Mandate: The purpose of Mitch and Murray Productions is to produce Vancouver premieres of plays from the global theatre canon which are provocative, entertaining and relatable to a modern diverse audience base. We also strive to break down barriers of access to the arts for many communities, with educational programming including scholarships for emerging performers and acting workshops for the neurodiverse community.
Mission Statement and Core Values: We stage cutting edge stories with characters who are morally complex and who challenge the audience’s preconceptions. Our goal is to entertain while asking audiences to explore their “discomfort” zones. Never shying away from controversial subjects, our productions have tackled race, gender, sex, gentrification, addiction and other social issues of our times. We search for plays that address the most contemporary of social concerns with text from the world’s great playwrights like Annie Baker, Lydia R.Diamond and Duncan Macmillan. We value a high standard of artistic execution in our work, accessibility for our audiences and inclusive opportunities for artists.
Our company also believes strongly in community building and mentorship. We have historically donated partial box office proceeds to charitable causes and we give back to our community through an annual scholarship for emerging actors under the age of 25. The scholarship includes two months of free acting training with our Artistic Director Aaron Craven in his professional weekly acting classes. We’ve also begun producing a new and unique workshop, ACTING ATYPICAL, a foundational exploration of acting for teens and adults on the autism spectrum. This workshop helps to break down barriers of access to the arts for the neurodiverse community.
We also spotlight anti-ageism in our practice by employing senior artists within our company and endeavouring to provide compensation commensurate with their years of contribution to their art form. To allow for socio-economic accessibly, we offer senior ticket pricing and several performances with reduced ticket prices. During the COVID pandemic, we have scheduled SENIORS ONLY matinees for limited-size audiences of seniors, enabling safer access to live performance for this at-risk demographic.
At Mitch and Murray Productions we strive to engage a new generation of audiences while giving back to our community and helping emerging artists find their unique voices and talents.