OTL Blog

Optative Theatrical Laboratories, forever exploring cultural issues related to social justice, is pleased to team up with Montreal’s Urban Ecology Center for the 2011 edition of Jane’s Walk. Celebrating “walkable neighbourhoods, urban literacy, cities planned for and by people,” Jane’s Walk advocates the ideas and legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs by encouraging people to explore their neighbourhoods and [...]

Artists are crying “Victory” in the Quartier des Spectacles after winning a David vs. Goliath battle that pitted powerful corporate interests against local artists at the Café Cleopatra, a popular burlesque venue and centre for alternative arts. Café Cleopatra hails from another era and symbolizes the city’s once thriving Red Light District. Situated within “The [...]

Eyebrows are once again being raised concerning the competence of urban planning on the Lower Main. First came the wholesale evictions and gutting of the now-crumbling historic block on the west side of the Lower Main, effectively transforming an area where entertainment once thrived into a dangerous and boarded-up eyesore.  Now, on the south-east corner of Ste. Catherine Street [...]