Art vs. the Bottom Line

Infinithéâtre’s Latest Finds Comedy in a Literary Lifestyle

Fringe ArtsElysha del Giusto-Enos — Published January 23, 2012

“Money is good. Art is better,” playwright Arthur Holden told Poetry Quebec about the theme of his show, Ars Poetica.

Texting, poetry, a crumbling arts office and a web of romantic affairs are all prominent features of the production. Infinithéâtre, Montreal’s third-largest English theatre company and the only one committed to producing new works by local playwrights, is staging Holden’s Ars Poetica.

The play starts in the office of a poetry magazine that could easily be a stand-in for any small Montreal arts office. The cast of misfit characters includes a brilliant and dedicated intern who’s desperate to go to N.Y.U.; the intern’s father, a rich lawyer whose racy texts to an escort keep him distracted; the office manager who works for a small salary supplemented by the nobility of a life in the arts; the kooky Arts Council granting officer; and the publisher who serves as captain of the sinking ship.

Each has personal problems and goals, but the main thrust of the show is their troubled quest to keep their magazine afloat – a familiar theme for many arts companies.

Holden has been working with the Montreal theatre community for 15 months in readings, dramaturgy, and re-writes to develop Ars Poetica.

“…subjectively, their art, whatever it is, means more than anything to them. Their activities are thus simultaneously useless and necessary.”

“I love to watch little arts organizations at work,” Holden said. “They cope with big bills and small revenues, attract varying levels of attention from an easily distracted public, deal with high-strung artists, apply for grants, and try to find private contributors.

“Objectively they know what they do is trivial; but subjectively, their art, whatever it is, means more than anything to them. Their activities are thus simultaneously useless and necessary.”

Holden is an established actor who has recently delved into playwriting. This is his second play for Infinithéâtre, following 2010’s Father Land. He said that both his acting and writing career are satisfying, but for opposite reasons.

“Acting is the process of taking someone else’s text and delivering it in a way that feels honest. During rehearsals, a director will give instant feedback, not all of it necessarily positive. During performance, depending on the medium, feedback comes from the audience.

“An actor’s work is collaborative and reactive from start to finish. [By comparison] solitude is part of the joy of writing: the opportunity to dig for purely personal truth, or humour, and express it in terms that are entirely one’s own.”
He added that both outlets are equally important, that “each provides a particular pleasure, and relieves me of a burden the other imposes.”

Ars Poetica to Feb 12 / Bain St-Michel (5300 St-Dominique St.) / Tickets $10-$20 infinitheatre.com