Our Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) offers financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor in any theatrical discipline (except performance.)
Victoria Stacey began training in directing with Thomas Morgan Jones at Theatre New Brunswick in Fredericton NB
(June 26, 2017) Since receiving the good news from Rachel Kennedy and Theatre Ontario that I would get to pursue training in directing with Thomas Morgan Jones at Theatre New Brunswick I have been reading, reading, reading, reading, watching, listening, reading, reading, reading. Thom was kind enough to provide me with a whole list of sources that he has found useful throughout his career and even with the amount of reading I have been doing, I have barely scratched the surface. I am doing my best to become a sponge and soak up everything around me. Not just academic theatre texts but plays, novels, interviews, videos, radio, paintings, music, and on and on and on. There is so much to take in and so much to learn. Though my training has barely begun I feel like this is an important lesson/reminder. Directing is about much more than being a leader or the guiding voice in the room; directing is about intense observation and listening. Inspiration can come from anywhere.
I want to share with you now something that I frantically typed into the notes app on my phone while devouring the script Fortune of Wolves for the first time.
It feels personally transformative to go through an entire year with this main character, Lowell, as he processes his grief and tries to heal himself. I feel as though I am healing with him. Travelling as part of a personal journey is so indicative of the Canadian experience.
Here’s some context: The main character in the play I will be assisting on encounters great loss and a period of depression before making the decision to journey across the country beginning in Nova Scotia and hoping to make it all the way to Tofino, British Columbia. Along the way, Lowell writes and he listens to the stories of the people around him. I feel so connected to this character because I am about to travel from Toronto to New Brunswick, about to travel a significant distance by myself for the first time in my life, take a plane alone for the first time in my life hoping to find inspiration, contribute to an artistic process, and have my own personal journey.
As I continue to dig into Ryan Griffith’s play Fortune of Wolves, I will map out all of the places that Lowell travels to and research each tiny town, or bustling city centre that he stops in along his journey. I want to find out what makes each place unique. I want to find out how the characters he meets are distinctly different because of the way their landscape has imprinted on them. With 51 different locations and even more characters I have my work cut out for me. I cannot wait to see Thom tackle staging a play with this many different settings, characters, transitions, and monologues.
Before rehearsals begin I will be participating in Viewpoints and Suzuki Training alongside Thom and many other artists. This training, led by Ellen Lauren of New York City’s SITI Company, begins in one week! I am really looking forward to expanding my vocabulary, brushing up my creation skills, and getting back into my body. At the same time, the things I am most excited about are also the things I am most nervous about. I have always been a very physical artist and creator but this February I suffered a pretty serious ankle fracture which left me fairly immobile for months and my body is only now beginning to get back to where it was before the injury. Things that were second nature before are now difficult. Things like: balance, finding my centre, feeling the floor, running, jumping, and staying grounded. I have less confidence in my body as an instrument for creation. So, I suppose my job will be to listen to where my body is at each day and start from there. Use the limitations as fuel or creative challenges, which just like when working on a show, end up leading us towards some of the strongest choices or most interesting moments.
I am extremely proud of the decision Thom and I made to participate in this physical training together. Through our shared experience in the workshop I hope we can develop a shorthand or shared language that we can draw upon during the rehearsal process in the fall. Thom has been studying these disciplines for six years, and so there is a lot I hope to learn from how he incorporates them into his directing practice.
Finally, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to Theatre Ontario, the Ontario Arts Council, Thomas Morgan Jones, and Theatre New Brunswick for saying yes and providing an opportunity for me to learn and grow. Without the Professional Theatre Training Program, focused mentorships like the one I am about to begin wouldn’t be possible.
The next application deadline for the Professional Theatre Training Program is October 2, 2017.
Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
No comments:
Post a Comment