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.
