Stories from the Summer Theatre Intensive: Learning to Love Again

by Cassel Miles

This past summer I learned how to love the craft of acting again. I am a professional actor with more than twenty years experience. I thought that I knew what I was doing. My original intention when signing on for a Theatre Ontario Summer Intensive course was to take a course on teaching drama to children. Apparently I was the only person who had signed up for that class and so it was cancelled. The option to study with Peggy Coffey was presented as an alternative. Would I be interested in a course called ‘Learning to Love Your Monologue’? Hmmm, not really, but “something” said DO IT!!! And I am SOOOOO glad that I did.

"Learning to Love Your Monologue" at our
Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive

Peggy was amazing. We were a small group of four and we had an upstairs space (three rooms) where we had the opportunity to explore a whole new world of acting technique in our approach to a monologue. We were four completely different people with vastly differing levels of theatrical experience. We all had at least two monologues prepared. We all expected that we would present these within the first couple of days, at least, but noooooo. What unfolded was the most incredible week of exploration, both personally and character wise.

Peggy teaches the Michael Chekhov technique to which I had never before been exposed. She is one of three accredited teachers of the technique in Canada. By the evening of the first day, through exercises and games, she had successfully alleviated all of our anxieties and expectations. Yet, what had any of this to do with loving our monologues? Everything! What Peggy was doing was taking us on a journey into ourselves as artists and, eventually, into our characters “selves.”

Thanks to Stratford Mazda for donating our shuttle
for Summer Theatre Intensive participants

Each day began at 9am (thank you Rachel for shuttling us so enthusiastically) with a crossing of the threshold that grounded us in the space and ourselves. We played. We laughed. We cried. We supported each other. And I got to know four magnificent women with whom I ate lunch and dinner everyday. Peggy even drove us to a health food store during a thunderstorm. That was a fun adventure for us all. I swear that by the third day, it felt as though we had been playing together for weeks.

Every one of us was transformed. Between the first time that we presented our respective first monologues until the last time that we presented our second one, everything had changed. The second monologue that I had been “doing” for years was also completely transformed. For the first time, I was BEING the character, wearing it like a long cherished overcoat. The feeling was beyond incredible if that is possible. Through the exercises and games we found unimagined depths of emotion, meaning and purpose.

Everything and anything became possible during that week. So energized was I that, beyond the scheduled play reading and Stratford production show, I took myself to see three more productions. Amazingly, I discovered that I was falling in love with acting all over again. As a result of this experience I have enrolled in two upcoming Chekhov workshops. Do yourself a favour and take this course—You will learn to love your monologue and the craft of acting.

Related Reading

• Plot—It Builds Character by Jackie Mahoney
• Directing, From First Reading to Opening Night by Maureen Lukie
• Hot Scenes by Robin Bennett
• The Art of Stage Combat by Mahlet Tesfu
• Learn more about Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive

Stories from the Summer Theatre Intensive: Plot – It Builds Character

by Jackie Mahoney

For a week this August, I had the privilege of attending the Creation Lab as a part of Theatre Ontario’s Summer Theatre Intensive. Before taking the course, I had been feeling a little disillusioned with my writing, but having five days to escape from the hubbub of everyday life was exactly what I needed, both as a writer and a person!

When I arrived at Factory 163, everyone (the majority of whom had never met before) was mingling, laughing and getting to know their peers for the next week. When the Creation Lab group went upstairs to our delightfully creepy room (Factory 163 was an office furniture warehouse built in 1903 that is said to be VERY HAUNTED! Ooo, that sounds like the start of a great play, I’ll be right back...) and had some alone time, I was so excited to get to work.

The Creation Lab at Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive

Our instructor, Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, was unlike any teacher I had ever encountered in theatre school, in the best ways possible. I have never felt as encouraged or supported as she made us feel. She was a phenomenal facilitator in that she managed to perfectly balance time spent teaching, writing, sharing and giving feedback. She is a wealth of knowledge, both in terms of writing and life experience in general. In addition to learning about play creation, our group really bonded through sharing our personal stories with each other. She encouraged us all to, “Just write it!” and see what comes out, then place editing/necessary judgement on it later.

