Meet Our Youth Advisory Committee’s Emergence 2.0 Mentors

Theatre Ontario’s Youth Advisory Committee is super excited for the awesome lineup of mentors who will be at Emergence 2.0 for our Coffee Dates Sessions. We believe that speed networking is just too short to really get what you need out of a conversation. Coffee Dates will include longer mentorship sessions, where a young artist will get to speak with another artist one-on-one for 20-minutes. We are bringing in the following awesome artists who work in a variety of different disciplines within the theatre industry.

So, who are our mentors for Emergence 2.0?

Kevin Matthew Wong - performer, performance creator, arts facilitator, producer, environmentalist

Kevin Matthew Wong is a performer, performance creator, arts facilitator, producer and environmentalist. Kevin is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Broadleaf Theatre, a company that creates multidisciplinary performances exploring Canada’s relationship with environmentalism. His on-going work The Chemical Valley Project is a documentary theatre solo-performance that investigates Canadian colonization and environmental racism. The show is created in collaboration with Aamjiwnaang First Nation Water Protectors Vanessa Gray and Lindsay Beze Gray, and co-creator Julia Howman. The project makes its full-length Toronto debut at Theatre Passe Muraille in April 2019. Kevin is a graduate of the U of T Drama Centre and Generator’s inaugural Artist-Producer Training Program, and he is a fellow of the American social-justice arts residency The Gardarev Center. As a creator, Kevin was recently part of fu-Gen’s Interdisciplinary Kitchen XV, and has recently worked with Carousel Players, Cahoots Theatre, Music Picnic, the Koffler Centre and others.

Aimee Bouchard - Community Programs Manager, Young People’s Theatre

Aimee Bouchard currently works as the Community Programs Manager at Young People’s Theatre, where she manages community programs and residencies as well as access and inclusion initiatives.

She is an arts administrator, artist educator and Ontario Certified Teacher, and holds a BAH in Drama and BEd with a focus in Artist in Community Education from Queen’s University. She has developed and facilitated drama programming for schools, festivals and arts organizations across Ontario, including for Young People’s Theatre, Theatre Direct and the WeeFestival, the Kick & Push Festival in Kingston, and the Luminato Festival.

Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah - actor, writer, producer, chef

Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah is a Dora nominated and My Entertainment Award winning actor, a writer, producer and chef. Notable credits include; Geschwitz in Red Light District’s LULU V.7 //aspects of a femme fatale, Lila in Kat Sandler’s Bang Bang, Jessica in Danny Pagett’s Cloud, Laertes in Ravi Jain’s The Prince Hamlet, Claudette in How Black Mothers Say I Love You, Queen Elizabeth I in The Queen’s Conjuror, Black Woman in We Are Proud to Present..., St. Monica in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and Othello in Go Play Producing's Othello. Checkout what Khadijah is up to next or look at pictures of what she’s eating by following her on Instagram @dijyro or Twitter @DijyRoberts

Rosamund Small - playwright

Rosamund Small is the Dora-Award winning playwright of Sisters (Soulpepper, 2018), TomorrowLove, Vitals (Outside the March, 2016/ 2014), and other theatre works including documentary, solo show, and large-scale immersive projects. She is interested in finding humour, joy, and excitement to stories about both the darkest and brightest moments in life. In addition to playwriting, Rosamund is story co-ordinator of Workin’ Moms Season 3 on CBC, and also collaborates on dance-narrative work with Robert Binet and the National Ballet of Canada.

Christina Cicko - stage manager

Christina Cicko is currently stage managing the Dora nominated Gertrude and Alice (Buddies In Bad Times Theatre). Most recent credits include; assistant stage manager of The 27 Club (Soulpepper) stage manager for Stones (Aluna Theatre and The Stones Project), Mikveh (The Harold Green Jewish Theatre), the world premier of Calpurnia (Nightwood Theatre), Dora nominated Unholy (Nightwood Theatre), and Dora winning Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre). Other selected credits include The Youth & Elders Project (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre), Quiver (Nightwood Theatre), and two seasons as assistant stage manager at the Blyth Theatre Festival. She was also a Pauline McGibbon Award Nominee for Lighting Design and is currently teaching stage management for the theatre department at York University.

