Newsletter
February / March 2006
by Brandon Moore
Theatre Ontario’s Youth Theatre Training Program (YTTP)
provides training dollars to fund unique educational opportunities.
In Spring 2005, Theatre Ontario was able to fund a remarkable and diverse
training program lead by A Girl In The Sky Productions, bringing theatre
to youths in Toronto’s High Park area.
YTTP is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, and assists
organizations or professional theatre artists who wish to undertake
projects that are a combination of training and practical experience for
young people in Ontario. Theatre Ontario’s goals for the program
include providing opportunities for youth at risk and/or youth in
under-serviced communities; encouraging ethnic diversity in both trainers
and youth; and expanding the range of activity by encouraging training in
theatre skills in non-performance areas.
A Girl In The Sky Productions is a ten-year-old company,
specializing in theatre that uses aerial and circus elements in their
performance. The goals of their YTTP project included allowing youth
to explore circus, dance, physical theatre, music and multi-media theatre
tech through the process of telling a story and to assist youth to build a
repertoire of theatrical skills and develop self-confidence in relation to
the theatrical process and life. The project was lead by Rebecca
Leonard, Artistic Director, Angola Murdoch, Production Manager, and Bruno
Miguel, Choreographer. Bishop Marrocco / Thomas Merton Catholic
Secondary School, a 700-student school at Bloor West and Dundas West, was
the host for the program.
Their greatest obstacle was reaching the youth
participants. But as the recruiting took off, they were particularly
surprised by the large number of young men who came out to learn sound,
projection and lighting.
“We showed them what it means to be a lighting designer,”
Ms. Murdoch explained. “We showed them types of lamps, changing
bulbs, the safe rigging of lights.” The young men were turned into
the running crew of the show: one of the participants who was
musically-inclined wanted to know how to be a sound engineer; another
student trained to be the Stage Manager for the performance and learned
the importance and significance of the role: “He felt very special to be
chosen.”
YTTP funded
workshops in music (rhythm, singing, instrumentation), dance (hip hop,
break and contemporary), circus (aerial, acrobatics, pyramids, juggling
and stilting), performance (character development, improv, movement, stage
combat), and technical theatre (lighting, sound, props, costumes), and the
participants began developing performance and technical skills that were
applied to the story of Ten’nyo and The Fisherman
, a two-thousand-year-old Japanese myth. All of the
training elements were ultimately brought together in a stunning visual
performance of dance and theatre, aerial performance, and multimedia,
accompanied by live sitar and didgeridoo music.
The training program went beyond the mechanics of a
production itself. The youth participants came to appreciate how a
theatre company could be run. Using Theatre Ontario’s resources,
supplemented by practical examples from the workshop leaders, the
youth were given an understanding of how to structure a theatre
company. They developed a camaraderie from the creation of a safe
place to take risks and “leap into the unknown,” knowing that they would
have the support of their peers.
The school got behind the program, too: choosing
converting their analog lighting system to digital for the
performance. Already one of the most-used auditoriums in the
Catholic school system, the community is reaping benefits of the improved
technology. The trainees are benefiting as well: the students, now
skilled in building a wash, and creating some effects, are now being paid
to run the equipment for local community events.
The enthusiasm and commitment level of the students were
high. Audiences were impressed by the hard work and energy of the
performers; and volunteers from the professional theatre community
commended the youths on their professionalism. The fourteen
participants had gained a broad understanding of the skills necessary for
a theatrical performance.
by Vinetta Strombergs
After seven years and eight months, the time has come to say
Good-Bye!
Yes ‘tis true. I have been presented with directing opportunities
that I simply could not refuse. It is after all why I am a theatre
professional. So even though I love my job, adore my colleagues, and
am proud to serve this wonderful organization, it’s time to concentrate on
the precarious freelance directing career.
Where am I going
and what am I doing? Well February takes me first to Saskatoon where
I am helping develop a new script by Kenneth Williams for Saskatchewan
Native Theatre Company. I will have the privilege of workshopping
with the amazing Tantoo Cardinal – remember her as Graham Greene’s wife in
Dances With Wolves? If all goes well with the script, it
will also open their new theatre space in the fall and I will get to
direct that too. After Saskatoon, it’s further north to Whitehorse
where I will direct Patti Flather’s Where the River Meets the Sea
for Nakai Theatre at the Yukon Arts Centre. I have been helping
Patti develop this play over the last three years, and now it has just won
the BC New Play Competition. This will be its premiere production at
the Yukon Arts Centre. After that, it will be back to Toronto to
continue developing several musical theatre projects. This summer I
will be directing Drew Hayden Taylor’s funny and moving play 400
Kilometres
for Lighthouse Festival Theatre. All in all, 2006 looks like a
good year. Knock on wood.
At this writing, my replacement has not been announced but it is
imminent. As always, newsletter deadlines never fit life’s
timelines. Based on the short list, whoever it is, I’m sure they
will be wonderful in this position and before long, I will not be
missed. Check our website for the news. In the meantime, I
wish them well and congratulate them on their new adventure.
As always, I will be an advocate for Theatre Ontario and the great
services we offer here. There are so many people to thank and
celebrate besides my lovely colleagues here. There’s the staff at
our wonderful sister organizations in Suite 210 – TAPA, PACT and Opera.ca
– plus my wonderful committees for the Professional Theatre Training
Program and the Youth Theatre Training Program. These volunteer
theatre professionals make it a pleasure to have committee meetings.
I am consistently impressed with their knowledge and insight and
generosity. I also want to thank everyone I worked with on the Shaw
Directors Project, and especially Linda MacKenzie from our sponsor company
SunLife Financial. And I would be remiss if I did not thank the
inimitable Sandra Tulloch who hired me – thank you for this blessing – and
my past E.D. Jane Gardner who mentored us all for five years and delighted
us with her brazen laughter.
It’s also been a pleasure meeting so many theatre people, those
applying to the training programs or attending seminars, emerging artists,
and the trainers and mentors. This is a generous business.
Thank you all for your dedication.
‘Til we meet again – it will probably be in the theatre –
Merde!
Thanks for the memories…
See you real soon…
So long, and
thanks for all the fish…
Curtain…
Applause.
Many Theatre
Ontario Groups make scholarships for Theatre Ontario summer courses
available to their members. We asked David Nash, President of The
Oakville Players and a member of the Theatre Ontario Board of Directors to
describe the benefits of their program.
For several years, The Oakville Players, a community theatre group west
of Toronto, has offered scholarships to members of the group to attend
Theatre Ontario Summer Courses. At present the scholarship is for
$500; about two-thirds of the cost of a one-week course. Applicants
are asked to submit a request to the Executive for the scholarship and
give the reasons that they wish to attend.
There are certain criteria that the Executive applies in deciding
whether to grant the application. These include years of membership
in the group, the amount of time and effort the member has given various
productions, if the member has shown a willingness and ability to learn
about theatre and has demonstrated some sort of aptitude for the course
requested.
Most importantly, the Executive must feel assured that the member will
apply what they learn for the benefit of the group; that this is not just
a personal quest for knowledge but a commitment to give back.
Over the years, a number of members have attended the Summer Courses
based on this scholarship and we have rarely been disappointed at the
‘return of investment.’ I myself attended a director’s course and
have since directed three productions for the group. One of our
long-term stage managers learned much of his expertise at a TO course, and
the skills learned at a make-up course have not only been brought back to
the group by that individual but passed on to other members.
We consider the scholarships a wise investment in the skills and
training for members of our group.
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