Student summer job available at Theatre Ontario

Theatre Ontario has received funding from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture under the Summer Experience Program to hire a student between the ages of 15 and 25 who is currently enrolled in a secondary or post-secondary institution (or within six months of graduation), for the position of Education Assistant to work with our Education Coordinator in preparation of our annual summer theatre courses.

ONstage Openings for the week of May 30

In Southwestern Ontario
May 30, The Merry Wives Of Windsor at Stratford Shakespeare Festival
May 31, Camelot at Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Jun. 1, The Grapes Of Wrath at Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Jun. 2, Popcorn Plays 6 at Kitchener-Waterloo Little Theatre
Jun. 3, The President at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in previews

In Toronto
Jun. 2, 6th Annual InspiraTO Theatre Festival at Theatre Inspirato
Jun. 2, Theatre Out Of The Box at ACT II Studio Theatre
Jun. 2, There Goes The Bride at Scarborough Theatre Guild
Jun. 3, Billy Bishop Goes To War at Soulpepper Theatre with a preview on Jun. 1

In Central Ontario
Jun. 2, Jake's Women at Owen Sound Little Theatre
Jun. 2, Four Play at South Simcoe Theatre (Cookstown)

In Eastern Ontario
Jun. 2, The Pajama Game at Belleville Theatre Guild
Jun. 3, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Orpheus Musical Theatre Society (Ottawa)

In South Central Ontario
Jun. 2, Last Of The Red Hot Lovers at Mississauga Players
Jun. 3, Regrets Only at The Curtain Club (Richmond Hill) with a preview on Jun. 2

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage theatre listings on the Theatre Ontario website.

Summer Course Profile: The Directors Symposium

After a wildly successful debut in 2010, the Directors Symposium returns for our 2011 courses.  The Directors Symposium offers experienced community theatre directors the chance to meet and discuss the art of directing with five different professional directors.

Each day during the week, a different well-known and respected professional director will meet with the class. Morning discussions, led by a facilitator, will include informal conversation about the art of directing and the guest’s personal style and artistic journey. After lunch the group will delve into a script chosen by the guest (and studied by the participants prior to attendance) and will discuss particular questions such as: What research would you do before meeting with either cast or designers?  What would the discussion be like with your designers?  What would the first day of rehearsals look like?  What is the greatest problem in the text?  And so on.  Come and take part in this unique exchange of directing ideas.

Our five guest directors for 2011 are: Dean Gabourie (Stratford Shakespeare Festival), Eda Holmes (Shaw Festival), Christopher Newton (Shaw Festival), Yvette Nolan (Native Earth Performing Arts), and Richard Rose (Tarragon Theatre).  John Goddard, Executive Director of Theatre Ontario, will be the facilitator for this course.

The Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive runs from August 7 to 13 at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.  Read about all of our Summer Courses on the Theatre Ontario website.

Welcome to our New Board Members

Theatre Ontario is pleased to welcome the new members of our Board of Directors for 2011-2012 elected on May 21 at our Annual Meeting.

Dr. Barry Freeman is an Assistant Professor in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto—Scarborough whose research involves Canadian theatre, drama-in-education, and ethics and interculturalism. Barry is a regular contributor to national and international theatre journals and is the Executive Editor of Theatre Research in Canada, Canada’s only peer-reviewed theatre journal. Barry is a member of the Board of Directors of the Paprika Festival and has worked for Theatre Ontario in the past, as Summer Courses Youth Counsellor in 1999 and as Summer Courses Coordinator in 2000.

Emma Mackenzie Hillier is an emerging theatre artist, practitioner and administrator living in Toronto who originally hails from Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Since graduating the University of Windsor’s BFA—Acting program in 2008 she has been quite busy establishing herself as an actor. On the other side of the “table”, Emma has been quite busy assistant directing, her favourite credit so far has been in assisting Ted Dykstra on the acclaimed Soulpepper production of Jitters, however she has also traveled out of Toronto to St. Catharines to assist for Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects on both Shakespeare’s Villains and Sexy Laundry. She is also interning with Iris Turcott at Factory Theatre and spends part of her days working for STAF (Small Theatre Administration Facility) where she both writes grants and helps with publicity.

Ken Stephen grew up in Toronto and settled in Elliot Lake in 1978 to teach high school.  He became involved in the local Ptarmigan Players group as an actor, lighting operator, stage manager, director, and served on the Executive, and later joined the new Elliot Lake Amateur Theatre Ensemble (ELATE).  He was a delegate to the QUONTA Drama Region and served as President and Treasurer, and was Festival Chairman for three QUONTA Festivals held in Elliot Lake in 1999, 2004, and 2008.  The first of these was a co-production with the Elliot Lake Entertainment Series, a producing organization for which Ken held a board position for over 10 years.  For over 25 years he adjudicated semi-annual presentations of original one-act plays at ELSS.  In 2007 Ken received the Michael Spence 35th Anniversary Award from Theatre Ontario, upon the nomination of QUONTA, for “a sustained contribution to theatre in Ontario.”

Deb Sholdice spent “many happy years in my youth” as a volunteer usher at the Blyth Festival.  In 2000, she went with her son to a volunteer orientation session and became fixtures ever since, first as a member of the community company for all three productions of The Outdoor Donnellys and as a member of the Board of Directors. In 2007, the organization was searching for a General Manager and Deb was ultimately selected for the position.  Since that time, she has worked closely with many organizations and businesses to promote arts and culture in their rural region.

We will also be welcoming new appointees from QUONTA (northeastern Ontario) and Northwestern Ontario.

ONstage Openings for the week of May 24

In South Central Ontario
May 27, Urinetown: The Musical at Studio PAVAS (Oakville)

In Southwestern Ontario
May 24, Leading Ladies at Victoria Playhouse Petrolia
May 25, Heartbreak House at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake)
May 26, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake)
May 27, Drama At Inish - A Comedy at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake)
May 27, Seussical at Theatre Woodstock
May 28, Candida at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake)
May 28, My Fair Lady at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake)

In Toronto
May 26, Present Laughter at East Side Players
May 26, Untitled at Canadian Stage
May 27, Tightrope at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre with a preview on May 26

In Eastern Ontario
May 24, Messiah on the Frigidaire at Ottawa Little Theatre
May 26, This Is What Happens Next at Great Canadian Theatre Company (Ottawa) with previews from May 24
May 26, Charlotte's Web at Ottawa School of Speech And Drama
May 27, Anything Goes at Suzart Productions (Ottawa)
May 27, Murder at the Howard Johnson’s at Lennox Community Theatre (Selby)

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage theatre listings on the Theatre Ontario website.

