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Newsletter
ENGAGING YOUTH: OPPORTUNITIES FOR
INVOLVEMENT
“Youth are our future—our future audiences, our future artists, our future volunteers.” This statement is uttered again and again by many theatre companies and artists. I must admit however, as someone who was recently a “youth” (and by some standards, am still), I have always found it to be somewhat ridiculous. Am I not in your audience already? Am I not auditioning for your shows? Am I not volunteering for your company? Youth are not the future, they are the present. If youth aren’t in the audience, or if they’re not volunteering for a company, it must be asked—why not? The notion that once someone stops being a youth they’ll start participating in the theatre community is misguided. To maintain and develop support for tomorrow, a company must offer positive motivation today, or an attitude of “you didn’t want me when I was sixteen, why would you want me when I’m twenty-five?” will prevail. There are a number of theatre organizations across the province which are implementing unique programs to encourage youth participation. These initiatives include training, ticket incentives and young companies. Soulpepper Theatre has initiated a unique training program, the Youth Mentorship Program. From all the applicants interviewed for the program, fourteen youth (aged 16 to 19) take part in this intense six-week experience. A member of the Soulpepper acting company mentors each youth. The youth also watch rehearsals, see shows, discuss various aspects of theatre—including meetings with theatre critics and stage managers. The youth also work on a process-oriented theatre production, all based around a particular theme. “The Mentorship Program is a tremendous opportunity for youth interested in theatre and the arts. It is not about the final production, it’s about the exploration of one’s self and how one works in a group dynamic,” states Merika Ramundo, Soulpepper Theatre’s Training and Youth Outreach Coordinator. Six Nations Community Youth Outreach initiated a training program this past summer. Bringing together a number of youth, the Summer Theatre Project offered a wide range of training classes including acting, vocal techniques, dance, stage management, design, communication in the theatre and arts administration. This emphasis on training and skill development led to a work-in-progress performance of an original production. Theatre Ontario's Youth Theatre Training Program (YTTP) provides training dollars to fund unique theatre programs involving youth aged 15 to 24. YTTP assists professional theatre artists or organizations that wish to mount projects that are a special combination of training and practical experience for young people. Organizations can receive a maximum grant of $5000 with all funds going to fund professional artists fees associated with the training project. The annual deadline for YTTP applications is May 1. Through two unique ticket incentives, Soulpepper Theatre is able to encourage further youth participation in the theatre. Response to the Bring a Parent to the Theatre program has quadrupled since it was implemented in 1999. Youth (19 and under) purchase one student-priced ticket and also receive one complimentary adult ticket. “What’s fantastic about this program is that the responsibility is on the student—they have to call the box office to arrange for the tickets,” says Ramundo. “There’s a great sense of pride in this—the student is taking the responsibility for planning a night at the theatre.” The V.I.P. Youth Come Free program is provided by Soulpepper to a number of youth service groups and schools facing financial barriers. “V.I.P. Passes are given to participating youth. These passes are like complimentary tickets to the season. The youth can use the pass as many times as they’d like during the season; they can see the same show as often as they’d like. The program encourages youth to discover the joys of theatre on their own terms,” explains Ramundo. Many theatre companies are founding young companies to engage local youth. For the most part, the emphasis of the young company is on the creation of a final product—a presentation of an established or new work. Oshawa Little Theatre has an active Youth Group of young people from ages 10 to 16. Members of the Youth Group audition in the fall. Members take part in instructional workshops beginning in October; the culmination of the Youth Group’s activities is a production presented during the spring. Sault Theatre Workshop has a successful young company, Stage 1. Youth, 14 and over can take part in this group which work on many productions over a year, including a number of original scripts. Stage 1 takes part in a number of one-act play festivals. The Blyth Festival’s Young Company has been operating for over twenty-five years. Made up of youth (aged 14 to 22), the Young Company is comprised of local residents. Auditions are now held, and up to fifteen youth take part in the group. A professional theatre artist directs the youth through six weeks of rehearsal, ending in a production. Theatre should be inclusive of all people. By
encouraging the active participation of youth—either as audience members,
artists or volunteers—theatre companies are establishing a relationship
that will continue to evolve and expand over many years. MEMBER PROFILE
Just two years later, though, by the time Wendy had reached grade six, she was already discovering that onstage wasn’t where her true passion was. She wanted to be the one telling the stories, not the one embodying them. At the delicate age of ten she founded the Tiny People’s Little Theatre, a company of child actors who wrote, staged and produced its own shows at schools and on stages around the area. These young performers controlled their shows all the way down to the creation of their own costumes. The project lasted for three years and was, Wendy notes, “perhaps foreshadowing for the creation of Theatre In Motion.” Theatre In Motion is Wendy’s own company, which has been up and running since 1997. It seems Ms. Hamilton has always been a self-starting powerhouse. Over the course of her lively career, Wendy has also worked in various areas of broadcasting. For example, she once wrote advertisements for the Ottawa ad agency Interact Communications, and has also written for television in such places as Sudbury and Kitchener. In the early 1990s she won a CanPro Award for a children’s television series, which she wrote and produced in the Sault, entitled Our Little House. Another area of interest for Wendy has been her commitment to arts advocacy. For four years she was an active board member of the Arts Council of Sault Ste. Marie & District. She notes that the more involved one becomes in any given arena of life, the more one feels the need to make a difference. So, it was a “natural progression” for her to become involved with the political side of the arts, by, among other things, chairing the development of the Arts Council’s first Strategic Plan. Sault Ste. Marie “is a phenomenon in terms of community theatre,” Wendy says with pride, “Kids get so much opportunity to perform at a young age here. But then they go off to drama school. I want those kids to feel compelled to come back and perform in their hometown once they graduate. In Ontario, anywhere outside Toronto you struggle to be a part of the development of your craft. We need to believe that the Sault can be the next Stratford, we can be the next Niagara-On-the-Lake.” Being an artist in Sault Ste. Marie has meant that Wendy
