Announcing Outfit the March, a capital project with the ability to turn virtually any space in the city into a fully-functional, comfortable, temporary theatre venue.
Outside the March is acquiring an inventory of mobile production and accessibility equipment perfectly suited to our nomadic nature as one of Canada’s leaders in site-specific and immersive theatre.
Supported by a major gift from The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation, our new slate of portable eco-friendly equipment will be secured incrementally over several seasons, fuelling site-engaged programming across Toronto for years to come. The initiative will also include a subsidised low-/no-cost rental program for independent organizations and artists in our community, supported by a Strategic Innovation grant from The Canada Council for the Arts and managed in partnership with The Canadian Green Alliance.
“As we’ve grown, it’s become more and more challenging to mount our immersive productions in non-equipped, found spaces. Rental costs have soared and our industry has been rocked by a series of seismic shifts. Many non-venued theatre companies reach a similar inflection point in their trajectory and opt to create their very own theatre space. But as a nomadic, site-engaged company, a static venue simply wouldn’t serve our needs. Enter ‘Outfit the March.’ The project is already allowing us to better deliver on our immersive mission as we support two electric playwrights in 2025 telling vital stories.”
– Mitchell Cushman (OtM Artistic Director)
ABOUT THE PROJECT
For Outside the March, “all the world’s a stage” isn’t poetic license—it’s our M.O. Over the past 15 years OtM has ushered in a site-specific revolution in Toronto theatre, creating dozens of award-winning and critically-acclaimed, place-based productions. Now we’re embarking on our most ambitious project to date—envisioning what a “portable home” looks like for our proudly nomadic organization. In true Outside the March style, we’re going to bring that home with us wherever we go.
The project’s capital campaign has been launched by $500,000 from The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation—the largest single gift in Outside the March’s history. The gift anchors $1.2 million raised to date of a $1.7 million first phase of fundraising and acquisitions. The project is already set to benefit our 2025 Season by providing the production equipment for two form-busting world premieres in surprising venues straddling either end of the city on Dundas West and Dundas East.
Outfit the March will ensure audiences an accessible and comfortable experience at productions; will green our operations and cut down on waste; will increase production capacity for independent artists and organizations in our community; and will guarantee artists access to the latest technology and tools to innovate, iterate and fabricate immersive magic anywhere.
“If access to the arts is to continue as a Canadian value, every underpass, every backyard, and every office tower must hold the possibility of attracting audiences to excellent innovative theatre,” says OtM Associate Artistic Director Sébastien Heins.
Outfit the March is supported by The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation, The Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, The Stanley Shalom Zielony Foundation, The Canada Council for the Arts, The Metcalf Foundation and Robert Sirman.
Equipment will include:
💺 Hundreds of foldable, modular “prime comfort” chairs, ensuring that site-specific theatre no longer needs to be synonymous with back pain.
🧰 A fully-equipped mobile workshop.
🪩 Lightweight custom trapezoidal riser system.
🎚️Top-of-the-line suite of portable, green lighting equipment with next-generation wireless technology and low-to-no-impact installation.
🔊 Array of wired and wireless speakers, subs, microphones and console allowing for efficient, reliable and total sonic control in both large and intimate spaces.
💡High-lumen production projectors.
🔋Green e-generators and solar panels capable of running an entire production off-grid.
🦼 Accessibility equipment—from threshold transitions and adjustable wheelchair ramps to descriptive audio devices and wearable haptic technology.
🎟️ Box office equipment, wardrobe, storage, transportation and more.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
“I became an early donor and champion of the idea because I’m convinced of its oversized potential to benefit not only OtM’s productions but the sector at large. Some opportunities are genuinely too good to ignore.”
Robert Sirman
Strategic Advisor
Outfit the March’s equipment has already benefited the company and its community of artists: its first phase of acquisitions was piloted on 2024’s R.A.V.E., which saw OtM completely transform an abandoned cubicle farm at the former Downsview Airport into a neon underground dance party (the project was recently singled out by Broadway World as a top site-specific pick of 2024).
The project has been catalyzed by OtM’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan, and architected with the involvement of noted arts champion Robert Sirman as Strategic Advisor. In 2023 we launched a feasibility study with Toronto’s NetGain to successfully establish the project’s need and viability, with support from Canadian Heritage’s Canada Cultural Spaces Fund and The Metcalf Foundation. The study partnered with The Toronto Arts Council to solicit input from performing arts organizations across the GTA about the use of found performance venues, engaging 39 organizations and finding there is significant unmet need for portable equipment in our sector.
Want to support Outfit the March? Learn more? Partner with us? Get in touch: sebastien@outsidethemarch.ca
Stay tuned for more news as Outfit the March transforms our future!
Our PARTNERS