Congratulations to Domino Theatre

Congratulations to Domino Theatre from Kingston, whose production of Trying by Joanna McClelland Glass was awarded the Elsie for Outstanding Festival Production at Theatre Ontario Festival 2011 in Richmond Hill.

The full list of awards and nominations is available on the Theatre Ontario website.  You can also read the Festival Awards Brunch live-blog transcript.

Adjudication of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Highlights and my reflections from this morning’s detailed adjudication by Jane Carnwath of Theatre Windsor’s presentation of Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

• This was a gripping, well-realized production
• Director Jeff Bastien's orchestration of the pacing, and the variety of the pacing, was quite beautiful; this had a jazz beat to it (inspired by some of his research into Edward Albee and his writing habits)
• Audience cannot become comfortable watching this show, and they didn’t
• Act titles set tone: Act 1 “Fun and Games” needed to be funny, needed to establish the ground rules; Act 2 “Walpurgisnacht” as the ante goes up and up; Act 3 “The Exorcism” requires ritual
• Theatre is action: how one action triggers another action, be careful about abstractions that cannot be played; get beyond the analysis to the action—what does the character want?
• Lots of marvellous detail
• Lighting was a bit dim, particularly in the area around the bar; adapted from a much shallower stage, part of the problem was caused by the front-of-house safety lights, but some of it was directorial choice; unfortunately moments at the bar were lost because the actors couldn’t be seen
• Niki Richardson, who played Martha, wore a wig; she did feel that it gave her a tangible, physical way to access the character; but the difficulty was that it made her look younger (as opposed to a character who wanted to look younger) and the bangs sometimes hid her face
• Costume choices were excellent, but Martha’s dress read a bit “prom” rather than seductress, bra straps were visible
• Spine of the play: Who is afraid to live without illusion? George’s actions are necessary to achieve that goal; driven by the intense love between these characters; the baggage turns it toxic
• Moment-to-moment work was very clear and very well-shaped
• Rhythm of the play is naturalistic
• Martha had a wonderful physical aggressiveness
• Chris Lanspeary, as George, kept finding fresh ways to approach familiar speeches; sometimes he would get upstaged, caused in part by the placement of the furniture
• Sean Ireland, who played Nick, had to step into the role for this run; credited especially for his work during the “mounting her” sequence with George where he physically invades George’s space, a wonderful moment exerting power
• Nick’s drunkenness was subtly, carefully plotted over the run of the show; evolved beautifully
• Level problems for a significant sound cue, as it was hard to hear the music that George chose for the dancing
• The challenge for any actor playing George is finding the vulnerability and pain; those are the qualities that “level the playing field” so it is conceivable that Martha could win
• As a tactic, yelling is powerful because it allows for an emotional release, but balance it with quieter moments
• Find the obstacle, find something to struggle against; if there is no struggle, if a character doesn’t care about what is happening in a given circumstance, then why should an audience care?
• Daniela Piccinin played Honey; her vocal choice was initially jarring but became extremely effective over the course of the play (as one of my friend’s remarked to me: Can you imagine being married to that voice?); wonderful characterization
• Terrific execution of the stage combat
• Discussed the choice of how to approach the requiem: is it more powerful to read it or to say it?
• Beautifully sustained physicality in the final moment

Festival Awards

Since it was such a hit last year, we're trying another Festival Awards live-blog from the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts for those of you who cannot attend.  We'll be going live at noon on Sunday May 22, although the awards won't begin until after the brunch, probably around 1pm.  But keep your browser up so you can be part of the excitement!

Visit the Festival 2011 Awards live-blog on the Theatre Ontario website.

Adjudication of Trying

Highlights and my reflections from this morning’s detailed adjudication by Jane Carnwath of Domino Theatre’s presentation of Trying.

• Play was chosen by the theatre, director Penny Nash applied to direct it because the loved the script
• A two-hander, and you had to know you could find two people who could inhabit the roles
• Characters bring an enormous amount of social and emotional baggage
• One challenge of the text is that from the point of view of a story arc, not much “happens”
• Moved from the Baby Grand Theatre in Kingston—one member of the company said that the entire building could probably fit on the stage of the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts
• But the width was comparable, their home stage was much shallower
• Set design by Grant Buckler used symmetrical beams to define the walls of the space; “nitpicky comment” was that the beams could have used a darker shade in order to reflect the age of the office, would also help tone down any focus that they might draw
• The width meant that the furniture was far apart; sometimes the sparks between the characters “had to fly a little too far”
• William Morrow played Judge Francis Biddle, hearing his rich, deep voice at the adjudication made me appreciate the impressive vocal and accent work as he found the character’s mid-Atlantic pitch
• Sound designer Michael Gourgon decided that since the text clearly placed the period of the show (1967-1968), he could focus on theme and tone rather than trying to evoke the era; reflected the two-person structure by choosing duets of cellos and violins, some baroque some modern, matching the tone and the prominence of the respective instruments to the tone of the scene; the choices were sensitive and not intrusive
• Lighting design was by David L. Smith, a professional member of the Theatre Ontario Talent Bank: the space was well-lit, the one opportunity that was identified was more sense of the light sources
• William Morrow described how he physically inhabited the role of an 83-year-old man (since he is much younger); observations particularly of a neighbour who has rheumatoid arthritis, he would practice the walk for long stretches in order to “build muscle memory” when he stepped onto the stage
• With a cast of two (the other being Naomi Ballance as Sarah “with an H”), Jane’s “let’s try something” adjudication approach meant that they were kept up on their feet a lot; one area that Jane explored with them was eye-line connections, and one could change the status of the characters by changing where the eyes were looking—often the person who is not looking at the other would gain status in the moment (and kudos to the properties person who produced the letter opener from her handbag needed for the exercise!)
• Logistics of exits in-between scenes—sometimes, when an exit is described with particular significance (in this text, it’s a door to a bathroom where she is directed to go if she wants to cry), using that exit even during a scene change can have unintentional impact
• A wonderful illustration of a scene earning its laugh: “Lace your skates and get on the ice”
• Playwrights often come from a very different place from actors and directors when they write the text
• Actor struggled with how much Biddle reveals to Sarah throughout the play, challenge of how much he can share, too much is inappropriate for this kind of man; agreed that this is a valid struggle for any actor playing this role, recognized that humour can be used as a technique to temper those revelations, it doesn’t make him seem weak, it keeps him in control of the revelation, while also building trust between the characters
• The sound effect of the stairs off-stage was a wonderful illustration of a production making a discovery beyond a simple description in the text; the sounds of the characters on the stairs punctuated the physical changes to the characters; the fact that pregnant Sarah on the stairs in the final scene sounds very similar to the physically frail Biddle on the stairs in early scenes reminds us that both the ending/taking of life and the beginning/giving of life takes an enormous physical toll on us
• The production did an excellent job exploring how breaking physical boundaries can show a growing connection between characters
• Biddle can be a difficult man to like; it was to the actors’ credit that his performance showed no judgement or commentary on him (a theme previously explored in the Thursday afternoon workshop when we discussed Hedda Gabler and the fact that no actor playing Hedda should ever think that she’s a monster; you must not judge the characters)
• They did a wonderful job in shaping the unseen character of Catherine, Biddle’s wife; the actors and director made sure that she was a well-defined, vibrant, consistent person
• Lovely costumes (designed by Claudia Wade): Sarah’s colour reflected her youth and her sense of hope; Biddle is defined by his struggle to maintain his dignity (how he looks clearly matters), he still tries to dress formally, but there is an inevitable shabbiness
• Scene changes are logistical challenges, actors are changing costumes and time is passing so a stage crew is necessary; there was enough light and choreography to keep it interesting nonetheless

