Hi There
Welcome to MackGordonTheatre.com. I'm a theatre artist and gun for hire based out of Chicago, IL and Vancouver, BC. I make a living acting, directing, writing, hosting and producing. I also play music. Stop by frequently to keep track of what I'm keeping track of.
NEWS
February 8, 2024
Gearing up for rehearsals for Baskerville, A Sherlock Holmes Mystery at the Gateway Theatre in Richmond which plays April 11th - 20th and have been busy with many other projects since my last update... two years ago! Time does fly.
Most recently I'm dipping my toe into the world of film producing with a project that I'll say more about once the release is imminent - a feature length horror film! Have also been busy with audiobook narration and a few writing projects of my own!
September 1st, 2021
Mack Gordon's Gameshow Night is playing at The Havana Theatre on the last Friday of every month starting in November. You can purchase tickets for October 21st's Episode Three of The Family Feud LIVE here.
I'm also currently in the midst of rehearsing for Up in the Air Theatre's Revelations out at the Shadbolt Centre in Burnaby. Meanwhile, plenty of side work keeping me busy these days with various workshops, simulation acting, and even some facial motion capture. I hope you are well keeping well too!
February 10, 2021
I wanted to give everyone a rundown of links from all the podcasts I appeared on in the last year, much of which was in promo of last falls A War of the Worlds. Theatre in the Dark is also keeping it's peg leg to the metal as we are now underway with rehearsals for Moby Dick in the Dark. You can listen from anywhere in the world to our fully dynamic audio-soundscaped, poetic ode to the Melville classic. Tix are available now right here. Now on to the podcast links:
Blocked Party - Talking to John and Stefan about the time the guy from Blues Traveler blocked me on twitter.
Horny Off Main - Gabbing with Ami and Katie-Ellen about all kinds of really personal stuff!
Eyes on Success - Just a delightful conversation with the Torpeys on the subject of non-visual theatre.
Album vs Album - Spitting about Chicago and Wilco's landmark Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with Cail and Lucas.
December 1, 2020
Rehearsals are under way for Theatre in the Dark's A Christmas Carol, which I adapted and am directing. We've got a killer international cast beaming in from Vancouver, Philadelphia and Chicago and we can't wait for you to take our latest upgrades on Digital Audio Theatre for a spin. Tickets available at www.theatreinthedark.com!
September 21, 2020
Haven't made my way back to being based in Vancouver, while still continuing work in Chicago, has been a strange journey indeed. Theatre in the Dark is now producing out of both Vancouver and Chicago with our upcoming A War of the Worlds coming to a Zoom room near you!
October 26, 2019
I was recently featured on the Podcast Friendless with James Avramenko and talked about books, theatre, and ideas. Listen here.
My True Stories - the web series I made with some friends is now live and bingeable in its entirety.
The commercial I wrote and directed for Eye Spy Optical is circulating the world wide web.
My acting, voiceover, and audiobook reels are ready to go.
My published short, The God Story from Discorder magazine is online too.
And then there's the last couple articles I've posted at my blog: The Beau Soleil and Little Ounces of Magic.
Meanwhile, Three Stories Up // Theatre in the Dark is now open in Chicago, you can get tickets here.
July 4, 2019
It's Independence Day! A perfect time to mention that I'll be independently producing Three Stories Up here in Chicago. We've got a venue lined up and details are being put together. Check it out: www.theatreinthedark.com. Three Stories Up was previously produced in Vancouver in 2016 and received to rave reviews. It seemed like a great first undertaking here in Chicago.
Meanwhile, over the past year I've started to make some contacts here in the city and have a couple of really cool projects in development. One in particular, I can't officially announce yet but is in conjunction with the preeminent comedy theatre here in town as well as a civic institution.
I've been working as a server at a restaurant to make ends meet while my artistic contacts are taking the necessary time to marinate. The restaurant is called The Smith and I was fortunate enough to be brought on board right as it opened. This was great for me as I've never worked as a server before so I've been able to train and learn at the same time as everyone else with the benefit of starting from a blank slate. The Smith started out in New York City where they currently have five locations, then expanded to DC in two spots before finally heading to the foodie mecca of Chicago. Come say hi!
August 24, 2018
I've been in Chicago for a week now and in just under a week I'll begin training at Second City Chicago. I'm knocking on doors trying to meet people and find out more about this city and how it's cultural heart ticks.
So far I've been pretty lucky. Just one day into being here, a friend from Vancouver was in town for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists conference that was happening and she gave me a ticket to a reading she couldn't attend. I saw This is Not a True Story and got to witness, first-hand and early on, the passion of Chicago's theater community. The next day, my friend Zack invited me to play kickball with his cast from the Buddy Holly Story of the American Blues Theater. It's gonna take me some serious time to get used to spelling it 'theater' instead of 'theatre.' I'm looking forward to the learning curve and to the ride.
July 12, 2018
In August, I’m leaving Vancouver, a place I’ve called home for the last ten years. I’ve had the privilege of working with so many of the city’s talented companies and artists. I’ve had the comfort of calling so many of them friends, allies, and loved ones.
