“We clear space to cultivate and nurture artistic voices as catalysts for deep encounters with ourselves and others. This unlocks connection and ignites curiosity to animate public spirit.”
History
ATOMIC VAUDEVILLE
Atomic Vaudeville was founded by Jacob Richmond and Britt Small and began producing original work in 2004. We are a Victoria-based performance company that has produced new work locally, nationally and abroad. Atomic Vaudeville was formally registered under the BC Society Act on January 24th of 2008 as a non-profit theatre society.
Atomic Vaudeville has played a unique role in our local community. At the onset, we were interested in creating, performing and touring new work based on a shared aesthetic of rough but potent theatricality, dynamic musical and physical expression and a presentation style that brought the audience closer. Simultaneously, our company began producing monthly cabaret shows (the Vaudeville Series) as a kind of make-work project for performers and creators recently out of school. We were joined over the years by improvisers, musicians, poets, dancers and we became the go-to company for both touring artists and those new to the city.
AV grew out of a partnership and a community – performers, creators, misfits. Jacob and Britt assembled a company that produced irreverent messy exhilarating shows that were so joyful they attracted and were nourished by an embarrassment of talent. A robust cycle of art making and storytelling straddling the sacred and the profane continued for 16 years including the creation and production of musical ‘Ride the Cyclone’ which won the DORA Award for best touring production in Canada.
Co-founder Jacob Richmond resigned in 2020 and Britt took the opportunity to reevaluate the structure of the company. The work during the pandemic centered around creating a new leadership model and future including imagining new approaches to funding and community engagement. We formed a new AV leadership team with Co-Directors Pedro M. Siqueira, Kathleen Greenfield and Britt Small. We sought to find the most ‘life giving’ moments from our careers and experiences as leaders in the arts community that Animated Public Spirit, Amplified an Artist Led Culture and Actualized Artists/Creators as the voices of a Vibrant Community. Together we created both personal and a group provocative proposition:
ATOMIC VAUDEVILLE 