Jumblies Theatre

Jumblies Theatre

Jumblies Theatre
Company type	Non Profit
Industry	Entertainment: Community Art
Founded	2001
Founder	Ruth Howard
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario , Canada
Area served	Toronto
Key people	Ruth Howard, Founder and Keith McNair, Managing Director
Website	www.jumbliestheatre.org

Jumblies Theatre is a nonprofit theatre organization in Toronto, Canada. ^{[1] [2]}

History

Jumblies Theatre was founded in 2001 by Ruth Howard, who served as Artistic Director until 2022 when she stepped aside to make room for new leadership, including Artistic Director Sharada Eswar. In 2014, the organization relocated to its permanent home, The Ground Floor, situated within a Toronto Community Housing building in the CityPlace neighborhood. This space serves as a hub for a series of interconnected initiatives that critically engage with the Indigenous landscapes, histories, and cultural narratives of the Toronto region.

Practice

The Jumblies Theatre has several components: mentorship, consultancy, seminars and symposia, print and digital resources, a community choir, ^[3] and Artfare Essentials- a week-long course on the principles and practices of art intended to engage and create community.

Jumblies Projects are typically multi-year residencies, which involve hundreds of community participants and dozens of professional artists from a range of disciplines and cultural traditions. ^[4] Toronto residency neighbourhoods to date include South Riverdale, Lawrence Heights, Davenport-Perth, Central Etobicoke, and Scarborough.

Former Jumblies interns have established independent Offshoot organizations in neighborhoods where Jumblies conducted residencies: Arts4All (Davenport West), MABELLEarts (Central Etobicoke), and The Community Arts Guild (Scarborough).^{[ citation needed ]}

Projects

• South Riverdale (2001) Project Partners: South Riverdale Community Health Centre, WoodGreen Community Centre, Ralph Thornton Centre, Jimmie Simpson Recreation Centre and Park, Queen Street East Presbyterian Church, Riverdale Community Business Centre, WoodGreen United Church
• Arts4All (2001–2004) Offshoot project (2004–present) Project Partners: Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre, the STOP Community Food Centre, Pelham Park (TCHC), Davenport Perth United Church
• Camp Naivelt (2006–2009) Project Partners: United Jewish Peoples Order, Morris Winchevsky Centre, Mayworks Festival
• Jumblies Studio (2007–present) Program Partners: Davenport Perth Neighborhood Centre, Ontario Trillium Foundation, George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation, The J. W. McConnell Family Foundation. This was launched in 2007 as a training and mentorship program. Through the program, artists participate in workshops, learning sessions and apprenticeship opportunities in community arts. ^[5]

• The Community Arts Guild (2008–2012) Offshoot project (2012–present) Project Partners: Cedar Ridge Studio Gallery, East Scarborough Storefront, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Ontario Trillium Foundation

• Touching Ground Project Partners: First Story Toronto; Toronto Community Living; Railway Lands Residents Association; Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Continuum Contemporary Music, Evergreen Brick Works, Historic Fort York

Productions

• Twisted Metal and Mermaids Tears (2000)
• I’m Taiping Too! (2001)
• More or the Magic Fish (2002)
• The Land of Three Doors (2003)
• Once A Shoreline (2004)
• Your Name is Written in the Sky (2005)
• Where I’m From (2005)
• Tea and Bridges (2006)
• Bridge of One Hair (2007) ^[6]
• Hawa Jabril Book Launch (2007)
• Pigeon Creek Pageant (2008)
• Oy Di Velt Vet Vern Yinger (2008–2009)
• Nesting (2009)
• Family Suite (2010)
• Like An Old Tale (2011)
• Train of Thought Tour (2015)
• Touching Ground Festival (2017)
• Four Lands Tour (2016–2018)
• Talking Treaties Spectacle (2017–2018)
• Odaabanaag (2019)

Further reading

• The Jumblies by Edward Lear
• Easy to Say: Reflections on the roles of art and the artist in Canadian adaptations of the Colway Community Play form funded by Canada Council for the Arts, Rachael Van Fossen and Ruth Howard, January 2005
• Produced short video on Once A Shoreline process as part of Documenting Engagement Vancouver, Ruth Howard January 2004
• The Cultural Equivalent of Daycare?, Ruth Howard, funded by In Print Dialogue, Community Arts Ontario, 2004
• The Aesthetics of Including Everyone, Ruth Howard, Alt Theatre, Fall 2002
• "Is Anyone Political Any More?", Canadian Theatre Review, Edited by Kim Renders, Julie Salverson and Jenn Stephenson, Fall 2011
• "Out of the Tunnel There Came Tea", Chapter in VIVA! Community Arts and Popular Education in the Americas, SUNY Press and Between the Lines, edited by Deb Barndt, 2011
• "Placemats for September 11th", Critical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre in English, Vol.17: Political Popular Theatre, Ruth Howard, Ed. Julie Salverson, General Editor Ric Knowles, Playwrights Canada Press, 2010
• "Easy to Say", Ruth Howard and Rachael Van Fossen, Off-The-Radar, web publication by the Canada Council for the Arts Interarts Section, 2005
• "Holding On and Letting Go", Ruth Howard, Canadian Theatre Review, 1997

See also

• Community art
• Community theatre
• Ruth Howard
• Ann Jellicoe – Founder of The Colway Trust

References

1. Jon Kaplan (December 21, 2006). "A world of good – NOW Magazine". NOW Magazine. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
2. "Toronto: Luminato Festival announces its 2025 programme". Stage Door News. April 2, 2025. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
3. "'I didn't even open my mouth to sing until I was 35': In this Toronto choir, everyone is welcome". CBC.ca . January 16, 2018. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
4. Mann-Bertrand, Dominic (December 5, 2011). "Jumblies Theatre is influencing, and being influenced by, East Scarborough". The National Post . Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
5. Jumbliestheatre.org
6. "Bridging Communities". Now Magazine . April 27, 2007. Archived from the original on December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.

External links

• Official website