I booked my first professional theatre gig in 2009 at Chemainus Theatre Festival doing a two-hander of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. From there I learned to roller-blade, ran into a parked car during the audition, but was still entrusted by Carole Higgins and Carousel Theatre for Young People to take The Big League on tour.
Two paid gigs in a row, I decided to abandon my Plan B of going into education and to keep at professional theatre as long as I could. I’ve since worked with Arts Club Theatre Company, Bard on the Beach, Green Thumb Theatre, and many others. I owe a special debt to Ron Reed and Pacific Theatre; I worked on many shows there but The Foreigner and Ron’s adaptation of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe will forever be among the best experiences of my entire life.
I’ve written, self-produced, and toured my own shows across the country including: Debts (Itsazoo Productions), The Ballad of the Burning Lady (Western Canada Theatre), Shake the Sheets! (Level-Headed Friends), Three Stories Up (Alley Theatre- Vancouver), and Six Fine Lines (Level-Headed Friends). I’ve been involved in SpeakEasy Theatre's Pull Festival as a writer four times (and am published in their anthology) and a director once. I’ve created my own rowdy game show night at The Biltmore Cabaret. I’ve loved, boy how I’ve loved, and I’ve lost … oh man have I lost.
I’ve lived in Kitsilano. I called Mount Pleasant home. I stayed in South Cambie and South Granville for months at a time. I cat-sat in Hastings-Sunrise, I couch-surfed in the West End, I rested a weary head on Broadway and Windsor, near The Drive, and I've now found myself back by the beach, in Kitsilano, where I started.
I’m going to Chicago in hopes of continuing to work in this vibrant and volatile field. I chose Chicago because I was raised as an artist in Vancouver on a theatre that is loyal; a theatre that values community over business. My aim as an artist is to make people feel less alone in the world, to welcome strangers and help them feel at home. When I was a stranger in 2008, the Vancouver theatre community did that for me.
I hope you think of me well and occasionally send me a hope of goodwill. I will be doing the same to you. Be good to each other, don’t get too wrapped up in petty details, strive for honesty and candor.
Until next time, Vancouver/Hello Chicago!
-Mack
June 22, 2018
Walk up yesterday to another request to publish a short story I wrote! Discorder Magazine from Vancouver will be putting The God Story in their upcoming No Fun Fiction issue. Let's keep doing this!
I should also note, that I've got big geographical changes coming in the next several months as I'm planning on lifting my roots from Vancouver soil and relocating. I'll let you know where to once the deal is done!
And finally, I sometimes tour with the band Yukon Blonde. I'm heading back out with them in November for their Canadian tour. In the meantime, their new album is released today. Check out Critical Hit!
June 16, 2018
A story I wrote a few years back, Whistle Like the Wind is getting published in the upcoming edition of carte blanche lit magazine. My trip to China was great and I'm currently compiling notes for an essay on it. I'm also one draft into a commissioned script for Osimous Theatre. The story is based on Grady Giles, Jr, the circus sideshow performer who killed his daughter's fiancee the day before their wedding. Just did a Family Feud night over in Kamloops and am working away on more corporate Family Feud gigs. On Sunday, I'm hosting a Mobi Bikes tent for Car Free Day on Main Street. Come by and ride a bike for charity!
April 15, 2018
I'm very excited to announce that I'll be going to China to follow my friend Mike Gill as he competes for the World Oyster Shucking Championships at the end of May. I'll be keeping a tour diary while I'm gone, with publishing details to follow.
I just put up a travel diary I did a year ago when I was on tour selling merch for Yukon Blonde. I think the China diaries will be pretty different but I figured I may as well share this piece. It was originally featured in my chapbook Six Fine Lines.
In the meantime, an article I wrote a few years ago seems to be having a new life over on my blog at Medium. Check that out too!
November 20, 2017
I'm in this small town on the coast of Vancouver island and I'm working on a Christmas show. Its set in the 80s and it's sort of a take on the vacation movies. I'm playing the son, a metal head, wearing a banger wig and throwing out devil horns on stage every opportunity I get. It's my first day off and I walk into a little sushi restaurant with Lino floors and gawdy snowflakes in the windows. Christmas is a curious theme that I’ve discovered runs through my journals from the last year. It's Christmas again as I start recording my thoughts after a fairly intensive four weeks of rehearsal. The show is a musical. I didn't know that when I auditioned. I havent done a musical in ten years and I have to work hard not to lose my voice. For the last year, I've been losing my voice once a week for a variety of reasons; harder living, talking loudly, stressful constricting emotional traumas that settled in my larynx. I sit down in the empty sushi restaurant and the waitress/owner says 'sit where you like, it's very popular here, always full' in the gentle self-deprecating way that only those familiar with the bottom-floor of bankruptcy can pull off with tired grace. When my seafood yaki-udon comes I recognize the scallops and shrimp from the cheap, frozen seafood medley at the grocery store. In the old part of town, with its coffee shop, general store, and ubiquitous, western-flavoured ethnic foods, nothing is ever as inexpensive as you think it should be. Or maybe I'm just getting old. The restaurant is too sad, and the single mussel is suspect, and I prefer the sushi chefs at the newish grocery store up the street.