Tonight Theatre Windsor presents Edward Albee’s classic Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, the final presentation of this week’s Theatre Ontario Festival 2011. Tomorrow, we will be presenting the Festival Awards at the Performing Arts Centre immediately after the adjudication, and I will be live-blogging. My blog of the final adjudication will be published when I am suitably recovered.

Adjudication of Balconville

Highlights and my musings from this morning’s detailed adjudication by Jane Carnwath of Espanola Little Theatre’s presentation of Balconville.

• This was a very brave and innovative production
• Director Walter Maskel chose the play; he had read it a long time ago, and liked it as an exploration of social, economic, political issues that still had good comedy
• Espanola had been auditioning a different play, but based on the strong francophone talent that came out, Walter thought this was an opportunity to do Balconville; four of the nine cast members spoke French as their first language
• With the significant Franco-Ontarian population in northeastern Ontario, there was a natural fit for audiences
• Production achieved a detailed exploration of character, finding the nuances and connectedness in them
• Central question was the dark comedy: could the production find more of the darkness in the text?
• Feedback at their previous adjudication was that it had been too dark
• Personally, this is something I have always struggled with during this process: in an educational Festival with multiple “tiers”, how does one make best use of the feedback that you receive from adjudicators, how much opportunity is there for further exploration, how does one integrate an educational process into one where there is also an obligation to perform
• Discussion around what the play is about and the central conflict in it: these are characters who are fighting against The System; when people feel powerless, they try to find someone over whom they can exert some power
• As an actor, always make the high stakes choice: rather than “be uncomfortable” try “be afraid, be angry”
• The higher stakes choice gives the actor a more interesting place to come from; look for ways to raise the stakes through more difficult objectives: “I want to avoid…” is an easier goal than something like “I want to demolish…”
• Discussion around the suggestion of incest in the text; Walter had consulted with the playwright David Fennario who said that it hadn’t been his intention to suggest it, even though it has appeared in many subsequent interpretations of the play
• Festival logistics are always a challenge for the participating productions: Fennario uses the song “Hot Child In The City” throughout the play (and the characters need to compete to be heard over it), it didn’t have that volume during the performance; the companies move into the space and have to set sound levels in an empty theatre, it’s always difficult to achieve the desired effect without a preview
• The lighting poses similar challenges; in Espanola they have about 8-9 feet of ceiling and twelve lighting instruments—Walter (who also designed the lights) had an opportunity to use cyc lighting, and would have loved a couple of days to play; the priority has to be “Can I see them? Can I hear them?”
• Explorations lead to some wonderful discoveries of unscripted moments; reinforced yesterday’s workshop theme of the benefits of “a playground”
• Jane likes to get actors on their feet to do exercises during her adjudications to illustrate points: how can one reinforce the through-line with simpler or stronger choices?
• Tremendous praise for the two first-timers in the cast: Raymond Landry as Paquette and Jessica Lajoie as Diane
• Wonderful use of silence between characters; silence can be a risky choice, but is also a powerful one
• Set design by Richard Gamelin and Walter was excellent; called for multiple levels but had to adapt the setting to a single storey due to the space in Espanola—gave them an opportunity to surround the home of the French family with the homes of the English families, reflecting the theme of Quebec within North America
• Discussion about the set dressing; used laundry lines to help define the characters and fill the stage, but they also were used functionally by characters—therefore does the laundry need to change to reflect the passage of time over the course of play?
• The company did their own costumes; particular highlight was the costuming choice for Cecile going to church which clearly established what that experience meant for her
• The cast worked extremely well as a team; during the climactic fire, the staging was clearly challenging to choreograph and rehearse, yet executed wonderfully
• Likewise, the transitions between scenes were well-choreographed, and never felt like a break
• Final moment of “the world in flames, what are we going to do?” is a very Brecht-ian moment; so that the effect would not be jarring to the audience, they made a good choice to establish the convention earlier in the show (during Bolduc’s political announcements)
• Closed with a fun curtain call

This afternoon features Playwright-in-Person Emil Sher at The Curtain Club, and tonight Domino Theatre from Kingston takes the stage at the Richmond Hill Centre for Performing Arts with Joanna McClelland Glass’ play Trying, as Theatre Ontario Festival 2011 continues.

Directing: You And Your Actors

by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Is the Director a Teacher? Dictator? Confidant? Therapist? Facilitator? Cheerleader? Social Convenor? Guru? The answer to these questions was the topic of Jane Carnwath’s Adjudicator’s Workshop “You And Your Actors” on Thursday afternoon at Theatre Ontario Festival 2011.

Jane used this workshop as a launching point for an open discussion on the role of a director beyond the functions of the role—how can a director work best with actors to achieve the best possible production?

The consensus seemed to be that the director needs to create an environment where the actor has freedom to explore, but within boundaries that the director establishes and manages. The director’s challenges is to try and understand why an actor behaves a certain way under certain circumstances, so that they can help maintain that environment of trust.