has had to be a jack-of-all-trades, due to limited access to theatre
professionals. “You have to make everything happen for yourself,” she
says. This experience can be both liberating and limiting at the same
time. Wendy has directed a number of her own pieces both at home and on
tour. Nowadays Wendy considers herself a playwright first and foremost. When writing, she prefers to remain simply W.A. Hamilton. When asked for her inspiration in that field, she drew a blank—“the love was always there, it didn’t need encouragement.” But she had much to say when asked just what she loves about writing for the stage; “I love writing because it is a collaborative medium. Theatre is everlasting and always evolving. Something I wrote in 1979 could be produced in 2050 with all sorts of new insights.” Although Wendy is hesitant to categorize herself into any
style or genre of theatre (“I’ll leave that up to the critics”), her plays
do reflect the compelling stories of the North. Wendy has also begun preparation for the creation of a National Film Board documentary on the artist Pegi Nicol MacLeod (who died in 1949). This will mark Wendy’s first venture into the world of documentaries and she is keen to get the process underway. In the future, Wendy would like to see more playwrights joining Theatre Ontario. “There is a strong relationship between the plays we write and community theatres—Theatre Ontario can help forge a stronger bond.” Wendy hopes that she will someday be able to actively participate in promoting Theatre Ontario to playwrights all over the province. Finally, the approaching winter months may be a gloomy time for some of us, but for Wendy the off-season is the perfect time to work on new plays, something that she is itching to do. Perhaps when the Theatre Ontario Festival rolls on up to the Sault in 2004, we will be able to see a whole new play from this spirited artist! EQUITY ACTORS IN COMMUNITY
THEATRE We have received a number of questions about Equity/ACTRA performers participating in amateur theatre. This article provides information for community theatres and offers advice that will help avoid surprises and headaches when dealing with union actors. This article is based on information provided in a conversation with Lynn McQueen, Equity Business Representative, in August. Equity is the professional association of performers, directors, choreographers and stage managers in Canada who are engaged in English-language live performance, including the stage, opera, ballet and dance. Once actors join the association, they are not permitted to work in theatre without an Equity engagement contract which outlines salary minimums and working conditions. Note that Equity and ACTRA (the association that represents performers in film and television) have a reciprocal agreement that states that if you are a professional actor in one field, you cannot be an amateur in the other. This means that ACTRA members must abide by Equity contracts when performing on the stage. Equity members should be aware of the responsibilities that come with membership, and should be honest about these responsibilities when dealing with community theatres. The back of their membership card reads: Under no circumstances may you rehearse or perform, stage manage, direct or choreograph in an Equity or non-Equity company— with or without pay—without a properly signed contract or the written permission of Equity. Recognizing the desire of some of its membership to engage in community theatre, Equity designed a special contract for amateur performances. The Amateur Contract is an agreement that allows an actor to participate in amateur performances, provided the company can afford a salary of $50 per show. Equity defines “amateur” very strictly. Amateur companies have no paid staff or aspirations for professional status nor do they regularly engage union-affiliated performers. Most importantly a volunteer board, not a paid producer, oversees their projects. The process to obtain an Amateur Contract is initiated by the actor. The Amateur Contract is a specific agreement between Equity and members who, for a particular reason, wish to work in community theatre. It is not an agreement between the community theatre and Equity; if a theatre decides that they would like to engage an Equity performer (for example, to fill a particularly challenging role) it must first request permission to use a Guest Artist Contract from Equity. The Guest Artist Contract involves the payment of minimum weekly fees. Equity retains the right to determine which contract is appropriate for any situation. Note that Equity directors must always be engaged in amateur groups under the Guest Artist Contract. Only performers and stage managers may be engaged under the Amateur Contract. The difference between the Amateur Contract and the Guest Artists Contract is important to understand, and Equity’s business representatives are happy to answer questions from community theatres and actors. There has been confusion regarding withdrawn Equity members and their relation to community theatres. If a withdrawn Equity member wishes to act, direct, stage manage, or choreograph in English-language theatre in Canada, he or she must reinstate in Equity and abide by the terms of the applicable contract. This rule applies to participation in both professional and amateur theatre. Again, it is the responsibility of the withdrawn member to be aware of and responsible for their relationship with community theatre. According to the Equity membership card: “Withdrawn Member” Status, “In Arrears” Status and “Suspended Member” Status do not give you the right to work in a non-Equity company. You are still a member of Equity. Some confusion has also arisen regarding GST and Equity performers in community theatre. Equity status is completely unrelated to GST and ticket price: theatres do not need to charge GST on tickets because they are engaging Equity performers. However, if the artist has a GST number, the community theatre is required to pay GST on the artist’s contractual fees. Though the onus is ultimately on the artist to ensure he or she is working under the applicable Equity contract, a community theatre can help prevent headaches with some forward thinking. Find out in advance if actors are members of Equity; ask on audition forms or during the audition. If you cannot afford to hire Equity performers, state on your audition notices that all roles are non-union and non-paying. If you find yourself in a position to hire an Equity artist, have them contact the association to determine the type of contract they need and what it entails. If you are an Equity artist who wants to work in an amateur production, speak to the association to get the information you need before you audition for the role. Most importantly, be informed. Nobody wants to be a week away from opening night facing a contract crisis that could have been prevented. For more information: |
Theatre Ontario member Wendy
Hamilton got her start, as many do, at a very
young age in hometown community theatre. In her case it was
a 1964 production of The Miracle Worker at the Sault Theatre Workshop
in Sault Ste. Marie.