Our group consisted of possibly the loveliest collection of people I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning with. We each brought our own unique interests, writing styles, goals for the week, perspectives and life experiences, but it was these differences that made our group so strong. I will never forget the fun we had ‘reading each other’s tea leaves’ after drawing out our ideas for a play we were working on. Donna-Michelle gave all of us so many useful tools for writing, including an incredible collection of writing prompts and ways to get ‘unstuck’, which I’m sure we will all use for the rest of our writing careers.

Playwright-in-Person with Kat Sandler
at Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive

We were also lucky enough to attend a play reading by Kat Sandler, which was one of the highlights of my week. Sitting in the Stratford Perth Museum, listening to a playwright who had met with success and who seemed to have a similar sense of humor was unreal. It felt like confirmation that yes, I could write my bad puns and dad jokes into a show and people might actually come see it and find it funny. Maybe.

My favourite exercise that we did involved going out into the community of Stratford, finding an intriguing looking individual and creating a character profile and scene based on our observations. The first time I tried to do this exercise I failed miserably: I was bored of my character two lines into writing my scene. However, on the very last night of the course I was parking my car in Waterloo when a gentleman who looked like he had just walked off the set of a 70's buddy cop film, carrying two XL Tim Horton’s coffees and a half-eaten birthday cake went into the back door of The Love Shop. I have never been so excited to write a character-driven scene in my life. I put all of my week’s learning together (2 prompts from Donna-Michelle, my classmates’ feedback, the affirmation of my comedy style courtesy of Kat Sandler etc.) and created a 15 minute play that I am quite proud of which is currently called Walter Wall Carpet.

So many wonderful people worked so hard to make this week unforgettable for everyone. Thank you Rachel, Emily, Donna-Michelle, Camille, Mackenzie, Tim, Shelley and everyone else who had a hand in the Summer Theatre Intensive. And don’t forget, if anyone ever questions your style of creation, just tell them, “It’s all a part of my process.”

Related Reading

• Directing, From First Reading to Opening Night by Maureen Lukie
• Hot Scenes by Robin Bennett
• The Art of Stage Combat by Mahlet Tesfu
• Learn more about Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive

Playwright-in-Person is made possible by a grant from the Playwrights Guild of Canada's "PlayConnect" program, funded by the Canada Council.

Stories from Summer Theatre Intensive 2018: Directing, From First Reading to Opening Night

by Maureen Lukie

For several years running, I used to go off to the adult version of summer camp—Theatre Ontario’s Summer Intensives on acting, directing and set design. Ten years later, I decided to do it again—I’ve directed quite a few plays but with each one, I find myself wishing I had more skills. Other than workshops like this, I’m self-taught—or rather, I’ve been taught informally by my experiences with other people.

Our class of 13 was filled with people with a wide range of experiences. Most didn’t have a lot of formal experience directing—they said—but came from backgrounds that made them ripe for the course: designers, producers, teachers, actors, all eager to know more about the craft, some facing the director’s chair in the coming season for the first time. People would preface their introductions with, ‘I haven’t done much’ and you’d discover that that they’d been in theatre for 20, 30 or 40 years (or more), that they’d put on shows that involved entire communities, that they had raised $40K for charity through performances, etc.! So, from the first introduction, the hint was there that we had a lot to learn from each other and from our instructor, Diana Leblanc, who has worked as an actress and director in the most stellar companies in the country.

Diana invited us all to work on Sharon Pollock’s Blood Relations, a speculation on the story of Lizzie Borden, who was acquitted of the brutal murder of her father and stepfather in 1902. Lizzie and her lover, an actress, in a kind of game, imagine events leading to the murders. Diana played Lizzie, directed by Martha Henry, at the Grand Theatre in London in 1988. There’s a range of characters that present challenges in terms of their dimension and their motives. It’s a meaty text!