Luke Reece - producer, playwright, poet, educator

In a failed attempt to escape Presto, Luke left his hometown of Mississauga under the guise of becoming a Toronto-based artist. He strives to share authentic and engaging stories with audiences through his work as a producer, playwright, poet and educator. He is the Producer for Canada’s leading culturally-specific theatre company Obsidian Theatre, along with being the Co-Creator and Operations Manager of Dark Nights conversation series. He continually seeks opportunities to empower and support young-in-craft artists with his collective Little Black Afro Theatre, creating spaces for artists to develop work with and for the communities they come from. After becoming the Toronto Poetry Slam (TPS) Grand Champion in 2017, Luke went on to captain the 2017 TPS team that competed at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and placed first in the country. He also competed in Vancouver in 2018 at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam and placed 2nd. He has facilitated workshops, performed, and hosted events for Young People’s Theatre, Crow’s Theatre, The Paprika Festival, CANVAS Arts Action Programs, Union Station, Playwrights Guild of Canada and the International Festival of Authors.

Maddie Bautista - theatre maker and performance artist

Maddie Bautista is a Saudi Arabia-born Filipino theatre maker and performance artist. Selected Acting Credits: Izzy in This Will Be Excellent (Carousel Players); The Girl in My Nightmares Wear White (SummerWorks 2016 Spotlight Award for Performance). Selected sound design credits: bug (Luminato 2018), Stones (Aluna Theatre) CAKE (Theatre Passe Muraille). Choir composition and direction: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare in the Ruff). Half of xLq with Jordan Campbell: an award-winning POP performance art duo. Co-creators and performers of 4inXchange (Winner of NOW Magazine’s Audience Choice Award at SummerWorks 2018, selected by Nightswimming for the 5x25 2017 Commission) - a facilitated experience around $1000 cash for four participants at a time. xLq is also part of Theatre Direct’s New Creation Unit developing Inside the Outside - an interactive and accessible theatrical experience for one young participant at a time. She is an alumni of Generator TO’s 2016/2017 Artist Producer Training program and Paprika Festival’s Writer’s Circle 2017. She is committed to creating work for survivors of sexual assault through her solo show Jeddahwi - in development with Rare Theatre.

Augusto Bitter - performer and theatre creator

Augusto Bitter is a Venezuelan-born performer and theatre creator based in Toronto. He has a Specialist in Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies from the University of Toronto and was named one of NOW Magazine’s Top 10 Theatre Artists of 2017. He has trained with Manifesto Poetico (Paris), Teatro delle Radici (Lugano, Switzerland), Factory Theatre's Mechanicals, and Canada's National Voice Intensive. Augusto is a part of Aluna Theatre's Interpretation Lab and a Youth Link Artist Educator at Soulpepper Theatre Company. Select performance credits include The Monument (Factory Theatre), Lear (Groundling Theatre Co.), El Retorno/I Return (Theatre Aquarius), Rope Running Out (lemonTree creations), and Our Town (Theatre Rusticle). His solo show, CHICHO, premieres at Theatre Passe Muraille March 2019, co-presented with Pencil Kit Productions with support from Aluna Theatre. More at www.augustobitter.com

Rachel Forbes - set and costume designer

Rachel is a Toronto based Set and Costume Designer creating for theatre and dance. She loves making her way across the country to design for a variety of communities. Some of the companies she has had the pleasure to design for include: the Shaw Festival, Obsidian Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times, Factory Theatre, Theatre Centre, Theatre Passe Muraille,Watah Theatre, Charlottetown Festival, and Video Cabaret. Some recent credits include: Risky Phil (Young People's Theatre), Speaking of Sneaking (Riser Project), Other Side of the Game (Obsidian Theatre/Cahoots), Lukumi: a dub opera, Bleeders, Bloodclaat (Watah Theatre), The Dream Catchers (Charlottetown Festival), 1837: The Farmers’ Revolt (Shaw Festival), Black Boys (Saga Collectif/Buddies in Bad Times), How Black Mothers Say I Love You (Factory Theatre/Trey Anthony Productions).