The metaphor that Jane frequently used was a playground, an open but safe place where actors can explore limits, knowing that they wouldn’t be subject to ridicule through embarrassment or hurt. It requires an emotional intelligence on the part of the director to be able to gauge that. The actor needs to know that the director is an ally. That doesn’t mean changing the status of the relationship, but the actor needs to be able to know that anything goes, that whatever risks s/he takes.

Using a brief scene from Judith Thompson’s adaptation of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler as a launching point, the workshop participants simulated a first read-through and what the director would want to do in those circumstances. This lead to a discussion of how the director can ask questions that drive action in an actor (as opposed to questions that drive thought in an actor)—What do you want? What’s stopping you? It doesn’t matter if the actor is necessarily making the right choices (yet), what matters is encouraging the actor to make strong choices. Directors shouldn’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”—it’s one of three answers you have (“Yes” and “no” are the others) and is better than a dithering director who shifts between them.

The workshop then got into problem-solving around specific situations. Jane circulated a lengthy list of situations that a director may encounter during rehearsal. (I’ll publish it after the Festival.) She freely admitted that she didn’t have the precise solution for many of them, but they opened up discussion for all of the participants to explore, and to consider their own responses in those circumstances.

My take on the answer to the opening question? Maybe all of them, at various times, depending on the needs of the actor. Building an environment of trust requires flexibility by the director—the person who shoulders the blame in all circumstances.

Adjudication of Suds: Lessons Learned On Imagination, Bubble Machines, and Underwear

by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

My musings from this morning’s detailed adjudication of Whitby Courthouse Theatre’s presentation of Suds

• Having the adjudicator and company on the stage of The Curtain Club, with the Festival attendees sitting in the auditorium, makes it much easier to hear the dialogue throughout the adjudication
• A shame that director Mike Trites wasn’t able to attend due to work commitments; theatre depends on choices and those decisions form the core for Jane Carnwath’s dialogue with the company; it would have been interesting to hear him talk, as Jane observed he clearly has “kept his childlike imagination” in crafting this production
• Commendations to the team of Director, Choreographer Tara Forbes, and Musical Directors Eric Brydges & Janice Brydges for how the music, dancing and staging brought the text to life
• When this production moved from the Whitby Courthouse Theatre to the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, the stage size doubled; “there were some modifications that had to be made,” admitted Ian Handscomb, Set Designer
• Highlight of the set was definitely the wall dryers which spun in beat with the dancing, and also functioned as a magical source of props—and even an entrance
• They chose to take advantage of the Centre’s fly gallery which they didn’t have in their own space
• Heather Gibb, who played Cindy, was dancing despite wearing a back-brace
• The lighting design by Kevin Arbour helped convey some of the magic of the story (the story features two guardian angels); when lighting a comedy, always consider how brightness can serve the comedy by “opening up” the performers and the connection with the audience
• The choreography choices favoured a lot of front and centre presentation to the audience; one topic for exploration during rehearsal is trying more singing to each other, especially when the lyrics of the songs are about making connections between characters
• Lovely palette choice for the costumes designed by Valerie Skinner; topic for discussion is the choice of how to costume the character of Mrs. Halo—they chose a “spangly” route but what are the opportunities in making her more frumpy?
• First discussion of underwear: “I was impressed by the mileage you got out of a pair of boxer shorts” – Jane Carnwath; never underestimate the power of a good prop
• The musical directors created some sophisticated harmonies; the cast members had to be versatile and jump between soprano, alto and bass lines
• “You don’t necessarily have to have a wonderful voice, you have to commit to selling the song, and this was a wonderful sales job”
• “Legitimate theatre”: a new term for me that some use to refer to non-musical theatre?
• Something I found myself wondering about the show’s characters that I should have asked during the Q&A: Ultimately, what makes the difference between an archetype and a stereotype? Where is the boundary in distinguishing between the use of these terms for characters? It’s always a distinction of quality; does it simply reflect greater reflection by the writers, actors, etc.?
• Perhaps the greatest potential in this text (and what this production found) was how it evokes a period when popular music was coming into its own as a cultural force
• The script refers to multiple “Finales”; one can divine the authors’ intention is to build and build and build to an over-the-top conclusion—and thus, bubble machines!
• But that also reflects that this is a text that wants to “jolly up” the audience constantly; a comparison was made to a hugely-popular big budget musical that is not “a happy show” but seems to want to have that happy finale
• Interesting Q&A discussion about how many people knew the songs in the show (audible shock when one cast member admitted she didn’t previously know “Where The Boys Are”); I think it speaks very much to different generations and what we all grew up with (about 75% of the songs were familiar to me based on what my parents listened to while I was growing up)
• More discussion about underwear: apparently the company had an extremely difficult time finding affordable period bras for the women, especially when there is a line in the script about bullet bras; apparently the costume designer experimented wearing cones made out of cardboard for a day, and assured the cast that they were “lovely”
• I was interested in exploring how one finds the subtext in a song; I’ve heard of people doing songs as monologues as a rehearsal technique; cast member Donna Lajeunesse, who is an experienced musical theatre performer, described it as a natural process for her, building on what Jane calls the “hinges” from text to song; Jane also observed that the music itself is also an expression of text that needs to be explored
• That relationship between director, musical director, choreographer and how they collaborate on interpretation is something that fascinates me; I need to try it

Also, an example of the networking value of Festival: the company from Kingston, who are building a new facility, were particularly interested to see how The Curtain Club provides flexible accessible seating to the patrons and their removable seats.

The Theatre Ontario Festival continues this afternoon with Jane’s Adjudicator’s Workshop at The Curtain Club, and tonight Espanola Little Theatre takes the stage at the Richmond Hill Centre for Performing Arts with the bilingual comedy Balconville by David Fennario.  ELT represents QUONTA, the northeastern Ontario region extending from North Bay to Timiskaming to Timmins to Sault Ste. Marie.