The most instructive choice that Diana made was to put us all in the director’s chair—and the designer’s chair. We each took turns presenting our ideas as to what kind of a space we’d want to place the characters, how we would use it, what visual metaphors we’d use. Fourteen directors, fourteen points of view. We started stealing from each other, or building our ideas on sympathetic or inspiring insights from other people. As homework, we thought about how we saw lighting or we researched sound cues or music we might use. That wasn’t so that we could take over those roles, but so that we could expand our understanding of what spoke to us in the play and what its possibilities are. We chose scenes that we wanted to block or break down. A ‘director’ would choose actors from our class for a specific scene and work the scene in front of everyone else. The director would learn on their feet, and get to debrief afterwards. People opened themselves up and worked without a net, but with complete support. I never saw a group come to such an understanding of the play as a whole so fast! This method of working accelerated collaboration and ownership and made me think I might give my next actors a couple of rehearsals to just take the reins! I can tell you that you could not predict how a scene would turn out from the experience or background of the ‘director.’

Throughout our time together, Diana generously shared her own stories of directing or being directed, but put the emphasis on our learning through experience. One humbling bonus: in our last hours, we were all directed by Diana herself, in scenes from Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance.

Like many people in community theatre, I work all the time with people that I know and love, people who feel like a second family to me. I like to be open to working with new people, and I do so in every show—but it’s really unusual for me to work in a room where I don’t know anyone. It was so exciting! All week! It shakes up your role and your assumptions. And that’s why, by the end of the week, I was ready to come to back again next year.

One last thing: if you see a break-out of productions of Blood Relations throughout Ontario in the next few years, you’ll know why! (Unless we reunite to create one ‘super-production’…)

Related Reading

• Hot Scenes by Robin Bennett
• The Art of Stage Combat by Mahlet Tesfu
• Learn more about the Summer Theatre Intensive

Stories from the Summer Theatre Intensive: Hot Scenes

by Robin Bennett

After an eight-year hiatus from the Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive program, the stars aligned and I had an opportunity and the free time to join Brenda Kamino’s ‘Hot Scenes’ class for 2018.

Looking back over my notes from years past, I realized my first class was in 1996 with Steven Bush—twenty-two years ago. Wow!

I must confess, the same sense of excitement and anticipation from that first class overwhelmed me as I drove to Stratford on the Sunday afternoon. Actually, those feelings took me a bit by surprise. After all, shouldn’t I be a little jaded after twenty-five years of theatre? Apparently, and thankfully, not.

2018 is my thirteenth year of attending Theatre Ontario summer courses. What is left for me to learn? The answer, of course, is lots. Brenda, as always, is insightful and direct—working very hard, both in front of and behind the scenes, to prepare challenging work for her students, and setting and keeping the bar high. What a great class. Everyone was engaged and enthusiastic, the long days deeply involving as Brenda skillfully led us on a voyage of discovery.

I thoroughly enjoyed the working space at Factory163. A large converted furniture factory built in 1903, the patched wooden floors and rough-hewn beams exude character and lend an air of other-worldliness, perfect for nurturing the actor’s spirit.

Rachel Kennedy and Emily Acton, two of the hardest working folks in theatre, kept us all organized and up-to-the-minute with information and cheerful assistance. Unfazed by any circumstance, including an impending wedding to be hosted at Factory163, they bobbed and weaved, like flyweight boxers, overcoming all challenges in what seemed to be an effortless dance.

"Hot Scenes" class at Summer Theatre Intensive 2018

The meals were delicious, even though the caterer struggled a few times to find enough food to feed the voracious crowd. It’s amazing how many calories you burn during the week. With synapses firing on all cylinders for eighteen plus hours per day, our autonomic nervous system kicked into overdrive and away we went. My Fitbit was going crazy.