September 9, 2017
Six Fine Lines went out and played Edmonton and Victoria and last night opened to a sold out house in Vancouver at Carousel Theatre. It plays until the 17th and more info can be found here. I also just signed on to play Tommy in Cornwall's All-Inclusive Family Christmas out in Chemainus, one of my favourite places to 'gig.' Meanwhile I fly out to Paris, France at the end of the Fringe Fest and couldn't be more excited to travel Europe again for a month.
April 14, 2017
I'm starting work in earnest today on my Summer Fringe show. It's called SIX FINE LINES and it's a Memoir Game Show. I'm putting together all kinds of fun surprises. It's going to attempt to take a story and make it more of a party than a play; an experience that you'll take home with you. Edmonton, Victoria, and Vancouver Fringes. Keep an eye open for more info as it comes.
December 21, 2016
Merry Christmas! Three Stories Up was a sold out hit and we're now pitching it across the country. I'm also excited to announce that I'll be taking part in Tim Carroll from the Shaw Festival's Masterclass in acting in January.
October 7, 2016
I'm boots deep in producing my upcoming show Three Stories Up right now so I'll keep this brief. The show is being produced entirely in the dark and should be a really fun and unique experience. Lots of interesting problem solving along the way, both as a writer and as a producer. After that, I'll be back in the land of Seuss for The Cat in the Hat at Carousel Theatre and from there, well like always, who knows!
February 15, 2016
Long time no see! It's been a busy month of writing and researching in the new year as I completed my annual statistics blog keeping track of all the things I consume in my life. The latest post was my career in review which you can check out here on my Medium blog. Have a look around there and you'll see my collections on books, movies, plays, food, and people I've spent time with. On the horizon now are some exciting things. In April I'll be heading to Chemainus Theatre Festival to perform in Harvey. Harvey is the play that the movie with Jimmy Stewart and his 6 foot tall imaginary friend who's a bunny is based on. After that I'll be heading back to Kamloops to work with Project X Theatre on their new season. I'm gonna be directing Munsch Upon a Time and acting in The Wizard of Oz, so I'm very excited about that. Until then, I'm working hard on my newest play which is a sort of docu-drama on exorcism and possession. I've been sitting down and interviewing various experts on the fields of exorcism and deliverance in the last month and it's been fascinating, to say the least.
September 5, 2015
Fringe prep for Shake the Sheets! is heavily underway and we open in less than a week. Jordan Klassen is hard at work on the score and all our Cameo appearances are getting lined up. We're featured on the cover of the Westender this week, which is also great. This Level-Headed Friends show is going to be very exciting. To buy tickets to Shake the Sheets! go here.
In other news, it's just been announced that I'll have a reading of my play Small Change in Twenty-Something's season this year. It's a one night only event, Nov. 9 at 930 pm after Twenty-Something's production of Tender Napalm.
Annnnnndddd, rehearsals have begun already for Smoke on the Mountain at Pacific Theatre. It's an old-timey music review and should be a total blast.
June 19, 2015
Greetings from Downtown Kamloops! I'm out in the interior playing the titular role in Robin Hood with Project X theatre. I'm really looking forward to all the sword fighting and stage battle we've got planned. After this, Kaitlin and I will be self-producing my play Shake the Sheets for the Vancouver International Fringe Festival. That runs Sept. 10 - 20 and we're really hoping to get a lot of people out to see the show.
After that, I'll be a part of Pacific Theatre's opening show of the 2015/2016 season, Smoke on the Mountain.
November 19, 2014
Checked off most of the letters listed in the March 8 post. A) Bard directing went very well. You can read my thoughts on it here. B) The Rumble Theatre Directing Lab also went very well. Ron Jenkins is a great guy. C) no additional comment needed. D) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at UVIC was a sold out hit. We had a two show holdover and have just this past week put the final producing aspects to bed. E) Barkerville was a great experience filled with nature and new friends. Six am on the morning we left, some of our best friends waited with "We love you Kait and Mack" signs on the side of the highway. From a distance we thought they were a weird forest cult but were pleasantly surprised. F) Didn't end up doing the Fringe Festival but have applied again for this year. Annnnnd I'm still working on the short story book on my dad.
New letters for the coming months:
A) I've been chosen to participate in Playwright Theatre Centre's Colony in December. I'll be working with dramaturg Michael Springate as well as John Emmett Tracy and Tara Travis on my new play, Three Stories Up. I'm really excited about this. The play is about a Vancouver Transit Cop who finds her husband, a high-ranking undercover recruiter, dead in their home. She enlists the help of his final informant to find the murderer.
B) I'll also be helping out at PTC's AGM this coming Monday evening. I've put together a little survey, which people can fill out to get their own personalized song played to them. I'm using my vinyl collection to choose the songs and currently listening to every song I have. If you can't make the AGM but would like a personal song, drop me a line and I'll send you the survey.