Thoughts After The Party - Festival Day 1

by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

• Congratulations to Whitby Courthouse Theatre on a successful kick-off to Festival; as described by adjudicator Jane Carnwath, Suds is "a laundry line on which to hang the songs" but the company brought a commitment to the characters, the songs, and the stakes that made it a delightful way to start a week of celebrations
• My personal highlights: Donna Lajeunesse singing "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me"; the comic choreography for "The Locomotion"; Jason Butler-Burns' shape-shifting versatility to perform the role of Everyone Else; well-deployed bubble machines
• I'm a fan of Jane's expectations as Festival Adjudicator: clarity, high stakes, commitment to connections between characters - looking forwarding to hearing more at the detailed adjudications
• She also highlighted something I hadn't noticed myself: all four shows this week are period pieces, plays reflecting on the past
• The Curtain Club is my home theatre so I'm admittedly biased, but the volunteers are an enthusiastic group; their theatre is a jewel; their chefs are wonderful
• The Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts makes 600 seats feel very intimate
• Grassroots was an idea conceived at a Christmas party, and is a wonderful initiative by Playwrights Canada Press - scripts that premiered in places away from major centres like Elmira and Kincardine and Haliburton are reaching new audiences that they might have never otherwise seen; it was also great to have all of the authors on hand for the launch
• Very proud of the turnout from the Town of Richmond Hill's Council at the Opening Ceremonies: Mayor Dave Barrow, Regional Councillors Vito Spatafora and Brenda Hogg, Town Councillors Greg Beros, Nick Papa, and Carmine Perrelli whose ward is the home of The Curtain Club and has been an enthusiastic booster of The Club in his brief time in office; with cultural planning a priority on the Town's agenda, they got to meet with theatre-goers from across the province and see how their commitment to culture is vital and can have such a significant impact
• Julianne Snepsts, President of the Theatre Ontario Board, needs to keep bringing her five-month old son Duke to our events and meetings because he is adorable

Opening Day at the Theatre Ontario Festival

by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Although the official Opening Ceremony isn’t until this evening, the 2011 Theatre Ontario Festival kicked-off “unofficially” at 8am this morning, with the arrival of Whitby Courthouse Theatre at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts.

Working with the theatre staff and Festival Stage Managers Steve Hetherington and Rob Mather, WCT has have ten hours to load-in, set-up, and be ready to perform. They are presenting the musical Suds by Steve Gundersen, Bryan Scott & Melissa Gilb. Their production of this “rocking 60s musical soap opera”, won the Best Production award in the Musical category at the 2010-2011 ACT-CO Festival.

As is tradition, the opening production is from the Festival host region. Whitby Courthouse Theatre represents ACT-CO, the Association of Community Theatres—Central Ontario. ACT-CO represents over 40 community theatres in an area across the Greater Toronto Area from Halton to Durham, and north to Muskoka, Simcoe and Dufferin. This is WCT’s second consecutive year as the ACT-CO representative; last year they travelled to London with their production of Norm Foster’s The Long Weekend.

Festival-goers are arriving in Richmond Hill from across the province--a map marking the hometowns of all the visitors will be on display throughout the week. Old friends gather and new acquaintances are made. The Theatre Ontario Festival is one of the best networking events for community theatres to share experiences and discuss new ideas.

The Opening Ceremony is tonight at 6pm at The Curtain Club. The Curtain Club has been presenting community theatre in Richmond Hill for over 55 years, with nearly forty of those years in their recently-renovated space at Newkirk and Elgin Mills Road. The Club will be the hub for this week’s adjudications, workshops, and receptions.

As part of the Opening Ceremony, we will be launching Grassroots, an anthology of original full-length scripts that premiered at Ontario community theatres, edited by Theatre Ontario and published by Playwrights Canada Press. The five playwrights featured in the anthology—Kristin Shepherd, Michael Grant, J. Michael Fay, Joan Burrows, and Sandy Conrad—will all be on-hand for the festivities.

And with the formal opening, the celebrants will travel to the Centre for Performing Arts for tonight’s performance, launching an exciting week of theatre.

Need A Dramaturge?

By Dennis Johnson, Community Theatre Coordinator

As we approach the fortieth anniversary of the founding of Theatre Ontario, a significant event in our history has just happened. For the first time, Playwrights Canada Press, working with Theatre Ontario staff, is publishing an anthology of full-length plays originally premiered by community theatres in Ontario. GRASSROOTS includes five new plays, each of which has had at least one local production by an all-volunteer community-based company.

Originally, thirty-eight plays were submitted, narrowed down to a short-list of ten. Sadly, only five can be published. The number of new plays written for community theatres in the last decade (and produced by them) is very encouraging indeed. So is the potential for future productions. Three of the five plays in GRASSROOTS have already been staged again by other community theatre companies. Two of the anthology playwrights are about to have new plays premiered next season. The credibility of local playwrights, and the interest in new plays by community theatres, have both gone up a notch.

What interests me is the prevalence of mentors for these emerging local playwrights. Most of them were lucky enough to receive dramaturgical support from someone in the profession.  Joan Burrows made use of the talents of Allan Stratton who adjudicated an early version of Staff Room.  He also taught Theatre Ontario summer courses in playwriting, which enabled Joan to develop her second play.  Sandy Conrad was invited by Anne Chislett to send her play to the Blyth Festival where it was workshopped by dramaturge Anne Turnbull.  Subsequently A Year In Edna’s Kitchen went through several incarnations before it was finally produced by the Kincardine Theatre Guild.  Michael Fay’s Never Such Innocence Again, was adjudicated by Ron Cameron-Lewis who was then asked to workshop the play and helped Michael develop a second version which was performed at the Sheridan/UTM Drama Program.

There is a lesson here. Support from a Dramaturge can result in a stronger play script, or at the very least a more confident playwright.  What’s a Dramaturge? Sounds like the straight line for a joke.  But there’s no punch line here. Just a new word. At least for community theatres. And a new need we are only just beginning to be aware of.  If we are to continue developing meaningful plays for production and re-production, we should seek input from people who have been doing it for a long time.

The word Dramaturgy can mean many different things. European “Dramaturgs” are different from North American Dramaturges. There is Production Dramaturgy and there is Literary Dramaturgy. It can all get very confusing. The key question is: What can a Dramaturge do for us?

In professional circles, Dramaturge is often the new word for Literary Advisor. A theatre company producing a period play, or any play where the playwright can’t be at rehearsals (or is dead), hires a Dramaturge to stand in for the playwright, advising on the author’s intent, the meaning of words, the literary content, the original context of the play, etc. A Dramaturge can also develop educational materials and prepare research for the show programme, the press package and the company website.

But Dramaturges are even more useful with new plays—and here we come to the point.  Dramaturges (whether their experience is in playwriting or directing) help us hold up a mirror to a new text and examine its strengths and weaknesses.

Last Spring I received a call from the Guelph Little Theatre asking if I would set aside a weekend in November for play polishing their Christmas production – an original play they had just cast.  I suggested that instead of a play polishing at the end of the rehearsal process, why not consider a dramaturgical workshop to explore the brand new text?  They decided to do both.  Lindsay Price was available and she came to Guelph to work with the cast on character development and a first reading of the script. The play’s author was an observer, furiously taking notes the whole weekend. By the end of the process, he was inspired to revamp and strengthen the text.

