Alex Bulmer

Alex Bulmer is a Canadian playwright and theatre artist. Bulmer is the co-founder of the theatre company Invisible Flash.

Alex Bulmer
Born
Puslinch, Ontario
NationalityCanadian
OccupationPlaywright

Early life and education

Bulmer was born in Kitchener, Ontario, but grew up in Puslinch. She attended Bishops University, studied theatre at the Ryerson University Theatre School and later attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England, where she studied advanced voice studies.[1]

Career

Bulmer performed drag as Alvin Calvin Cumberbund.[2] She also taught theatre at both Ryerson University and George Brown College.[1]

In 2000, Bulmer's one-act play Smudge premiered with Nightwood Theatre under the direction of Alisa Palmer. The central character in Smudge has retinitis pigmentosa, like Bulmer. The production starred Diane Flacks, Sherry Lee Hunter, and Kate Lynch.[2][3] Smudge was nominated for the Chalmers Canadian Play Award.[4]

In 2003, Bulmer emceed Smashing Stereotypes Productions' Culture Cauldron II, a cabaret of performances inspired by disability performed at Ryerson University.[5] Bulmer is one of the founders of Invisible Flash, a theatre company which she is currently the artistic director of.[6] She also worked as a part time literary manager for Graeae Theatre in London.[4]

Bulmer produced Cripping the Arts and Cripping the Stage in 2016, with funding from the British Council, Tangled Art and Disability, Ryerson University Disability Studies, and Harbourfront Centre. Cripping the Arts has since become a yearly symposium and, in 2019, featured Crip Shorts, which Bulmer co-produced.[7] For Crip Shorts, Bulmer worked with circus performer Erin Ball to make her performance accessible for the visually impaired.[8]

In 2017, Bulmer acted in Martha Ross's The Story with Common Boots Theatre.[6] In 2019, she worked with Common Boots Theatre again, this time serving as accessibility dramaturge for Natasha Greenblatt and Yolanda Bonnell's The Election.[9] At the 2019 Toronto Fringe, Bulmer co-directed Scadding.[10]

Bulmer co-created the play May I Take Your Arm with Anna Camilleri, Tristan Whiston, and Katie Yealland. May I Take Your Arm premiered with Red Dress Productions in 2018.[11][12] Bulmer and Red Dress Productions re-imagined May I Take Your Arm as an online performance for the 2020 Luminato Festival.[13][14] Bulmer developed the play Blind Woman in Search of a Narrative between 2018 and 2020 during her residency with Bodies in Translation at the University of Guelph.[12]

Plays
  • Smudge
  • May I Take Your Arm - co-created with Anna Camilleri, Tristan Whiston, and Katie Yealland
  • Blind Woman in Search of a Narrative

Personal life

Bulmer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at age 21 and lost functioning vision in 2006 as a result.[6][3] In 2003, Bulmer moved to London, England but returned to Toronto permanently in October 2017.[6]

gollark: What about it?
gollark: <@379441093558927391> You would probably get better answers if you just post your question or whatever instead of asking for help first.
gollark: Wow. 480 new messages.
gollark: <#426116061415342080> is probably the right place for meme stuff?
gollark: Hmm, it cuts it off a bit.

References
  1. Crew, Robert (2000-11-13). "Eyesight gone in a smudge ; With star Diane Flacks, playwright explores loss of sight: [Ontario Edition]". Toronto Star. p. D02. ISSN 0319-0781 – via ProQuest.
  2. Kaplan, Jon (2000-11-16). "Alex Bulmer's groundbreaking Smudge goes inside the mind's eye. Sight unseen". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  3. Crew, Robert (2000-12-11). "Smudge". Variety. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  4. Flacks, Diane (2009-05-26). "Life is a five-star performance; Having cultivated her talent abroad, Alex Bulmer plants her creative seed here". Toronto Star. p. E6. ISSN 0319-0781 – via ProQuest.
  5. Henderson, Helen (2003-03-22). "Cabaret about disabilities promises to be a hit: [Ontario Edition]". Toronto Star. p. L04. ISSN 0319-0781 – via ProQuest.
  6. Maga, Carly (2017-12-12). "Blind actor Alex Bulmer leads the way into theatre's future". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  7. "Cripping the Arts shines a light on disability arts in Canada". NOW Magazine. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  8. Kenins, Laura (2019-01-24). "For these performers, accessibility isn't an afterthought — it's a creative opportunity". CBC. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  9. Cole, Susan G. (2019-10-15). "Savvy The Election evokes the passion of political volunteers". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  10. Sumi, Glenn (2019-07-06). "Fringe review: Scadding". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  11. "May I Take Your Arm?". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  12. Chandler, Eliza; Johnson, Megan; Gold, Becky; Rice, Carla; Bulmer, Alex (2019). "Cripistemologies in the city: 'Walking-together' as sense-making" (PDF). Journal of Public Pedagogies: 2–3.
  13. Sumi, Glenn (2020-06-10). "Six must-see shows at Luminato's three-day virtual festival". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  14. Corrigan, David Rockne (2020-05-14). "The show must go online: Theatre in the age of COVID-19". TVO.org. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
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