C) The Foreigner, Pacific Theatre's hit play from last Fall has been picked up by The Arts Club. In February, our whole gang, including my wife Kaitlin and downstairs roommate Peter Carlone will be hitting the road with the production. The production took home a whole number of Jessie Award nominations and wins this past year, including the aforementioned Peter Carlone, John Voth, and director Evan Frayne.
D) In March, I'll be one of three directors (along with Kayvon Kelly & Genevieve Fleming) for Sum Theatre's Pull Fest. This is Pull Fest's fourth year and I'm proud to be participating for the third time. I was one of the contributing playwright's in the first and second years. Pull Fest is an evening of ten minute plays written by upcoming writers. We're accepting submissions until Dec. 5th.
And then, after that, who knows?
March 8, 2014
My full 2013 year in review - the stats on the things I did - is up at www.mackgordon.tumblr.com.
It's been a while since my last update so I'll give you the rundown. A) I've been selected to apprentice direct at Bard on the Beach this coming Summer. I'm working on The Tempest - my second favourite Shakespeare play - with Meg Roe and I'm very excited. B) I'm a few days out from starting Rumble Theatre's director's lab which I'm also very excited about. The class is being taught by Ron Jenkins. He's worked all over Canada and is a very well-respected artist. C) I just finished a staged reading of The Mouse Trap by Agatha Christie with Western Gold. I love murder mysteries so it was a lot of fun. D) Kaitlin and I have been accepted by UVic to perform The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as the University's Spotlight on Alumni show this coming October. We're producing the show ourselves for the first time and look forward to the challenge. E) (Yes E! a lot has been going on) Kaitlin and I will also be heading to Barkerville this Summer to work for a few months as historical interpretors!
Meanwhile, the last few months I've been hard at work on a new play that may be produced for the Fringe Festival this year (if we end up getting a venue that is worthwhile) and penning a book of short stories that serve as a biographical sketch of my father and the fathers in my family. It's been a very rewarding process interviewing my dad for this book and finding out more about the man he is besides being my father, the man he was before his children came along and how he's progressed as a person. That's enough for now!
December 18, 2013
We're in the final week of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Western Canada Theatre and I'm using the off time to put together my comprehensive year end blog. For the past two years I've kept an inordinate amount of statistics, from the things I eat, to the plays I see, to the people I hang out with. My Top Ten Plays of 2013 can be found over at Theatre is for Suckers (it'll be on my blog in the next few days with a few more features) and my Books I Read post is live at Mackgordon.tumblr.com. I'll be posting new blogs over there for the rest of the month.
Updated: My 2013 Career in Review is up now.
October 20, 2013
Closed The Foreigner about a week ago. Man, was it a fun show. Now I'm working hard on Ballad of the Burning Lady for Western Canada Theatre's High Wire Festival. Western Canada is in Kamloops. The show only runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, so catch it if you can. After that, My wife Kaitlin and I are back to work on The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe from Pacific Theatre. It's heading out on a tour of the Lower Mainland and Interior (Mission, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Kamloops) until Christmas.
September 14, 2013
Knee deep in rehearsal for The Foreigner at Pacific Theatre. I think it'll be one of the funniest plays I've ever been in. It opens on the 20th and runs until October 12th.
Had an article published at Theatreisforsuckers.com on the benefits of working for free. You can check it out here: http://www.theatreisforsuckers.com/the-power-of-working-for-free/
August 2, 2013
I had an article published in Hush Magazine called Down the Rabbit Hole. The idea for the series is that it's part short story, part Q & A and part artist profile. I go out for a night on the town with musicians from Vancouver. The first one was with Dominique Fricot and I'd say it was pretty successful. You can read the first installment here:
http://www.hushmagazine.ca/music/down-the-rabbit-hole-with-dominique-fricot/.
I've also written through a first draft of a short play called The Ballad of the Burning Lady. This show will be produced around Halloween in Kamloops for Western Canada Theatre's High-Wire Festival. I'm putting the show on with Kirk Smith and his company, Flying Monkey.
July 5, 2013
After a great project of staging poetry with Conrad Alexandrowicz, and working with such lovely artists as Sandra Ferens, Linda Quibell, Jane Osbourne, Brahm Taylor, and Alex Frankson, in addition to having a blast at the PAL with the whole Western Gold crew, the Summer is a flash back to Romeo and Juliet with Mnemonic Theatre. I'll be playing Paris and the show will be playing the last two weeks of August on various beaches around Kitsilano. Admission is free and Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as Lesbians so how could you not come check it out? Other than that, the Summer will be filled with writing projects for me as I try and transition all my first drafts into third drafts.
May 31, 2013
After an audition heavy May, I'm getting geared up for a busy June. The final three weeks I'll be working with Conrad Alexandrowicz on a movement project in Vancouver. On the 13, 14th, and 15th I'll be working with Anna Hagan and Western Gold on a staged reading of Habeas Corpus with performances at the PAL in Coal Harbour.
April 9, 2013
Heading to the Unified General Auditions tomorrow to sit on the panel of auditors with Chelsea from Itsazoo. Going to see Three Sister's at Havana tomorrow evening. The rest of the week is full of writing (Local Violence), concerts (Ladyhawk), plays (Arthur Boy King), and audition prep (for Project X in Kamloops). Rehearsals for the second leg of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" start next Tuesday. On Sunday I start teaching for Carousel Theatre's children acting school. And that's my April!
