We are living in an age that constantly asks us to see artistic merit in financial terms. The cost or gross of a film is talked about as much as its story. Paintings and their auction-house prices are discussed in the same breath. And people are as apt to leave a musical whistling the weekly gross as they are a memorable tune.

"We live in the Age of Andy, where money and art are coexistent", says playwright/teacher Mark Krause, using the title of his most recent play to make the point. The Andy of the title refers to Andy Wharhol, one of the first artists to fully acknowledge and embrace the relationship between money and art.

Originally from the New York area, Mark started his artistic career as an actor after graduating from McGill University. After spending several successful years performing, he started looking for a greater challenge. Directing seemed a natural progression. "Acting was a good place to start, but directing allowed me to look at an overall play." With the play increasingly becoming the focus, the leap to playwrighting was not far behind.

Mark started writing about eight years ago. A calm and very focused man, he admits to never knowing what he is going to write until he starts writing. "I'm fascinated by the process of writing. It's like getting the scent of something and losing yourself in it. You never know where it's going to take you, but once you finish and look back, it makes perfect sense." Mark has workshopped and produced works at festivals in Toronto, Vancouver and Detroit.

He has been teaching theatre classes at the Avenue Road Arts School since its opening in 1993. He enjoys teaching because he gets to "talk and learn about theatre from the people who are my potential audiences." The main emphasis on the class is fun, "but if students can come away with a greater understanding of the people in the play, and ultimately, themselves, I feel I've really done my job."

Creating a pleasurable and supportive space in which to explore - "a creative gym" - is what Mark hopes to achieve with the school's Beyond the Box program. A corporate creative day for business teams, Beyond the Box was developed by Lola Rasminsky, Director of the Avenue Road Arts School and Mark. The idea is to "take the muscles used to create art and encourage their use in the business work day." In a society that does not always give the arts its due, a program bringing the strengths of the arts (taking risks, seeing things in new ways) to a business setting seems particularly valuable. Who knows, in the 'Age of Andy', the current art-as-business relationship may never be the same.

Mark Krause teaches:

Acting for Fun
Wed. (7:30-9:30 pm) & Fri. (12:30- 2:30 pm)

Night at the Theatre
Thursdays (7:30 - 9:30 pm).

To register or to receive more information on these courses or the Beyond the Box program, please call (416) 961-1502.