Robert Motum

Motum was born in Oshawa, Ontario. He attended the University of Waterloo for his BA in Drama[4] and Aberystwyth University for his MA in Practising Performance.[5] He is currently completing a PhD in performance studies at the University of Toronto[1] and teaches at Sheridan College.

As a site-specific theatre practitioner, Motum has a history of staging new theatrical work outside of purpose-built auditoriums.[2] His 2013 play, Transience, was staged on an active Grand River Transit city bus as it circled its loop of Kitchener-Waterloo.[6] He has since staged work in public parks,[5][7] in a Queen Street art gallery,[8] inside a vacant Target store,[9] in a castle,[10] throughout the streets of Hamilton, Ontario,[11] and in augmented reality.[12] His work has been supported by the Stratford Festival, the Ellen Ross Stuart Opening Doors Award,[13] Outside the March[3] and others.

His verbatim play, A Community Target, is based on interviews with over 60 former employees of Target Canada and recounts the dramatic collapse of the retailer in the country. Staged inside a vacant Target store in Hamilton, Ontario, the piece garnered national[14][15] and international media attention.[16]

Motum has written about the ethics of site-specific performance for various academic publications including the Canadian Theatre Review and Theatre Research in Canada.[17]