Gearing up for rehearsals for Baskerville, A Sherlock Holmes Mystery at the Gateway Theatre in Richmond which plays April 11th - 20th and have been busy with many other projects since my last update... two years ago! Time does fly.
Most recently I'm dipping my toe into the world of film producing with a project that I'll say more about once the release is imminent - a feature length horror film! Have also been busy with audiobook narration and a few writing projects of my own!
September 1st, 2021
Mack Gordon's Gameshow Night is playing at The Havana Theatre on the last Friday of every month starting in November. You can purchase tickets for October 21st's Episode Three of The Family Feud LIVE here.
I'm also currently in the midst of rehearsing for Up in the Air Theatre's Revelations out at the Shadbolt Centre in Burnaby. Meanwhile, plenty of side work keeping me busy these days with various workshops, simulation acting, and even some facial motion capture. I hope you are well keeping well too!
February 10, 2021
I wanted to give everyone a rundown of links from all the podcasts I appeared on in the last year, much of which was in promo of last falls A War of the Worlds. Theatre in the Dark is also keeping it's peg leg to the metal as we are now underway with rehearsals for Moby Dick in the Dark. You can listen from anywhere in the world to our fully dynamic audio-soundscaped, poetic ode to the Melville classic. Tix are available now right here. Now on to the podcast links:
Blocked Party - Talking to John and Stefan about the time the guy from Blues Traveler blocked me on twitter.
Horny Off Main - Gabbing with Ami and Katie-Ellen about all kinds of really personal stuff!
Eyes on Success - Just a delightful conversation with the Torpeys on the subject of non-visual theatre.
Album vs Album - Spitting about Chicago and Wilco's landmark Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with Cail and Lucas.
December 1, 2020
Rehearsals are under way for Theatre in the Dark's A Christmas Carol, which I adapted and am directing. We've got a killer international cast beaming in from Vancouver, Philadelphia and Chicago and we can't wait for you to take our latest upgrades on Digital Audio Theatre for a spin. Tickets available at www.theatreinthedark.com!
September 21, 2020
Haven't made my way back to being based in Vancouver, while still continuing work in Chicago, has been a strange journey indeed. Theatre in the Dark is now producing out of both Vancouver and Chicago with our upcoming A War of the Worlds coming to a Zoom room near you!
October 26, 2019
I was recently featured on the Podcast Friendless with James Avramenko and talked about books, theatre, and ideas. Listen here.
My True Stories - the web series I made with some friends is now live and bingeable in its entirety.
The commercial I wrote and directed for Eye Spy Optical is circulating the world wide web.
My acting, voiceover, and audiobook reels are ready to go.
My published short, The God Story from Discorder magazine is online too.
And then there's the last couple articles I've posted at my blog: The Beau Soleil and Little Ounces of Magic.
Meanwhile, Three Stories Up // Theatre in the Dark is now open in Chicago, you can get tickets here.
July 4, 2019
It's Independence Day! A perfect time to mention that I'll be independently producing Three Stories Up here in Chicago. We've got a venue lined up and details are being put together. Check it out: www.theatreinthedark.com. Three Stories Up was previously produced in Vancouver in 2016 and received to rave reviews. It seemed like a great first undertaking here in Chicago.
Meanwhile, over the past year I've started to make some contacts here in the city and have a couple of really cool projects in development. One in particular, I can't officially announce yet but is in conjunction with the preeminent comedy theatre here in town as well as a civic institution.
I've been working as a server at a restaurant to make ends meet while my artistic contacts are taking the necessary time to marinate. The restaurant is called The Smith and I was fortunate enough to be brought on board right as it opened. This was great for me as I've never worked as a server before so I've been able to train and learn at the same time as everyone else with the benefit of starting from a blank slate. The Smith started out in New York City where they currently have five locations, then expanded to DC in two spots before finally heading to the foodie mecca of Chicago. Come say hi!
August 24, 2018
I've been in Chicago for a week now and in just under a week I'll begin training at Second City Chicago. I'm knocking on doors trying to meet people and find out more about this city and how it's cultural heart ticks.
So far I've been pretty lucky. Just one day into being here, a friend from Vancouver was in town for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists conference that was happening and she gave me a ticket to a reading she couldn't attend. I saw This is Not a True Story and got to witness, first-hand and early on, the passion of Chicago's theater community. The next day, my friend Zack invited me to play kickball with his cast from the Buddy Holly Story of the American Blues Theater. It's gonna take me some serious time to get used to spelling it 'theater' instead of 'theatre.' I'm looking forward to the learning curve and to the ride.
July 12, 2018
In August, I’m leaving Vancouver, a place I’ve called home for the last ten years. I’ve had the privilege of working with so many of the city’s talented companies and artists. I’ve had the comfort of calling so many of them friends, allies, and loved ones.
I booked my first professional theatre gig in 2009 at Chemainus Theatre Festival doing a two-hander of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. From there I learned to roller-blade, ran into a parked car during the audition, but was still entrusted by Carole Higgins and Carousel Theatre for Young People to take The Big League on tour.