We are so excited about Emergence 2.0 and cannot wait to see you there!  Emergence 2.0 is on October 15, 2018 in Toronto.

Join Us at Emergence 2.0

We thank The Second City and the Associated Designers of Canada for their generous support of this event.

This event is in partnership with the Siminovitch Prize.

Ontario Off Stage

Alastair Forbes and Sophia Fabiilli in the Thousand
Islands Playhouse production of The Canadian.
Photo by Randy deKleine-Stimpson

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Thousand Islands Playhouse wrapped up their series “From Page to Stage: Creating The Canadian”, first with Part 3 by set and costume designer Anna Treusch about her process for designing the show, and then in Part 4, actor Sophia Fabiilli wrote about her “Top 10 Reasons Why Farce Is Harder Than It Looks.”

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• The Stratford Festival has introduced their 2019 season.
• WorkInCulture is conducting a survey—“MakingItWork”—of Ontario’s creativity community workforce: add your voice to their research.

Migrations

• Helen Wagenaar is retiring as Administrative Director of Lighthouse Festival Theatre. Congratulations to Nicole Campbell (a member of the Ontario Summer Theatre Executive Committee) who will be taking on the role.

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from our Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring training projects in directing, arts management, community-engaged theatre, and artistic direction.
• Stories from our Summer Theatre Intensive: The Art of Stage Combat by Mahlet Tesfu.
• ONstage Openings this week in Picton, Constance Bay, Gananoque, Drayton, and Port Stanley.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including workshops, free webinars, grant deadlines, and more.

You can also receive news from Theatre Ontario every month by email. Our archives are online and the August issue is now available.

Ontario Off Stage

The 2018 Ontario Summer Theatre season is underway!
From The Shaw Festival
Stephen Fry in Mythos: A Trilogy - Gods. Heroes. Men.
Photo by David Cooper. 

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Profiling Ontario Summer Theatre (OST) 2018—“If laughter is the best medicine, you will have your measure and more” at The Foster Festival in St. Catharines; “Welcome to the Team” introducing new OST member Guild Festival Theatre in Toronto; fellow new OST member Tweed & Company in Hastings County "celebrates their 10th anniversary with a huge 2018 season"; and it’s and “The Perfect Intermission from Life!” at The Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
• The World Cup is kicking off—and Good Tickle Brain has you covered with the Shakespeare World Cup. (For the ancestors - Go King Lear! For the in-laws - Go Macbeth!)

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Season announcement for 18/19 from Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto.
• Janet Sellery of Sellery Health and Safety, a long-time Theatre Ontario member, has been appointed to the newly-launched Advisory Council for the Event Safety Alliance, a non-profit trade association of live event industry professionals committed to eliminating unsafe behaviors and conditions throughout the event industry. Congratulations Janet!

Migrations

• Christopher Deacon is the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
• Jesse Stong is the new Associate Artistic Director at Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque. 

TO Toasts

• ... to Gillian Gallow, who was awarded the 2018 Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design.

In Case You Missed It

• The Theatre Ontario Board of Directors regretfully announced that Bruce Pitkin, Executive Director, will be leaving the organization at the end of June.
• Save the date for Theatre Ontario Festival 2019 in Richmond Hill.
• ONstage Openings this week in Grand Bend, Gravenhurst, and Smiths Falls.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including scholarship deadlines, intensive courses, grants, conferences, calls for submission, award nominations, and more.

