Finding Confidence as a First-Time Director at our Summer Theatre Intensive

Joseph van Veen attended last year's Theatre Ontario Summer Theater Intensive in Waterloo, and took Thom Currie’s course for beginner and intermediate directors. Rebecca Ballarin, Interim Program Coordinator, interviewed Joseph about his experience at the Intensive.

Why did you decide to attend the Summer Theatre Intensive? 

I've been acting for almost thirty years and wanted to expand my experience to directing. I thought I knew what kind of director I would be, but as a first-time director I didn't know if I had the right skills, creativity, or confidence.

Did the course meet your expectations?

The course exceeded my expectations. The course was designed for beginning directors with little or no experience. The course was structured with 'lessons' from the instructor and the participants drawing on personal experiences in the morning and practical activities, exercises or projects in the afternoon. There was a lot to cover in a one-week intensive but the instructor did a fantastic job. I learned some new skills and walked away from the course with the enthusiasm and confidence to direct my first play.

What was the atmosphere like at the intensive? 

The atmosphere within a group in a specific course quickly forms a bond or camaraderie. I enjoyed the time we had together to learn from each other. One particular lesson was focused on the audition process and we were able to break out of our own group and partnered with one of the acting classes and had the students audition for us with the monologues they had been working on.

What was your favourite part of the experience?

A mock "general auditions" panel was held outside of
classroom time for the first-time actors and directors to both
experience the process.  

My favourite part of the experience would have to be the interaction we had with the acting classes. It was a brilliant idea that we came up with to host 'general auditions'. This was done at the end of the day outside of class time. The actors were given the opportunity to present the monologues they were working on in class to a panel of six directors sitting at a long table. Some of the actors commented on how intimidating the experience was but how much they learned from it. As directors we got to experience how we could process the information learned through an audition and apply it to the shows we were casting in the course.

What was the most memorable thing you learned?

One of the things that Thom Currie discussed was the importance of text work; in professional theatre a cast could spend days breaking the text. Physically breaking scenes into smaller beats and understanding different ways that text could be said by an actor. All of this adds up to more complex characters and interesting performances. I was resistant to this process, I thought "that's great for professional theater but in community theatre we don't have the luxury of time that the pros have."

However, I used this process in the first play that I directed and the cast really appreciated the time we took to do this.

How has this course positively impacted your work as a theatre artist?  

I directed my first play!

Brian Russell and Becca Willow Moss in Bedtime
Stories at The NAGs Players, directed by Joseph van Veen

As mentioned above, Thom shared with us the importance of text work. I used this technique while directing Norm Foster's Bedtime Stories. Each actor was cast in two or three roles and commented on how much this process helped them to create multiple characters and make them each unique. I will definitely incorporate this process into my work as a director and as an actor.

Who would you recommend this course to? 

The course is ideal for beginning directors with some experience in theatre either as an actor, director or even a writer or stage manager. I think it would be a very challenging course for someone with no theatre experience at all.

Join us at Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive

The Enduring Sense of Community at Theatre Ontario’s Summer Theatre Intensive

By Zara Jestadt, Education Assistant

Upon starting my summer position at Theatre Ontario, I never thought I would have the opportunity to witness any of the workshops the organization has to offer. While a large part of my responsibilities, especially early on in my internship, fell on coordinating the annual Summer Theatre Intensive during the weeks leading up to it, it was always under the assumption that I would not be in attendance for it. So it was with pleasure, eagerness, and curiosity that I went to Waterloo for the majority of the Summer Intensive week when the opportunity arose. 

What I witnessed were fiery students who craved to gain the most out of their experiences. Late on my first evening there, I walked past the student common lounge, where participants were engaged in an impassioned discussion about the ‘external conflict’ in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, after having spent the entire day actively participating in classes. Most agreed to have their classes start earlier than scheduled. Pairs of students spent the bus ride to the Stratford Festival (for a performance of Man of La Mancha) going over lines of their scenes, not to waste a moment’s time. Most potently, as I was sitting out in the hallway to the classrooms one afternoon, a participant ran past me on the way to the bathroom—“I have to go so bad, but I don’t want to miss a word!” she explained in her haste.  Clearly, these were students who were there to work.

How Do I Make This Play Happen? Directing for Beginners

But these were also students who were willing to give, risk, and participate fully. One of the directing classes had asked the participants from the acting classes to present a monologue to a large panel of directing students, in a mock-audition style, during their free time. These students willingly gave their time and efforts, and both groups seemed to gain important insight and experience. It was amazing to see this mutual camaraderie amongst working artists, and the initiative with which they took practical skills learning into their own hands.