Community theatres often have play selection committees to plan their upcoming seasons.  They read a number of submitted plays and select a season they think will challenge the company and sell to the public. But selecting the repertoire is just the start of the process when new scripts are available. I would suggest that company program planners identify worthwhile new scripts a year in advance, and plan workshops and public readings to stimulate company and public interest in the project. The process of selecting and preparing a new play for production, is a longer process than most of us are used to.

If community theatres are to be successful at producing new work (and the playwrights of our province surely need them to be) then we should plan to give those new plays the same development and nurturing that professional theatres do.

Here is a list of Theatre Ontario Talent Bank members in the Creative Writing Category.  These people are available to workshop new plays and mentor new playwrights.  You may also wish to browse our website and look for directors and others experienced in new play development. Here’s a link to our Talent Bank.

Join Us At The 2011 Annual Meeting

By Julianne Snepsts, President of the Theatre Ontario Board

With the great tradition of the Theatre Ontario Festival comes our Annual General Meeting, held on the Saturday afternoon amidst the Festival celebrations.

The 2011 Annual General Meeting for Theatre Ontario will be held Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 11:30am at The Curtain Club, 400 Newkirk Road, Richmond Hill.  I urge all members of Theatre Ontario to attend this year’s AGM if at all possible, and if not, please take the time to review the slate of Board candidates and send your proxy vote.  Forms to designate proxies (if you cannot attend) or group representatives are available on the Theatre Ontario website and can be brought in person to the meeting.  There has been a lot of talk about democracy in recent weeks, and we all know that voter turnout is key to a vital nation and, indeed, a vital arts organization. I hope you will take this opportunity to participate.

At the AGM this year we will be revealing details of our Strategic Plan for 2011-2013, which means that this year's meeting will have some extra drama and excitement to entice you!

As we welcome many new faces to our Board of Directors, we will also be saying farewell to some excellent members. This year we say goodbye to Anne Mooney of London, your current Vice President, and Sheena Albanese of Thunder Bay, your Board Secretary and Northwest Rep. Both of these fine ladies have served a full six-year term on the Board.

We will miss Anne’s warm personality and thoughtful contributions to the Board and Executive but also know we'll keep in touch as she continues to be involved in her local and regional communities.  Sheena has been a wonderful collaborator and friend.  The organization is indebted to her commitment to Theatre Ontario and to the needs of our colleagues in the Thunder Bay area.

We will also say goodbye to John Koensgen and Patrick Gauthier of Ottawa.  Both have been valuable allies in the professional theatre community of the Capitol Region and we wish them much success in their busy theatre lives.

Finally, we must send our gratitude and very best wishes to Margit Tauchner of Ottawa who resigned from the Board earlier this year for personal reasons.  Margit has been the Eastern Ontario Rep, Member-at-Large on the Executive, and a passionate advocate for community theatre and for Theatre Ontario. 

Let's extend our sincere thanks to these great friends who are leaving the Theatre Ontario Board family!

We are also pleased to welcome Emma Mackenzie Hillier of Toronto, Deb Sholdice of Blyth, and Ken Stephen of Woodstock who are joining our Board of Directors.  From their bios:

Emma Mackenzie Hillier is an emerging theatre artist, practitioner and administrator living in Toronto who originally hails from the small town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Since graduating the University of Windsor’s BFA—Acting program in 2008 she has been quite busy establishing herself as an actor, some of her credits include: Missing (Factory Theatre), Luck (Essential Collective Theatre), The Grace Project: SICK! (Bound2Create) and soon she will be playing Olivia in Twelfth Night (Humber River Shakespeare) for their first school tour. On the other side of the “table”, Emma has been quite busy assistant directing, her favourite credit so far has been in assisting Ted Dykstra on the acclaimed Soulpepper production of Jitters, however she has also traveled out of Toronto to St. Catharines to assist for Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects on both Shakespeare’s Villains and Sexy Laundry. As well, Emma is delighted to be interning with Iris Turcott at Factory Theatre. Presently Emma spends part of her days working for STAF (Small Theatre Administration Facility) where she both writes grants and helps with publicity.

Ken Stephen grew up in Toronto and settled in Elliot Lake in 1978 to teach high school.  He became involved in the local Ptarmigan Players group as an actor, lighting operator, stage manager, director, and served on the Executive, and later joined the new Elliot Lake Amateur Theatre Ensemble (ELATE).  He was a delegate to the QUONTA Drama Region and served as President and Treasurer, and was Festival Chairman for three QUONTA Festivals held in Elliot Lake in 1999, 2004, and 2008.  The first of these was a co-production with the Elliot Lake Entertainment Series, a producing organization for which Ken held a board position for over ten years.  For over 25 years, he adjudicated semi-annual presentations of original one-act plays at ELSS.  In 2007 Ken received the Michael Spence 35th Anniversary Award from Theatre Ontario, upon the nomination of QUONTA, for “a sustained contribution to theatre in Ontario.”

Deb Sholdice spent “many happy years in my youth” as a volunteer usher at the Blyth Festival.  In 2000, she went with her son to a volunteer orientation session and became fixtures ever since, first as a member of the community company for all three productions of The Outdoor Donnellys and as a member of the Board of Directors. In 2007, the organization was searching for a General Manager and Deb was ultimately selected for the position.  Since that time, she has worked closely with many organizations and businesses to promote arts and culture in their rural region.

Join Us at Theatre Ontario Festival 2011

On May 18 to 22, the 2011 Theatre Ontario Festival travels to Richmond Hill.  Are we going to see you there?

The annual Theatre Ontario Festival is a showcase of outstanding community theatre productions chosen from regional festivals across the province.  The Festival brings together theatre lovers from all over Ontario, and is an excellent learning experience, with adjudications, workshops, networking, and play readings by Canadian writers.  It's also a celebration of community theatre: awards recognizing outstanding achievements, and lots of parties!

The networking starts with the Festival organization itself.  The Festival is a partnership between Theatre Ontario, the local regional association (ACT-CO, the Association of Community Theatres—Central Ontario), and the host group.  This year’s host company is The Curtain Club, a community theatre with over 55 years of history presenting outstanding theatre in the Town of Richmond Hill.