You can also receive news from Theatre Ontario every month by email. Our archives are online and the June issue is now available.

Highlights of the Detailed Adjudication of “Tempting Providence” at Theatre Ontario Festival 2018

ELATE's production of Tempting Providence

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Highlights of the detailed adjudication by Maja Ardal of Elliot Lake Amateur Theatre Ensemble’s production of Tempting Providence by Robert Chafe (representing QUONTA, the northeastern Ontario community theatre association.)

As always, this is my best effort to record the conversation at the Detailed Adjudication, with apology for any misrepresentations of the ideas of the members of the company and the adjudicator. Corrections and clarifications are always welcome in the comments.

• Strong opening: no pre-show music, lighting at half for the play`s beginning, the nurse came in as if from abroad
• Quickly established the convention that the style will be the transformation of objects into set pieces
• Minimalism can make you creative (e.g. particularly liked two chairs with a blanket spread overtop to make the shape of a cradle)
• Actors then embody the script
• Off the top, the actors seemed unsettled and nervous—breathing exercises are encouraged to help manage that
• Costumes were neutral; inspired by images they had seen of other productions: always take the best of what we can find
• Goal of actors is to live inside the story, and bring it alive fully
• Who is the audience and why are you compelled to tell the story?
• For Myra, it was internal – that “other self” you can tell your worst things to
• For Angus, an amazing story that his pals need to hear; he clearly had the most fun, adding a twinkle his eye to demonstrate his enjoyment
• For Man and Woman, it was the gossipy community
• In a moment, actors need to see it, feel it, smell it—experience it; the performers’ nervousness meant that they were “selling it” before “experiencing it”
• For example, one quality of Newfoundland is that vigorous, robust smell
• Myra states she has no time for emotion; her journey is admitting to her emotion, so she can’t start with emotion
• Also, emotion is a by-product of your objective—be careful of trying to show the emotion or letting the emotion be the driver; if you “over deliver” the emotion, it doesn’t give the audience space to appreciate the story
• This is a community of denial, and Woman is our first example of that as someone from the community; we saw too much of her breakdown rather than the denial of her breakdown, never let go of your objective and focus on one thing at a time
• Woman as Mrs. House: She is testing Myra, putting her through an examination as well, finds out that she’s tough enough (she passes!)
• In every scene, always identify who am I here with this person in this moment
• Text is lyrical, and Myra brings the lyricism
• Angus’ delivery tended to finish a sentence and come to a stop; became a pattern of delivery that the performer needs to be aware of
• Be rigorous with your pace: first act was supposed to run 70 minutes, but it actually ran closer to 90 minutes; for example when Man as Alex comes with the news about the baby coming, Myra needs to be rushing (rather than going back to her baking); moving into a tableau could show us the rushing
• Pace DOESN’T mean rushing: keep the objective alive, breathe
• For actress playing Myra, this was her first major role; she brought presence and charisma, encouraged to keep focusing on what will bring a character alive
• Yawning is always another good warm-up technique to wake up the body
• When playing a character, voice and face are the last elements: Begin with the spine and pelvic base and think about questions of the body (How long have I worked? Where is my head? Etc)
• Actors were seniors, but young people can struggle with physicality just as much
• “Our bodies tell the truth when our language doesn’t”
• Opening of play: trying to solve challenge of how to bring on the live musician, he came onto the stage as a mummer (part of Newfoundland culture)
• Musician responded to actor’s feelings, music was gentle; other option for a live musician is to escalate the tension—music can move forward rather than reflect back
• The end of Act One was “divine” (pulling the tooth, selling the marriage proposal)
• When miming, consider doing a workshop: sometimes the objects seemed to disappear rather than always be there throughout
• Company brought desire and commitment, and will continue to develop craft over time

Learn more about Theatre Ontario Festival 2018

Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program: Howard J. Davis

Our Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) offers financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor in any theatrical discipline (except performance.)

