Celebrating over 20 years of Suitcase in Point

Founded in 2001, Suitcase in Point is a courageous ensemble of artists and producers who engage and excite the Niagara community with original multi-arts performances and events, including In the Soil Arts Festival and Suitcase in Point’s comedy cabarets.

Challenging Perspectives

Through original work and collaborative community projects, we provide audiences with unique perspectives on contemporary life and culture. Our approach and our work aim to challenge perspectives and encourage change, tolerance, and self-awareness with an aim to promote a healthier, more connected community.

Suitcase in Point nurtures new generation artists through mentorship and residency programs, provides studio space for development and rehearsal, and creates meaningful connections between emerging and established artists from across Canada.

Our History

Celebrating over 20 years of Suitcase in Point

Suitcase in Point was founded in 2001 when a handful of graduates of Brock University’s Dramatic Arts program committed to stay in Niagara and build careers as artists. We worked on a project-to-project basis before incorporating as a not-for-profit in 2007, enabling us to program a full season of activity. To date, Suitcase in Point has created and produced eighteen new Canadian plays, and presented over 40 cabaret sketch comedy shows and special events, including In the Soil Arts Festival, now in its fourteenth year.

Suitcase in Point has received awards from past Local View magazine readers (‘Best Theatre Company’, ‘Best Comedy Troupe’), and the City of St. Catharines’ Trillium Arts Award for ‘Innovation in the Arts’ (2008, 2011). We have twice been featured in the Canadian Theatre Review, the major magazine of record for Canadian Theatre (CTR 143 Summer 2010; CTR 150 Spring 2012).

In 2014, Suitcase in Point was nominated for a Dora Award for Best Touring Production with The Keith Richards One Woman Show. This show went on to tour Western Canada, was presented at international theatre festival, High Performance Rodeo and was featured on CBC’s international program Q.

In October 2014, Suitcase in Point moved from our studio space in the historic Harris Building to the 3rd Floor of the Oddfellows Union Lodge. It is located in the heart of downtown on James Street and is one block away from the site of the new Performing Arts Centre and Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. In honour of Michael Green, a dear friend and mentor who passed away in February 2015, we named our space The Green.
Suitcase in Point is a St. Catharines-based arts organization that lives and works on the traditional territory of the Anishnabeg, the Haudenosaunee, Wyandot peoples and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and within the land protected by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum agreement. Today this gathering place is home to many nations and we offer our sincere gratitude to the original and continued stewards of this land, and to all nations, recorded and unrecorded, who take care of this land and have since time immemorial.

What We Do

Original Productions

Check out our collaborative community mixtapes, immersive site-specific experiences, comedy cabarets, and more.

Arts Mentorship

Our Arts Mentorship Program provides opportunities for new generation Niagara-based artists to build personal and professional relationships and strengthen discipline-based artistic practices.

In the Soil Arts Festival

Stay tuned for our 2023 In the Soil Arts Festival programming announcement! Early bird passes on sale soon.

For Artists

Check out upcoming calls for artists and funding opportunities, and book our studio.

Announcements

Job Posting: Managing Director

Date: 
October 19, 2023

Job Posting: Artistic Director

Date: 
October 19, 2023

2022-23 Year in Review

Date: 
July 19, 2023

Policy to Promote a Culture of Anti-Racism, Anti-Harassment and Equity

read our policies

Audited Financials

See where the money goes – Suitcase in Point’s Audited Financials.

Year In Review

Relieve the magic of previous seasons.

Help us do more for the Niagara arts community!

Support the creation and presentation of original productions, arts mentorship
programs, and the In the Soil Arts Festival. Donate or get involved today!

Government Funders

Thank you to our government funders for operational and project support.

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