This year’s line-up of productions features the musical comedy Suds by Steve Gundersen, Bryan Scott & Melinda Gilb, the classic Canadian comedy Balconville by David Fennario, the new Canadian triumph Trying by Joanna McClelland Glass, and the 20th century masterpiece Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee.  These four outstanding productions from Whitby, Espanola, Kingston, and Windsor take the stage at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts.  Tickets are available at 905.787.8811.

At the opening reception on Wednesday night at The Curtain Club, we will be launching Grassroots: Original Plays From Ontario Community Theatres, our partnership with Playwrights Canada Press to publish a collection of full-length scripts that premiered on our province’s community theatre stages.  After each performance, we’ll be returning to The Curtain Club for the Green Room receptions.

Beginning Thursday morning through to Sunday, there will be a detailed adjudication of the previous night’s performance at 10am.  Our adjudicator is Jane Carnwath; previously she adjudicated our 2005 Festival in Belleville.  Thursday afternoon features her Adjudicator’s Workshop: “Directing: Working With Actors” at 2pm; and on Friday afternoon, playwright Emil Sher will be our Playwright-in-Person, reading from his work, also at 2pm.  Saturday afternoon at 11:30am, Theatre Ontario will hold its AGM.  All of these events are at The Curtain Club.

On Thursday and Saturday afternoon, heritage buffs can take advantage of tours of the historic parts of Richmond Hill, a Town whose roots date back to the 18th century.

On Sunday morning at noon, we will be recognizing outstanding achievements from the productions at the Festival awards brunch.  We will also be presenting the 2011 Maggie Bassett Award to Diana Belshaw.  Doors open at 11:30am.  Our Festival awards live-blog in 2010 was a big hit…stay-tuned for news about our plans for 2011.

And while Jane adjudicates this year's productions, a new generation of adjudicators will be taking part in our Introduction to Adjudication course lead by Ron Cameron-Lewis.

All of your Festival 2011 event information can be found at the Official Festival website www.tofestival2011.ca.  We look forward to seeing you in Richmond Hill!

Summer Course Profile: Marketing On A Shoestring, with Cheryl Ewing

Is it easier to keep your existing audience than to find a new audience?  What do people expect from their night at the theatre?  How can you help them to meet their expectations?  Find the answers at “Marketing On A Shoestring”, a special one-day workshop on Wednesday, August 10, as part of our 2011 Theatre Ontario Summer Courses.

Cheryl Ewing will answer these questions and will guide you through a review of what you are currently doing to help you adapt to the new reality—a world where we are increasingly crunched for time, bombarded with messages and feeling isolated. Taking a look at recent advances in values-based marketing and relationship building, we will consider how we can encourage people to invest in their mental health and attend your theatre in the most cost conscious methods.

This is a special one-day workshop that will be part of our 2011 courses.  It is non-residential, but lunch will be provided.

Cheryl Ewing has been working in the arts and culture sector for over three decades, primarily in the performing arts. Her experience has been in the not-for-profit, for-profit, municipal and educational sectors as a consultant and administrator. Her client list includes national organizations such as eyeGO to the Arts and the Association of Cultural Executives; the provincial presenting networks—CCI Ontario's Presenting Network and the Atlantic Presenting Association; project manager for CCI's Values & Benefits marketing research project; audience development initiatives for Guelph’s River Run Centre and the national project, eyeGO to the Arts; contemporary new music organizations Open Ears Festival and NUMUS Concerts Inc.; and mentor to the tech crew at Waterloo Region’s Integrated Arts Program at Eastwood Collegiate.  She volunteers for JM Drama, Dancetheatre David Earle, Waterloo Dance Project and served on the steering committee of Waterloo Region's Prosperity Council Creative Enterprises Task Force.  She is a firm believer that the arts and culture sector is essential to the health of a community.

The Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive runs from August 7 to 13 at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.  Read about all of our Summer Courses on the Theatre Ontario website.

ONstage Openings for the week of May 16

Our 2011 Theatre Ontario Festival opens this Wednesday in Richmond Hill.

In Eastern Ontario
May 18, Beauty And The Beast, Jr. at Ottawa School of Speech And Drama
May 19, Lend Me A Tenor at Bay of Quinte Community Players (Trenton)

In Southwestern Ontario
May 16, Jesus Christ Superstar at Stratford Shakespeare Festival in previews
May 19, Richard III at Stratford Shakespeare Festival in previews

In Toronto
May 17, The Aleph at Soulpepper Theatre with previews from May 13

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage show listings on the Theatre Ontario website.

Theatre Ontario Presents 2011 Maggie Bassett Award to Diana Belshaw

Theatre Ontario is thrilled to announce that the 2011 Maggie Bassett Award shall be presented to Diana Belshaw.  The award, for a sustained and significant contribution to the development of theatre in Ontario, recognizes Diana’s vision, passion and natural fight for excellence.

As Co-ordinator of the Theatre Performance Program at Humber College since 2000, Diana has established what Andy McKim, Artistic Director of Theatre Passe Muraille, calls a “jewel in our Ontario stable of conservatory acting programs.”  Humber’s program is recognized for the quality of its graduates, its strong connections to the professional theatre sector and its artists, and its attention to developing students’ entrepreneurial skills—needed by today’s professional artists.  As her colleague Paul de Jong, the program’s Head of Voice, describes, “she wanted to train actor/creators—artists who had the tools to articulate, produce and promote their own artistic vision for the world.”

In the 1990s, as Professional Theatre Coordinator at Theatre Ontario, she developed Showcase—the presentation of the graduates from post-secondary theatre programs before an invited audience of artistic directors, freelance directors, casting and talent agents.  Diana also helped found the Acting and Modelling Information Service, an organization that was instrumental in developing the Entertainment Industry Coalition’s Code of Ethics for agents, to deal with the problems of unethical talent, modelling and background agencies.

As an actor and director for over forty years, she has worked at theatres across Canada including Blyth Festival, the National Arts Centre, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Necessary Angel, Centaur Theatre, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Persephone Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, and Vancouver Playhouse.

The award will be presented to Diana on May 22nd in Richmond Hill at the awards brunch for the 2011 Theatre Ontario Festival.  “The nominations for this year's Maggie Bassett Award were all of an exceptionally high calibre,” said Leonard McHardy, Chair of the Maggie Bassett Award Jury.  “The unanimous choice of Diana Belshaw to receive the Award recognizes her passionate vision which contributes to the creation of a vibrant and nurturing environment which connects both theatre and theatre artists to the community.”