Howard J. Davis will train in directing and designing with Peter Hinton, Beth Kates, Michael Giafrancesco, and Michael Hart at The Grand Theatre in London

(December 17, 2017) I am ready to begin a very exciting venture under the support of the Theatre Ontario Professional Theatre Training Program to train in direction and design under a powerful team steered by Peter Hinton (direction) with Beth Kates (lighting and video design), Michael Gianfrancesco (costume and set design) and Michael Hart (Stage management) on the new Canadian work about Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, the wife of Alexander Graham Bell. The show is called Silence and is written by Trina Davies premiering at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario in January 2018.

To date all my professional theatrical experiences has been self-initiated and I have learnt on the job. This training program feels like the opportune moment to take a back seat and observing masters in their craft. Almost like a revisit to theatre school this is a natural progression to building my practice and allowing me to be schooled in the creative side of theatre which I feel is naturally where I see my career leading while also continuing as a performer in theatre and film. Adaptation has been a word I firmly hold to in my development as an emerging artist and opportunities like this cannot be done without the generous support of programs like this.

Photo by Scott McKowen

The artists I have the luck of working with on this show have beautiful aesthetics and a commitment to elevating theatrical narratives through their craft. It is my intention to be able to direct a designer but also know how a designer caters to a directors artistic needs in my future endeavours. 

There are technical skills I am hoping to gain through the utilization of film in theatrical productions. Observing the collaboration between Beth Kates and Michael Gianfrancesco is also key in how video and lighting can complement with set and costume design as well as learning QLab and the implementation of film.

My job will be to help in the preparation of the rehearsal to ensure a clear, concise and productive process, to provide necessary information for table work and be an aid in presenting the premiere of this new Canadian work. Language is a key part in this narrative and working with deaf artists is something I will be observing acutely. How a director navigates the bilingual nature of a process like this is paramount, as well as in navigating this short turnaround of rehearsal without a hindrance to detail and precision. I have no doubt of Peter's abilities to do this given his discipline, inclusivity and sensitivity to subjects and attention to details.

As an actor, to date, I have professionally played two characters who have disabilities. The first was at Ryerson Theatre School where I played Tiresias in Moira Buffini’s Welcome to Thebes. The second was professional in 2015 when I played a blind lover in the Canadian play Bombay Black. The irony of both of these characters was that although they could not literally see, figuratively they had more world view and capacity of sight than most around them. 

As actors we rely so much on the visceral and sensory experience and these theatrical journeys were an awakening in my understanding and sensitivity to those communities that I was able to explore. Communities that work so hard to make it through our world that is, sadly, inaccessible for most to navigate.

A world with no hearing is an alien experience to me and as an artist and musician I cannot imagine a life without sound. Ironically the majority of my job on Silence is to watch and listen, something antithetical to the subject of deafness that the play explores. It is important to have great sensitivity toward projects that deal with subjects that I am unfamiliar with and being introduced to the deaf community is something I am looking forward to. Also as a creator of theatre patience and observation is key in the process.

Work like this allows me to have practical hands-on experience but also to observe seniors artists at work objectively, and how they interact in their professional creative relationships while working through roadblocks and artistic struggles and achieving the victories when it is successful.

As a multi-disciplinary artist, learning and elevating my artistry in team-building is a daily ritual of mine particularly on this show in order to learn how theatrical elements are built not in isolation but in partnership with each other. Watching and learning how designers navigate dialogue with a creative director—from the realization to the execution of a new Canadian story—is invaluable for me as someone who wants to both direct and design. 

The biggest takeaway this opportunity allows for is the expansion of my understanding of disabilities and enhance my sensory skills used and involved in the creative process in order to maximize my creative kinesphere.

