Shift Space

Bright white multi-​purpose space across from the looming Bell Centre on St Antoine, includes a series of 3 loungey and conference-​esque rooms lightly but comfortably furnished, with one larger room fit for performances — seats about 70, small bar stocked with whatever the event organizers of the night provide. Just a cool functional space, like a black box theater but the opposite and with more rooms. Originally intended for artistic and corporate workshops the space has been embraced by the local theater community as a good spot for an intimate encounter with an audience and it’s being used for monthly storytelling, live podcast recordings, dance innovations and more. The owners are chill, funny and open minded and seem eager to work with diverse creative groups.
The area is odd — it’s always been surprising to me how sketchy this strip is given how many people pour past it every night something big goes down at the Bell Center. But the sketchiness has meant decades of cheap practice spaces, recording studios, lofts for underground events, and cool unexpected bright little zones of creativity like Shift Space, so: all hail sketchy.