Two paid gigs in a row, I decided to abandon my Plan B of going into education and to keep at professional theatre as long as I could. I’ve since worked with Arts Club Theatre Company, Bard on the Beach, Green Thumb Theatre, and many others. I owe a special debt to Ron Reed and Pacific Theatre; I worked on many shows there but The Foreigner and Ron’s adaptation of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe will forever be among the best experiences of my entire life.
I’ve written, self-produced, and toured my own shows across the country including: Debts (Itsazoo Productions), The Ballad of the Burning Lady (Western Canada Theatre), Shake the Sheets! (Level-Headed Friends), Three Stories Up (Alley Theatre- Vancouver), and Six Fine Lines (Level-Headed Friends). I’ve been involved in SpeakEasy Theatre's Pull Festival as a writer four times (and am published in their anthology) and a director once. I’ve created my own rowdy game show night at The Biltmore Cabaret. I’ve loved, boy how I’ve loved, and I’ve lost … oh man have I lost.
I’ve lived in Kitsilano. I called Mount Pleasant home. I stayed in South Cambie and South Granville for months at a time. I cat-sat in Hastings-Sunrise, I couch-surfed in the West End, I rested a weary head on Broadway and Windsor, near The Drive, and I've now found myself back by the beach, in Kitsilano, where I started.
I’m going to Chicago in hopes of continuing to work in this vibrant and volatile field. I chose Chicago because I was raised as an artist in Vancouver on a theatre that is loyal; a theatre that values community over business. My aim as an artist is to make people feel less alone in the world, to welcome strangers and help them feel at home. When I was a stranger in 2008, the Vancouver theatre community did that for me.
I hope you think of me well and occasionally send me a hope of goodwill. I will be doing the same to you. Be good to each other, don’t get too wrapped up in petty details, strive for honesty and candor.
Until next time, Vancouver/Hello Chicago!
-Mack
June 22, 2018
Walk up yesterday to another request to publish a short story I wrote! Discorder Magazine from Vancouver will be putting The God Story in their upcoming No Fun Fiction issue. Let's keep doing this!
I should also note, that I've got big geographical changes coming in the next several months as I'm planning on lifting my roots from Vancouver soil and relocating. I'll let you know where to once the deal is done!
And finally, I sometimes tour with the band Yukon Blonde. I'm heading back out with them in November for their Canadian tour. In the meantime, their new album is released today. Check out Critical Hit!
June 16, 2018
A story I wrote a few years back, Whistle Like the Wind is getting published in the upcoming edition of carte blanche lit magazine. My trip to China was great and I'm currently compiling notes for an essay on it. I'm also one draft into a commissioned script for Osimous Theatre. The story is based on Grady Giles, Jr, the circus sideshow performer who killed his daughter's fiancee the day before their wedding. Just did a Family Feud night over in Kamloops and am working away on more corporate Family Feud gigs. On Sunday, I'm hosting a Mobi Bikes tent for Car Free Day on Main Street. Come by and ride a bike for charity!
April 15, 2018
I'm very excited to announce that I'll be going to China to follow my friend Mike Gill as he competes for the World Oyster Shucking Championships at the end of May. I'll be keeping a tour diary while I'm gone, with publishing details to follow.
I just put up a travel diary I did a year ago when I was on tour selling merch for Yukon Blonde. I think the China diaries will be pretty different but I figured I may as well share this piece. It was originally featured in my chapbook Six Fine Lines.
In the meantime, an article I wrote a few years ago seems to be having a new life over on my blog at Medium. Check that out too!
November 20, 2017
I'm in this small town on the coast of Vancouver island and I'm working on a Christmas show. Its set in the 80s and it's sort of a take on the vacation movies. I'm playing the son, a metal head, wearing a banger wig and throwing out devil horns on stage every opportunity I get. It's my first day off and I walk into a little sushi restaurant with Lino floors and gawdy snowflakes in the windows. Christmas is a curious theme that I’ve discovered runs through my journals from the last year. It's Christmas again as I start recording my thoughts after a fairly intensive four weeks of rehearsal. The show is a musical. I didn't know that when I auditioned. I havent done a musical in ten years and I have to work hard not to lose my voice. For the last year, I've been losing my voice once a week for a variety of reasons; harder living, talking loudly, stressful constricting emotional traumas that settled in my larynx. I sit down in the empty sushi restaurant and the waitress/owner says 'sit where you like, it's very popular here, always full' in the gentle self-deprecating way that only those familiar with the bottom-floor of bankruptcy can pull off with tired grace. When my seafood yaki-udon comes I recognize the scallops and shrimp from the cheap, frozen seafood medley at the grocery store. In the old part of town, with its coffee shop, general store, and ubiquitous, western-flavoured ethnic foods, nothing is ever as inexpensive as you think it should be. Or maybe I'm just getting old. The restaurant is too sad, and the single mussel is suspect, and I prefer the sushi chefs at the newish grocery store up the street.