Mabel Hubbard Bell and Alexander Graham Bell
Photo courtesy NGS archives

As I look into the world that Trina explores in the play I am struck by how Alexander Graham Bell’s and his contemporaries’ innovations around communication during the 19th century radically changed the modern world we live in today. If you drive the 2-hour drive it takes to witness the natural phenomenon of Niagara Falls, you can imagine yourself in a world that Mabel Bell inhabited before it was encircled by the commercial capitalist world of iHOP, Starbucks and casinos. Mabel Bell saw the world through curious eyes and wonder and was unfortunately labelled as someone disabled which Alexander tried to hide from the world.

Perhaps it is time that we don't look at invisible disabilities as disabilities at all, but as an opportunity to explore the world in a different way. To not take for granted what you have is crucial. Being rendered deaf could open our eyes and other senses to more opportunities lost to the naked eye. Posing a loss as a positive could perhaps save us all.

We cannot understand the condition of others until we immerse ourselves in their lived experience. Those who no longer hear have not lost their hearing but have gained their deafness.

The next application deadline for the Professional Theatre Training Program is March 1, 2018.

Learn more about Theatre Ontario's Professional Theatre Training Program

Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Browsing Our Bulletin Board

Coming Up from Theatre Ontario

• What is my long-term career plan? How can I make money as an artist? Which training opportunities are best for my career? Join us at our “Emergence: a theatre training day for youth, by youth” from our Youth Advisory Committee on September 24 in Toronto.
• Seeking financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor? Apply to our Professional Theatre Training Program. The application deadline is October 1.
• Are you stressed about your finances and do your artistic projects make it even harder to stay on top of it all? Join us at our “smART Money: Personal Finances for Artists” workshop with Natasha Mytnowych on October 3 in Toronto.
• Want to know the secrets to a successful voice acting career? Join us at our “Voice Over” workshop with Elley-Ray on October 7 in Toronto.
• Preparing an OAC application? Get the inside scoop at our “Grant Writing Information Session” pre-recorded webinar with Pat Bradley of the Ontario Arts Council available on October 9.
• Professional development and networking for adjudicators—join us at our “Adjudicators Symposium” on October 14 in Toronto.
• Seeking financial support for programs that deliver accessible training to young people (age 14 to 21) led by professional theatre artists? Apply to our Youth Theatre Training Program. The application deadline is October 15.
• Learn the do’s and don’ts of writing an engaging ten-minute play. Join us at our “Perfect 10: How to Write a 10-Minute Play” free live webinar on October 17.
• Thinking of producing a show or starting a theatre company? Join us at our “Ready Set Show!: Foundation of Indie Producing” workshop with Rachel Kennedy and guest Kevin Matthew Wong on October 18 in Toronto.

Check out all of our upcoming Career Stream and Creator Stream workshops.

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board

• Shaw Festival’s “Stage Skills for Adults” workshop on Period Costumes is September 22, “Scene Study Sunday” is September 24, and “Play by Play” audience experience starts September 27.
• Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa has a Hive @ GCTC workshop for high school and university students on “Theatre Criticism in the Digital Age” on September 27.
• The MT Space’s #SURVIVE_RESIST_CREATE conference begins September 28.

New on The Bulletin Board

• Soulpepper Theatre invites submissions for their Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators. Their assessment criteria includes prioritizing “ambitious works that speak to the diversity of modern-day Canada.” The deadline is October 6.

Check out these items, and other postings from our members.

• Grants
• Calls for Submission and Nominations
• Workshops at Ontario Theatres and Other Arts Service Organizations
• Adult Continuing Education and Training Studio Programs
• Youth Training Programs
• Volunteer and Non-Paying Positions
• Community Events and Conferences

Theatre Ontario individual members can also access Auditions, Job Postings and Discount Ticket Offers on our Theatre Ontario Individual Member Resources on our website