What are the ‘take-aways’ from the week? Well, I’ll be back again. My batteries were recharged and I emerged from the week with a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm. No small thing.

Many thanks to Brenda, to my fellow classmates and lovely scene partner, to new friends well-met, to Theatre Ontario and staff for continuing the summer program.

If you are reading this blog, mark your calendar for next year, join us, we’ll create magic.

Related Reading

• The Art of Stage Combat by Mahlet Tesfu
• Learn more about the Summer Theatre Intensive

Stories from the Summer Theatre Intensive: The Art of Stage Combat

Stage Combat at the 2018 Summer Theatre Intensive
Mahlet is on the far right.

by Mahlet Tesfu

This summer I had the privilege of attending Theatre Ontario’s Stage Combat course, taught by Daniel Levinson. I had originally wanted to take another course geared solely towards studying acting, however the opportunity to take this stage combat course came around and it seemed so interesting, and boy, was I right. This was my first time attending any Theatre Ontario course and I was so impressed by the array of diverse courses offered and really wanted to take them all!

In the stage combat course we covered a multitude of fighting techniques. From sword, where we learned the classical techniques, such as how to parry in positions one through eight, to unarmed where we learned how to kick, slap, punch, choke and defend, just to name a few. What fascinated me the most is how incredibly realistic the fights looked, yet they were completely 200% safe. The number one motto of our instructor Daniel, was “safety first above all else.” He beat it into our heads that no amount of pressure, expectation or level of perfection was worth hurting ourselves over.

Daniel delved into the history behind sword and unarmed fighting which really helped us understand the logic behind the movements and how and why certain techniques are the way they are. What I loved the most was seeing everything come together. It was really lovely to attach singular technical moves to stories. Using short scenes Daniel provided, we were able to create choreographed fighting scenes for both sword and unarmed. This was my favorite part, because all the moves and technique came to life so beautifully with added context and purpose.

It was such a treat to attend the “Playwright-in-Person” play reading by Marie Beath Badian at the Stratford Perth Museum. She graciously read excerpts from two of her plays The Making of St. Jerome and Prairie Nurse, which were both brilliantly written. It was wonderful to hear from an accomplished working playwright about her process, and her experience navigating through the industry. It was yet another treat to get the chance to talk to her personally after the event for any tips, advice, or questions, which she was so happy to do.

We got the opportunity to attend To Kill a Mockingbird at the Festival theatre. I was very excited to attend a Stratford play, as this was only my second one and it did not disappoint. Harper Lee’s novel was skillfully adapted into a play and worked very well for the stage. The cast and crew did an incredible job bringing this timely yet classic story to life.

My week with Theatre Ontario in Stratford far surpassed all of my expectations. I’m grateful for the people I got to meet and work with and for getting the best introduction into the exciting world of stage combat!

I’d like to thank Rachel and Emily for going above and beyond, Daniel for being the most patient and passionate teacher and extending his wealth of knowledge and my classmates for being the best sparring partners!

Mahlet was the recipient of Theatre Ontario’s 2018 New Talent Scholarship for our Summer Theatre Intensive, co-sponsored by ART Agency Inc., AMI Artist Management Inc., and Seventh House Talent.

Playwright-in-Person is made possible by a grant from the Playwrights Guild of Canada's "PlayConnect" program, funded by the Canada Council.

Welcome Marie Beath Badian and Kat Sandler as Playwrights-in-Person at our Summer Theatre Intensive

Marie Beath Badian

We are excited to welcome two Canadian playwrights to this year’s Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive as our Playwrights-in-Person.

Marie Beath Badian Lazarus will join us in Week One on Monday, August 6th at 7pm and Kat Sandler will join us in Week Two on Monday, August 13th at 7pm.

Location: 
Stratford Perth Museum
4275 Huron Street, Stratford, ON N5A 6S6

Admission:
This will be a FREE EVENT open to participants of Theatre Ontario and Off The Wall’s summer courses, as well as the public.