September 9, 2017
Six Fine Lines went out and played Edmonton and Victoria and last night opened to a sold out house in Vancouver at Carousel Theatre. It plays until the 17th and more info can be found here. I also just signed on to play Tommy in Cornwall's All-Inclusive Family Christmas out in Chemainus, one of my favourite places to 'gig.' Meanwhile I fly out to Paris, France at the end of the Fringe Fest and couldn't be more excited to travel Europe again for a month.
April 14, 2017
I'm starting work in earnest today on my Summer Fringe show. It's called SIX FINE LINES and it's a Memoir Game Show. I'm putting together all kinds of fun surprises. It's going to attempt to take a story and make it more of a party than a play; an experience that you'll take home with you. Edmonton, Victoria, and Vancouver Fringes. Keep an eye open for more info as it comes.
December 21, 2016
Merry Christmas! Three Stories Up was a sold out hit and we're now pitching it across the country. I'm also excited to announce that I'll be taking part in Tim Carroll from the Shaw Festival's Masterclass in acting in January.
October 7, 2016
I'm boots deep in producing my upcoming show Three Stories Up right now so I'll keep this brief. The show is being produced entirely in the dark and should be a really fun and unique experience. Lots of interesting problem solving along the way, both as a writer and as a producer. After that, I'll be back in the land of Seuss for The Cat in the Hat at Carousel Theatre and from there, well like always, who knows!
February 15, 2016
Long time no see! It's been a busy month of writing and researching in the new year as I completed my annual statistics blog keeping track of all the things I consume in my life. The latest post was my career in review which you can check out here on my Medium blog. Have a look around there and you'll see my collections on books, movies, plays, food, and people I've spent time with. On the horizon now are some exciting things. In April I'll be heading to Chemainus Theatre Festival to perform in Harvey. Harvey is the play that the movie with Jimmy Stewart and his 6 foot tall imaginary friend who's a bunny is based on. After that I'll be heading back to Kamloops to work with Project X Theatre on their new season. I'm gonna be directing Munsch Upon a Time and acting in The Wizard of Oz, so I'm very excited about that. Until then, I'm working hard on my newest play which is a sort of docu-drama on exorcism and possession. I've been sitting down and interviewing various experts on the fields of exorcism and deliverance in the last month and it's been fascinating, to say the least.
September 5, 2015
Fringe prep for Shake the Sheets! is heavily underway and we open in less than a week. Jordan Klassen is hard at work on the score and all our Cameo appearances are getting lined up. We're featured on the cover of the Westender this week, which is also great. This Level-Headed Friends show is going to be very exciting. To buy tickets to Shake the Sheets! go here.
In other news, it's just been announced that I'll have a reading of my play Small Change in Twenty-Something's season this year. It's a one night only event, Nov. 9 at 930 pm after Twenty-Something's production of Tender Napalm.
Annnnnndddd, rehearsals have begun already for Smoke on the Mountain at Pacific Theatre. It's an old-timey music review and should be a total blast.
June 19, 2015
Greetings from Downtown Kamloops! I'm out in the interior playing the titular role in Robin Hood with Project X theatre. I'm really looking forward to all the sword fighting and stage battle we've got planned. After this, Kaitlin and I will be self-producing my play Shake the Sheets for the Vancouver International Fringe Festival. That runs Sept. 10 - 20 and we're really hoping to get a lot of people out to see the show.
After that, I'll be a part of Pacific Theatre's opening show of the 2015/2016 season, Smoke on the Mountain.
November 19, 2014
Checked off most of the letters listed in the March 8 post. A) Bard directing went very well. You can read my thoughts on it here. B) The Rumble Theatre Directing Lab also went very well. Ron Jenkins is a great guy. C) no additional comment needed. D) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at UVIC was a sold out hit. We had a two show holdover and have just this past week put the final producing aspects to bed. E) Barkerville was a great experience filled with nature and new friends. Six am on the morning we left, some of our best friends waited with "We love you Kait and Mack" signs on the side of the highway. From a distance we thought they were a weird forest cult but were pleasantly surprised. F) Didn't end up doing the Fringe Festival but have applied again for this year. Annnnnd I'm still working on the short story book on my dad.
New letters for the coming months:
A) I've been chosen to participate in Playwright Theatre Centre's Colony in December. I'll be working with dramaturg Michael Springate as well as John Emmett Tracy and Tara Travis on my new play, Three Stories Up. I'm really excited about this. The play is about a Vancouver Transit Cop who finds her husband, a high-ranking undercover recruiter, dead in their home. She enlists the help of his final informant to find the murderer.
B) I'll also be helping out at PTC's AGM this coming Monday evening. I've put together a little survey, which people can fill out to get their own personalized song played to them. I'm using my vinyl collection to choose the songs and currently listening to every song I have. If you can't make the AGM but would like a personal song, drop me a line and I'll send you the survey.
C) The Foreigner, Pacific Theatre's hit play from last Fall has been picked up by The Arts Club. In February, our whole gang, including my wife Kaitlin and downstairs roommate Peter Carlone will be hitting the road with the production. The production took home a whole number of Jessie Award nominations and wins this past year, including the aforementioned Peter Carlone, John Voth, and director Evan Frayne.