Browsing Our Bulletin Board

Coming Up from Theatre Ontario

Voice Over workshop with Elley-Ray

• What is my long-term career plan? How can I make money as an artist? Which training opportunities are best for my career? Join us at “Emergence: a theatre training day for youth, by youth” on September 24 in Toronto.
• Seeking financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor? Apply to our Professional Theatre Training Program. The application deadline is October 1.
• Are you stressed about your finances and do your artistic projects make it even harder to stay on top of it all? Join us at our “Smart Money: Personal Finances for Artists” workshop with Natasha Mytnowych on October 3 at 5pm in Toronto.
• Want to know the secrets to a successful voice acting career? Join us at our Voice Over workshop with Elley-Ray on October 7 in Toronto.
• Preparing an OAC application? Get the inside scoop at our “Grant Writing Information Session” pre-recorded webinar with Pat Bradley of the Ontario Arts Council available on October 9.

Check out all of our upcoming Career Stream and Creator Stream workshops.

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board

• Deadline to apply for Ontario Arts Council’s “Artists in Communities and Schools” projects is September 14, and for “Indigenous Artists in Communities Projects” and “Indigenous Arts Projects” is September 19.
• Shaw Festival’s “Stage Skills for Adults” workshop on Period Costumes is September 22.

New on The Bulletin Board

• Carousel Players invites applications for their Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators. Funding priorities are creators whose focus it is to create works for children, youth, and families. Artists of diverse cultural and community backgrounds, including the Niagara region, are encouraged to apply. The deadline is November 30.

Check out these items, and other postings from our members.

• Grants
• Calls for Submission and Nominations
• Workshops at Ontario Theatres and Other Arts Service Organizations
• Adult Continuing Education and Training Studio Programs
• Youth Training Programs
• Volunteer and Non-Paying Positions
• Community Events and Conferences

Theatre Ontario individual members can also access Auditions, Job Postings and Discount Ticket Offers on our Theatre Ontario Individual Member Resources on our website

Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program: Erin Gerofsky

Our Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) offers financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor in any theatrical discipline (except performance.)

Erin Gerofsky trained in set and costume design with Judith Bowden

(July 19, 2017) At long last, my rambling journey through Design for theatre with Judith Bowden through the Professional Theatre Training Program has come to close. Over the past seven months I have had the great fortune to go fabric shopping in NYC, observe the differences of American theatre in Washington D.C., collaborate with Judith as Associate designer on The Emancipation of Miss Lovely—the first show I have worked on to be nominated for a Dora award, return “home” to the Shaw Festival for tests on a tech heavy production of Saint Joan, and have my first experience backstage at the Stratford Festival to tech The Changeling. Each of these experiences gave me a particularly useful tool to carry with me through my career, two of which stand out as having equipped me with skills I have already had the chance to put into practice in my design work, leading to more successful completed pieces as a direct result of my experience with the PTTP.

Fabric shopping in NYC was incredibly informative and helped me to get a handle on the tools I needed in order to stay organized in the face of great, great, GREAT variety. Keeping clear notes and organizing swatches with a clear system will help differentiate two similar fabrics when you are sorting through the options and have to make a decision based on budget and availability. Notes like these should stay accessible throughout the build process, as you never know when you will need to source a fabric at a late stage, and having this information already available saves you valuable time. I was able to put such skills into practice when shopping for The Penelopiad, for which I designed the costumes at George Brown Theatre School this spring. The Penelopiad was the first show I ever had built from scratch, and as such, fabric shopping was particularly important to the success of the project. Walking into Affordable Textiles on my first day of swatching, equipped with my binder ring of manila tags and stapler, I felt confident in my ability to shop for what we needed, make smart choices based on budget, and gather enough information to present to my head of wardrobe to put her at ease as I was a first time designer with the company. Thanks to those three days of shopping in NYC I was in a position to exceed their expectations, and was invited to design a show in their next season as a result.