Kat Sandler

Learn more about Playwright-in-Person at our Summer Theatre Intensive

Registrations are still being accepted until July 20

Playwright-in-Person is made possible by a grant from the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s “PlayConnect” program, funded by the Canada Council.

Congratulations to Our Summer Theatre Intensive Scholarship Recipients

Theatre Ontario is delighted to announce the recipients of our Summer Theatre Intensive Scholarships for 2018.

Camille Intson was awarded the Youth Scholarship, and will be attending the Creation Lab, with Donna-Michelle St. Bernard.

Angel Glady and Dorian Shine were awarded the Parsai Immigration Scholarship, and will both be attending the Voice Bootcamp, with Elley-Ray.

Breton Lalama was awarded the New Talent Scholarship, and will be attending Stage Combat, with Daniel Levinson.

Learn more about Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive Scholarship Recipients for 2018 and watch their videos

Live Your Passion with the Summer Theatre Intensive Youth Scholarship – Returning in 2018

Theatre Ontario is excited to announce that our Youth Scholarship will be returning for our Summer Theatre Intensive in 2018.

Beginning May 1, Theatre Ontario invites youth across the province to apply for a scholarship to the 2018 Summer Theatre Intensive in Stratford, Ontario. The scholarship is aimed at sending one youth artist to train at one of our Summer Courses FREE OF CHARGE. We will be providing the course, meals, accommodations, Stratford Festival ticket and a travel stipend for one lucky participant between the ages of 16-26.

The Summer Theatre Intensive concept was first tried in 1973 with one directing course offered at Trent University in Peterborough. From those initial 21 participants, the intensive has continued to grow and has helped train thousands of participants in the past 45 years.

Learn more about the Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive Youth Scholarship

Join Us at our Summer Theatre Intensive 2018

Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive

Building on our partnership with Off the Wall, Stratford Artist Alliance, Theatre Ontario is returning to Stratford this summer! Once again expanding the courses to two possible training weeks in the beautiful building at Factory 163, we are thrilled to offer a mix of classic courses and brand new experiences for this year’s participants.

For 2018, we are offering the following courses:

WEEK ONE (August 5-10th)

• Learning to Love Your Monologue with Peggy Coffey
• Directing - From First Reading to Opening Night with Diana Leblanc
• Stage Combat with Daniel Levinson
• Teaching Drama to Children and Youth - Building Your Toolkit with Andrew Lamb

WEEK TWO (August 12-17th)

• Hot Scenes - Building your Acting Technique with Brenda Kamino
• Directing with Design in Mind with guests TBA
• Voice Bootcamp with Elley-Ray Hennessy
• Creation Lab with Donna-Michelle St. Bernard

Learn more about Theatre Ontario’s Summer Theatre Intensive

Save the Date for our Summer Theatre Intensive

Exploring the mask making class at Factory163

Are you an actor, director, creator or designer craving an opportunity to immerse yourself in your craft? Look no further—our Summer Theatre Intensive is coming back to Stratford and will take place August 5th to 10th and 12th to 17th, 2018.

After an outstanding 2 weeks last summer at Factory163 we have decided to return for a second year in a row. Sharing the building with artists, photographers, creators, and our friends over at Off The Wall, Stratford Artists’ Alliance makes for an electric, creative atmosphere and we can’t wait to get back in studio with this year’s participants!

This year we are exploring offering classes in:

1. Beginner Directing
2. Dialogue Series – Directors and Designers
3. Beginner Acting – Monologues
4. Advanced Acting – Scene Study
5. Teaching Acting
6. Creators’ Lab
7. Voice Bootcamp
8. Stage Combat

Additional details about course content will be coming soon, so keep an eye out for our instructor announcements!

Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive brings together theatre people from all over the province for a week-long rigorous educational experience. For nearly forty years, our courses have earned praise from drama teachers, theatre schools, community and professional theatres, agents, and actors getting started in the business.

Learn more about Theatre Ontario’s Summer Theatre Intensive