D) In March, I'll be one of three directors (along with Kayvon Kelly & Genevieve Fleming) for Sum Theatre's Pull Fest. This is Pull Fest's fourth year and I'm proud to be participating for the third time. I was one of the contributing playwright's in the first and second years. Pull Fest is an evening of ten minute plays written by upcoming writers. We're accepting submissions until Dec. 5th.
And then, after that, who knows?
March 8, 2014
My full 2013 year in review - the stats on the things I did - is up at www.mackgordon.tumblr.com.
It's been a while since my last update so I'll give you the rundown. A) I've been selected to apprentice direct at Bard on the Beach this coming Summer. I'm working on The Tempest - my second favourite Shakespeare play - with Meg Roe and I'm very excited. B) I'm a few days out from starting Rumble Theatre's director's lab which I'm also very excited about. The class is being taught by Ron Jenkins. He's worked all over Canada and is a very well-respected artist. C) I just finished a staged reading of The Mouse Trap by Agatha Christie with Western Gold. I love murder mysteries so it was a lot of fun. D) Kaitlin and I have been accepted by UVic to perform The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as the University's Spotlight on Alumni show this coming October. We're producing the show ourselves for the first time and look forward to the challenge. E) (Yes E! a lot has been going on) Kaitlin and I will also be heading to Barkerville this Summer to work for a few months as historical interpretors!
Meanwhile, the last few months I've been hard at work on a new play that may be produced for the Fringe Festival this year (if we end up getting a venue that is worthwhile) and penning a book of short stories that serve as a biographical sketch of my father and the fathers in my family. It's been a very rewarding process interviewing my dad for this book and finding out more about the man he is besides being my father, the man he was before his children came along and how he's progressed as a person. That's enough for now!
December 18, 2013
We're in the final week of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Western Canada Theatre and I'm using the off time to put together my comprehensive year end blog. For the past two years I've kept an inordinate amount of statistics, from the things I eat, to the plays I see, to the people I hang out with. My Top Ten Plays of 2013 can be found over at Theatre is for Suckers (it'll be on my blog in the next few days with a few more features) and my Books I Read post is live at Mackgordon.tumblr.com. I'll be posting new blogs over there for the rest of the month.
Updated: My 2013 Career in Review is up now.
October 20, 2013
Closed The Foreigner about a week ago. Man, was it a fun show. Now I'm working hard on Ballad of the Burning Lady for Western Canada Theatre's High Wire Festival. Western Canada is in Kamloops. The show only runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, so catch it if you can. After that, My wife Kaitlin and I are back to work on The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe from Pacific Theatre. It's heading out on a tour of the Lower Mainland and Interior (Mission, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Kamloops) until Christmas.
September 14, 2013
Knee deep in rehearsal for The Foreigner at Pacific Theatre. I think it'll be one of the funniest plays I've ever been in. It opens on the 20th and runs until October 12th.
Had an article published at Theatreisforsuckers.com on the benefits of working for free. You can check it out here: http://www.theatreisforsuckers.com/the-power-of-working-for-free/
August 2, 2013
I had an article published in Hush Magazine called Down the Rabbit Hole. The idea for the series is that it's part short story, part Q & A and part artist profile. I go out for a night on the town with musicians from Vancouver. The first one was with Dominique Fricot and I'd say it was pretty successful. You can read the first installment here:
http://www.hushmagazine.ca/music/down-the-rabbit-hole-with-dominique-fricot/.
I've also written through a first draft of a short play called The Ballad of the Burning Lady. This show will be produced around Halloween in Kamloops for Western Canada Theatre's High-Wire Festival. I'm putting the show on with Kirk Smith and his company, Flying Monkey.
July 5, 2013
After a great project of staging poetry with Conrad Alexandrowicz, and working with such lovely artists as Sandra Ferens, Linda Quibell, Jane Osbourne, Brahm Taylor, and Alex Frankson, in addition to having a blast at the PAL with the whole Western Gold crew, the Summer is a flash back to Romeo and Juliet with Mnemonic Theatre. I'll be playing Paris and the show will be playing the last two weeks of August on various beaches around Kitsilano. Admission is free and Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as Lesbians so how could you not come check it out? Other than that, the Summer will be filled with writing projects for me as I try and transition all my first drafts into third drafts.
May 31, 2013
After an audition heavy May, I'm getting geared up for a busy June. The final three weeks I'll be working with Conrad Alexandrowicz on a movement project in Vancouver. On the 13, 14th, and 15th I'll be working with Anna Hagan and Western Gold on a staged reading of Habeas Corpus with performances at the PAL in Coal Harbour.
April 9, 2013
Heading to the Unified General Auditions tomorrow to sit on the panel of auditors with Chelsea from Itsazoo. Going to see Three Sister's at Havana tomorrow evening. The rest of the week is full of writing (Local Violence), concerts (Ladyhawk), plays (Arthur Boy King), and audition prep (for Project X in Kamloops). Rehearsals for the second leg of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" start next Tuesday. On Sunday I start teaching for Carousel Theatre's children acting school. And that's my April!