Search

about RISER

RISER is a collaborative producing model for performance artists and companies to create and present new work. It was developed by Why Not Theatre in 2014 in order to address the challenges of producing independent theatre in Toronto, including the high cost of production, difficulty building audiences, and inefficient use of resources and infrastructure.

RISER brings together senior leadership from the theatre community with underserved artists in order to maximize existing infrastructures, share resources and risk, help build new audiences, and support a commitment to create and innovate. Through this collaborative approach, RISER participants receive enough in-kind resources to help reduce their costs of production by one third on average. Participants also undergo a year-long mentorship and training program with a focus on developing producing skills.

The heart of RISER – whose participants are generous, flexible, curious, and willing to share and work in new ways – is about building relationships to create an interdependent theatre ecosystem where the success of one is the success of many.

This project is part of Why Not’s PROVOKE stream of activities. PROVOKE projects are about creating change in our community, city and world.

national expansion

With generous support from the Government of Canada (via Strategic Initiatives – Canada Cultural Investment Fund) and the RBC Foundation, we are embarking on a national expansion of RISER. 

RISER Edmonton launched with Common Ground Arts Society in 2022, and RISER Regina is set to premiere with On Cue Performance Hub in 2023.

RISER is made possible through the generous support of RBC Foundation, the Government of Canada, and a network of Senior Partners. The first three years of RISER were made possible by Toronto Arts Council’s Open Door program.

40

new canadian works

380

artists supported

50

awards and nominations

100

post riser engagements

6

publications

25000

audiences reached internationally

“RISER is by design entirely collaborative. We were able to develop and refine RISER in Toronto with the help of a community of Senior Partners and a talented roster of artists. Since the model has been such a successful platform in supporting underserved artists in Toronto, we wanted to bring it to other major city centres across Canada to support more artists all across the country. We’re excited and humbled to start this journey in Edmonton, a city brimming with more theatre artists per capita than any city in Canada. We couldn’t be more grateful to both the RBC Foundation and Canadian Heritage in helping us to share this vision and impact change on a national level.”

Ravi Jain | Founder & Co-Artistic Director, Why Not Theatre

Moving from independent to interdependent theatre.