The week did not go by without its challenges. Disruptions and unexpected changes occurred in the residence building and the surrounding campus. But even in the face of these challenges, the spirit of the courses, the magic of the theatre, was kept alive in the determination of the instructors and their participating students. It even stimulated some creative juices—the musical theatre class used these extenuating circumstances as inspiration for their final musical revue performance, a piece that was both honest, and kneel-over hilarious.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know
about Acting... and Then Some!

Ultimately, this week reinforced the reasons why we continue to do theatre: the enduring sense of community, the importance of collaboration, the creative impulse, and the engagement through which theatre is able to touch and impact others. We do theatre because we must. This week was a testament to that spirit. Even in the face of adversary, stress, or disappointment, one must keep going, keep performing, keep creating. There is no other option.

It was a pleasure to be reminded of this once again.

Find out more about Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive

Spaces Still Available in our Summer Theatre Intensive

Looking for fun this summer?

Why not spend a week indulging your passion for theatre at Theatre Ontario’s week-long adult Summer Theatre Intensive, August 10 to 16 in Waterloo.  Spaces are still available in our courses for performers and directors:

• Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Acting...and Then Some! – Tom Diamond returns to lead one of our most popular courses, suitable for absolute beginners or more-experienced actors who want to get back to the basics
• More Hot Scenes: Building Acting Technique, with Brenda Kamino – Through scenes and monologues from world and Canadian theatre and group work led by the instructor, learn to apply your technique to every role you audition for, land, and perform
• Review your Revue: Creating a Musical Theatre Performance, with David Gale & Randy Vancourt – This fun and challenging workshop offers participants a practical approach to creating and performing a musical production
• How Do I Make This Play Happen?: Directing for Beginners, with Thom Currie – A class specifically designed for the beginning and intermediate director seeking to explore practical techniques and approaches to directing
• Whose Text Is It, Anyway? Adventurous Approaches to Performance, with John P. Kelly – Directors with some experience will find this course challenging and stimulating and will provide you with insightful skills to further develop the directing craft.

This year we’ll also be featuring Dave Carley and Marcia Johnson as our Playwrights-in-Person on August 11, reading excerpts from their plays.  Playwrights-in-Person is made possible by a grant from the Playwrights Guild of Canada, funded by the Canada Council.

The Summer Theatre Intensive is an amazing opportunity  to acquire new skills, meet new people, explore creativity beyond the classroom, and have lots of fun while doing it!

ICYMI: Murray Tilson of Timmins wrote on our blog about the courses as the bests way he can think of spending a week of vacation

Find out more about Theatre Ontario’s Summer Theatre Intensive

Summer Theatre Intensive: “The Best Way I Can Think of Spending a Week of My Vacation”

By Murray Tilson

Nolan Cox and Murray Tilson in
A Christmas Carol at Take Two Theatre

This year will be my third time attending Theatre Ontario’s Summer Theatre Intensive.  The knowledge that the courses have given me has been so valuable, as well as the knowledge I bring back to my theatre company. The wonderful friends I have met and the memories will always be some of my most fond in theatre. The instructors give us so much, and still manage to keep it at a level that the bridge between professionals and amateurs feels equal.

The course I am taking at the Summer Theatre Intensive this year is “Reviewing your Revue: Creating a Musical Theatre Performance” with David Gale and Randy Vancourt. My community theatre company, Take Two Theatre in Timmins, usually puts on a musical production every second season, and as a director and performer, I feel this course will add so much to enhance our productions. The musicals always do well at the box office for us and brings in many new members, not only on stage, but in production crews and community support from the media and local businesses. As a musician, I would like to be able to understand better the use of solo, harmony, and accompanying vocals.

Class picture from our 2011 Summer Theatre Intensive;
Murray took "When I Am On Stage... Who Am I?" with Terry Tweed

Summer Intensive is the best way I can think of spending a week of my vacation.  You learn so much, and meet some wonderful people. The "Field Trip" evening to Stratford to see a show is one of the highlights of the week. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, and every community theatre group should try to send one member every summer to this invaluable theatre experience.

I am hoping that next fall I can direct Take Two Theatre’s fall musical production and this course, I am sure, will help me bring our show that "edge" that will make it an experience for all the company, on and off the stage, and an enjoyable evening for our audience.

Community Theatre is alive and well in Northern Ontario!

Find out more about Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive