About the Founder

After attending the University of Alberta where he attained his Bachelor of Arts (major in Drama; minor in English), Ian Kent wrote and produced two children’s plays for the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. Then, he traveled overseas where he worked in India teaching and directing Tibetan artists in exile Shakespearean acting techniques. During that time Ian was also the editor of Contact magazine. It was an immersive cultural exchange with the traditions of western theatre blending with the traditions of Tibetan opera.

Ian Kent is also a published poet and author. His poems have appeared in Quills Canadian Poetry Magazine, The Prairie Journal, Rhubarb, Scrivener Creative Review and Contemporary Verse 2. His fiction has appeared in The Prairie Journal and Montréal Writes. His non-fiction has appeared in Rhubarb.

From his own travels and unexpected encounters with differing artistic traditions, Ian Kent desired to start a theatre company that expressed those deep encounters, those diverse connections.

About or; theatre

or; theatre strives for the union of unique traditions, expressing the diversity and secret wonder of the imagination. By undermining binary choice, or; theatre’s mandate seeks to explore the depths of choice in all its diversity, in all its wonder, in all its secrets. It will return theatre to its imminent soulfulness. And it is to that soul that the audience will experience and come alive to its newness, to its invigorating ancientness. Challenging the community to renew itself, it will renew the theatrical form.

or; theatre produced its first show “Abattoir Morning” in the fall of 2015. The company is currently exploring options for its next production.