The Company
B2C Theatre aims to provoke and charge the soul by creating intense, highly theatrical, and visceral productions that explore rich texts and have a modern and social relevance to the world today.
B2C Theatre was formed in 2004 by theatre artists Lauren Brotman and Jack A Grinhaus. We are keenly interested in the beauty, boldness, and truth born from confronting the challenges that face the human spirit. We present familiar themes in unfamiliar ways through the artforms of theatre and more recently film, striving for full theatrical and cinematic experiences.
Since its inception, B2C has created and produced over a dozen productions, many of which have had remounts or toured, introducing audiences to new works, premieres of plays that include World Premieres (Isitwendam, Tabula Rasa, The Complex), the North American Premiere of debbie tucker green and her poetic masterpiece dirty butterfly, reimaginings of classics (Phaedra’s Lust, Saved, Shakespeare Unfolded, Hedda Noir). B2C has garnered strong critical and audience response, and has been nominated for numerous local and national awards. In development: The film Elle’s Valley and the plays She Carries Me Again , Painting the Streets and Wallflower. B2C is a member of TAPA, PACT and works under the CTA and ADC.
Lauren Brotman (she/her)
Artistic Director
Lauren Brotman is an award-winning actor, theatre creator and artist educator. She has performed across Canada and internationally for over twenty years. She received the Christopher Plummer Fellowship Award through which she trained and performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, U.K. and received a Dora Award for her work in And by the Way Miss (URGE/Theatre Direct). Lauren spent five seasons as Associate Artist at Theatre NorthWest, performing in Hedda Noir (Artist of the Year), Half Life, The Drowning Girls, Girl in a Goldfish Bowl and The Secret Mask and where she created Painting the Streets and Shakespeare Unfolded.
She has received several nominations as creator, collaborator and/or producer with B2C. Highlights/partnerships include the multi Dora nominated production of The Grace Project: SICK! (co-created with Judith Thompson and the ensemble for Next Stage), Phaedra’s Lust (LabCab/Tapestry New Opera), Jenny’s Room (workshops at Canadian Stage, The Grand and Factory), dirty butterfly with Obsidian Theatre and the multi Dora nominated production Isitwendam (with Native Earth Performing Arts, Talking Stick Festival, Theatre Northwest and the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre). Lauren is passionate about new play development and has performed in many workshops of new plays including for Canadian Stage, the AfriCanadian Playwright’s Festival, Nightwood, Theatre Passe Muraille, Factory Theatre, fu-GEN, Crow’s Theatre, Miles Nadal, Summerworks, The Grand Theatre, The Wrecking Ball and Bouche Theatre.
She has trained with some of the world’s most celebrated theatre directors including Mark Rylance, Anne Bogart/The SITI Company, Yael Farber, Norbert Kentrup, Yoshi Oida, Robin Phillips and Graham McLaren. She has mentored, facilitated and adjudicated across the country, in both remote communities and prominent theatres/schools and received the Jessica Fraser Award for Outstanding Contributions to Theatre for Young Audiences. Lauren is currently in development for her new play She Carries Me Again which will be workshopped at Prairie Theatre Exchange this season.
Jack A Grinhaus (he/him)
Artistic Producer
Jack is an award winning and nominated theatre artist, recently appointed the new Artistic Director of Vertigo Theatre. Jack has also worked in various streams of theatre as producer, designer, playwright, and actor with numerous theatre, TV, and film credits. He was the Artistic Director for the Canadian regional theatre Theatre NorthWest (2014-2019), was part of the 2010 Canadian Stage BASH Directors Residency as well as the inaugural Director’s Lab North at Tarragon Theatre, was a contributor to the World Theatre Encyclopedia and holds an MFA and BA Honours in Theatre from York University’s Theatre program, an Associate Degree in Acting from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and has studied intensely with internationally renowned artists Uta Hagen, Anne Bogart the SITI Company, and Graham McLaren. Jack's writing includes Rougher Trade, The Complex: A Toronto Tale, Toronto Without Words I, and created an original adaptation of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler called Hedda Noir, which won him Artist of the Year 2018 from the PG Citizen.He has also translated Yael Ronen's Nutcase as part of Plaeides Theatre's Translators Unit. He is also the current co-creator of Isitwendam and created the concept for the up coming film, Elle's Valley
Recent Directing Credits Include: Isitwendam (Native Earth Performing Arts/B2C/Talking Stick/Four Dora Mavor Moore Nominations), ART (Persephone Theatre/Nomination Outstanding Direction/SAT Awards)), Hedda Noir , Million Dollar Quartet, It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Alice in Wonderland, Half Life, TheSecretMask(TheatreNorthWest), Last Christmas(Lunchbox/Workshop Series), dirty butterfly(B2C/Obsidian Theatre), Phaedra's Lust (Tapestry New Opera/B2C), Release the Stars (Toronto Next Stage Festival), Taming of the Shrew (Grand Theatre HSP), Macbeth (Classical Theatre Project), Saved (Toronto Fringe Festival/Patron's Pick/Best of Venue), The Complex: A Toronto Tale (Festival of Creation/Canadian Stage/2010 Toronto Fringe), Carmen (Opera Lirica Italiana), Ghosts (AD/Morris Panych/Soulpepper), Playing Cards Part 1: Spades (Observer/AD/Robert Lepage/Ex-Machina) . He also recently directed the B2C film Elle's Valley.
Since 2004, B2C has been making work on land that is covered by Treaty 13, Toronto, 'where there are trees standing in the water'. We spent 5 years (2014-2019) creating work in Prince George on the traditional territory of the Lheidli T'enneh. The word "Lheidli" means "where the two rivers flow together" and "T'enneh" means "the People.
We are now based out of Calgary, Treaty 7 Territory.
Mohkinstis (Calgary) is the Blackfoot name for elbow and is situated at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers.
*For information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada click here.