“This award is very special to me for many reasons,” Diana said.  “I have been very blessed by being able to work with artists, educators, administrators, people of all backgrounds and ages, throughout my career—and they continue to teach me how important the theatre is to all of us as a culture and as individuals. The making of theatre embodies and illuminates the very best in all of us. It teaches me humility and privilege daily—humility to serve an art form that gives voice to our common stories, and privilege to have been part of so many theatre communities for almost fifty years! Thank you—and thank you, Theatre Ontario, for linking us together so resolutely for so many years.”

Read more about the Maggie Bassett Award

For information about attending the Awards Brunch, please contact Brandon Moore at brandon@theatreontario.org or 416.408.4556 x.15.

ONstage Openings for the week of May 9

In Toronto
May 9, Double Bill: (re)birth: e.e. cummings in song / Window On Toronto at Soulpepper Theatre with previews from Apr. 30
May 9, A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare In Action
May 11, Frotenteras Americanas at Soulpepper Theatre with previews from May 6
May 11, The Shape Of A Girl at Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People
May 13, The Aleph at Soulpepper Theatre in previews

In Central Ontario
May 13, Tales Of An Urban Indian at Talk Is Free Theatre (Barrie) with previews from May 9

In Eastern Ontario
May 11, i think i can at National Arts Centre, English Theatre (Ottawa)
May 11, All For Your Delight at Rural Root Theatre (Ottawa)
May 12, Run For Your Wife at Domino Theatre (Kingston)
May 13, Toad – The Anna Russell Story at St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival (Prescott)
May 14, The Marvelous Wonderettes at Thousand Islands Playhouse (Gananoque)

In Northeastern Ontario
May 12, Miss Saigon at Theatre Cambrian (Sudbury)

In Southwestern Ontario
May 10, Heartbreak House at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in previews
May 10, The Merry Wives Of Windsor at Stratford Shakespeare Festival in previews
May 11, Animal Farm at Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects (St. Catharines)
May 13, Hairspray at Drayton Entertainment: St. Jacobs Country Playhouse with previews from May 11

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage show listings on the Theatre Ontario website.

2011 Summer Theatre Preview

By Tim Chapman, Professional Theatre Coordinator

The 2011 summer theatre season is soon approaching so I thought I would give you a look at what theatre is around the corner.  For 2011, there are 26 members of the Association of Summer Theatres ‘Round Ontario (ASTRO, www.summertheatre.ca).  Norm Foster remains the much loved king of summer theatre in Ontario.  Eight ASTRO members have a Norm Foster comedy in their 2011 seasons, including the new musical comedy Ned Durango.  Showboat Festival is also touring Thom Currie’s successful musical Mama’s Country Record Collection to three ASTRO theatres this summer.  Here is a quick summary of what all of them are doing.

Space Still Available In Self-Start On May 11

There are still a few spaces remaining in next week's workshop on Self-Start: The Basics of Self-Producing.  If you want to do a show but have never produced before, and if you want to know what questions to ask first, this session is for you!

Read more about Self-Start on the Theatre Ontario website

Summer Course Profile: Shakespeare Conservatory, with Andrew Tidmarsh

Andrew Tidmarsh’s Shakespeare Conservatory was a huge hit at our 2009 Summer Courses.  We’re thrilled to announce that he is returning from England in 2011 for his week-long intensive.

The theory is that if you can handle the complexities of Shakespeare’s verse, you can do anything. The embodiment of text is key to the actors’ craft and thus this workshop will enable you to sharpen your acting skills by using Shakespeare’s texts to test out new approaches and techniques. We will investigate:

• The relationship between form and content;
• Heightened form and heightened experience;
• The art of performing an engaging monologue;
• The breath and phrase in Shakespeare;
• Shakespearean Characterization;
• The codes of Elizabethan Court and what this means to an actor in the world of the play.

By the end of the week, participants will be able to present a monologue; be able to present a short duologue or group scene; have an understanding of the Elizabethan world view; feel tested and stretched as an actor; be developing a new sense of intellectual and instinctual muscularity; and understand how the relationships you build in scenes are the key to effectiveness as an actor.



Andrew Tidmarsh will be guiding the actor through these processes using play, improvisation and scene building. While each actor will receive a great deal of personal attention they will also be working ‘on their feet’ throughout much of the day. The emphasis on the class time is on doing, acting, creating and building. Relatively little time is spent watching or discussing.

Following his BA in English and German and his MA in English (both from London University), Andrew worked briefly as a standup comedian before being asked to run a theatre company in Wuerzburg in the South of Germany. The theatre company soon expanded into touring its productions to theatres and festivals throughout Germany.  Returning to UK, Andrew became an assistant director at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre. He has directed at Shakespeare’s Globe, Jermyn St Theatre and Wimbledon theatre among many other venues.  Since 2001, Andrew has lectured in Elizabethan theatre and theatre history at Goldsmiths, University of London. Currently Andrew works at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he set up the Academy’s new Foundation Course, and is the Course Director. Andrew also runs the Young Actors’ Summer School, the Chekhov Summer School, RADA and the Drama Centre. Andrew has worked at East 15 and Central School of Speech and Drama.  Andrew lives in London with his partner and their two children.

The Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive runs from August 7 to 13 at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.  Read about all of our Summer Courses on the Theatre Ontario website.

ONstage Openings for the week of May 2

In Southwestern Ontario
May 3, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in previews
May 5, I'll Be Back Before Midnight at Theatre Tillsonburg
May 5, Peg And The Yeti at The Grand Theatre (London)
May 6, The Hobbit at The Grand Theatre (London) with previews from Apr. 27
May 6, Picnic at London Community Players (London)
May 6, Disorder at Theatre Intrigue Society (Windsor)
May 6, Drama At Inish - A Comedy at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in previews
May 6, Self Help at Players' Guild of Hamilton
May 7, Offensive Fouls at Carousel Players (St. Catharines)

In Toronto
May 5, Agokwe at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
May 5, Zadie's Shoes at Factory Theatre
May 5, Cruisin The Sixties at NAGs Players
May 6, My Fair Lady at Alexander Singers and Players
May 6, Frotenteras Americanas at Soulpepper Theatre in previews

In Central Ontario
May 5, Shout! The Mod Musical at LP Stage Productions (Shelburne)
May 5, Ned Durango at Theatre Orangeville
May 6, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Northumberland Players (Cobourg)

In Eastern Ontario
May 6, Jasper Station at Seaway Valley Theatre Company (Cornwall)

In South Central Ontario
May 6, Just The Way We Are at Clarkson Music Theatre (Mississauga)

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage show listings on the Theatre Ontario website.