down the borders between the public and performer—mocking our preoccupations and pretensions, communicating stories with images, allusion, metaphor and unforgettable characters that fully engage the audience. The artists profiled in this lively book have toured their works extensively, have performed to audiences around the globe to great acclaim and have influenced young performers through teaching and performance. Through in-depth interviews, photographs and representative texts readers are also given the opportunity to be introduced to an astounding cross-section of influential English and French Canadian performance artists who are truly creating theatre without borders. REVIEWS: "...Theatre Without Borders emerges as an engaging series of interviews with nine off-the-beaten-path theatre companies and performers, some well known(Ronnie Burkett, whose adult marionette shows have played the MTC Warehouse several times) and some less so, but all intriguing. Here are "eccentrics, clowns, performance artists and absurdists" who are thoughtful and well-spoken interviewees (most also teach their craft) and are drawn not by a Broadway box-office mentality, but a long process of growth. We have riveting anecdotes from Quebec's Chaplin-esque Yves Dagenais who once performed an anti-military comedy in Colombia while the local militia patrolled the audience, and inspiring revelation from Dean Gilmour of Toronto's Theatre Smith Gilmour, who describes "the tiny talent time moment": the ability to find reward in the art and your love of it, and its potential despite lean times and impoverished surrounding. The common thread among all the performers is the way they were drawn to theatre, Astle believes, "because they had something different to say." Some have been working diligently for close to 25 years, and Astle is proud to champion their efforts. "We're a very unusual bunch, " he says simply, and it sounds as if he's smiling." — Uptown Magazine   Other Signature books by Robert Astle: Heart of a Dog The Hats of Mr. Zenobe