Robert Motum

Robert Motum is a Canadian playwright and theatre creator.^[1] He is noted for his background in site-specific performance^[2] and for his 2018 play, A Community Target.^[3]

Personal life and education[edit]

Motum was born in Oshawa, Ontario. He attended the University of Waterloo for his BA in Drama^[4] and Aberystwyth University for his MA in Practising Performance.^[5] He is currently completing a PhD in performance studies at the University of Toronto^[1] and teaches at Sheridan College.

Theatre career[edit]

As a site-specific theatre practitioner, Motum has a history of staging new theatrical work outside of purpose-built auditoriums.^[2] His 2013 play, Transience, was staged on an active Grand River Transit city bus as it circled its loop of Kitchener-Waterloo.^[6] He has since staged work in public parks,^[5][7] in a Queen Street art gallery,^[8] inside a vacant Target store,^[9] in a castle,^[10] throughout the streets of Hamilton, Ontario,^[11] and in augmented reality.^[12] His work has been supported by the Stratford Festival, the Ellen Ross Stuart Opening Doors Award,^[13] Outside the March^[3] and others.

His verbatim play, A Community Target, is based on interviews with over 60 former employees of Target Canada and recounts the dramatic collapse of the retailer in the country. Staged inside a vacant Target store in Hamilton, Ontario, the piece garnered national^[14][15] and international media attention.^[16]

Academic scholarship[edit]

Motum has written about the ethics of site-specific performance for various academic publications including the Canadian Theatre Review and Theatre Research in Canada.^[17] Motum also researches the political performance of micronationhood and has organised a symposium on subversive states in 2023 at the University of Toronto.^[18]

References[edit]