The Emancipation of Ms Lovely was an unexpected addition to our “curriculum”; a one woman (plus two musician) show being given a more production-heavy treatment after a couple of more “bare bones” runs in previous years. Judith was asked to design the set with a tight timeline, and an already rather full plate, so she asked me to take on some more of the conceptual responsibilities than normally asked of an assistant, and associate or co-design the set with her. This meant I was in on the design conversation from nearly the complete beginning, allowing me to contribute more fully to the vision and be of more use to fill in the gaps without supervision as we pieced it all together in the space. This also means when there wasn't the money to hire a scenic artist, Judith and Zack and I all rolled up our sleeves and painted the set ourselves (simple flat or glossy black only, thankfully).Two of my main concerns with the set were making our seat count while maintaining fire code standards and drafting the set and communicating with the builders at McWood. Having never heard the word “egress” or hired an outside build team before, the learning curve on much of that was immediate, but I was glad to have had Judith and the rest of the team to get me up to speed. This experience was particularly useful in preparing me for my first opera this June. Having some idea of what percentage of my budget I should be allocating to different elements helped me keep the show on track throughout a long build process, and my previous experience with McWood made me feel confident in working with them on the build for the opera. Plus, when we were worried about meeting the fire code standards with our ginormous orchestra, I had a few suggestions ready. Without the experience of working on Ms Lovely, and seeing the incredible extent of teamwork that accomplishes a project of that scope in such a short amount of time, I think I'd have torn my hair out for the stress of the sheer size of the opera; instead, once again, I was in a position to exceed the company's expectations, and was able to turn a boat load of work into a really fun and fulfilling experience.

While those previous two examples offer neatly packaged examples of a direct cause-effect benefit due to this mentorship, there have been countless moments that have strengthened my approach to collaboration, simply by way of observing how these shows have been put together. Dozens of anecdotes that have helped to begin filling the gaps between the work I am doing and the work I would like to be doing. Not all of it is yet within my grasp, but I feel started on a path with a newly refreshed sense of purpose.

Related Reading:

• Erin Gerofsky’s first story
• Erin Gerofsky’s second story

The next application deadline for the Professional Theatre Training Program is October 2, 2017.

Learn more about Theatre Ontario's Professional Theatre Training Program

Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Highlights of the Detailed Adjudication of "Outside Mullingar" at Theatre Ontario Festival 2017

Toronto Irish Players' production of Outside Mullingar

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Highlights of the detailed adjudication by Annette G. Procunier of Toronto Irish Players’ production of Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanley (representing ACT-CO, the Association of Community Theatres—Central Ontario.)

• Script was chosen from their reading group; usually produce Irish-written works, but wanted to explore something from the diaspora
• Perform at Alumnae Theatre, a converted fire-hall with 146 seats
• Production had an economical approach to design; the two houses between Act 1 and Act 2 were alike yet different, frame set pieces to suggest
• Use of cyclorama colours helped provide mood
• Everything on the stage allowed us to become absorbed into the action, while using areas to give us sense of other places
• It’s a play of alternatives: holding onto the past, letting that eat up the present; waiting for something else rather than living in the now
• Wonderful, simple choice to show the passage of time by Anthony moving back and forth across the front of the stage, changing coats to show change of time
• Constant drinking during Act 2 was a wonderful choice; the characters didn’t drink a great deal, allowed that kind of conversation to start, in the script the scene rings a bit false without it; when he gets a bottle reflects change in relationship
• Entrances into the house lacked specificity: clarity of front entrance and the back entrance
• Singing by Rosemary and Aoife of “Wild Mountain Thyme” in the scene change helped inform the characters’ relationship—while functionally serving the set/costume change: we stayed in the world of the play
• Tony and Aoife’s scene: We believe their long shared history; they sat without a lot of blocking which was a good, risky choice; trusted in the text
• Anthony’s costumes could have been crustier-looking
• The physicality of Tony’s death: Director didn’t want it to be melancholy, Tony was a proud man bringing strength to the end, would have stood if he could; Legitimate choice, but suggestion is then to take more time, so that he would read less energetic
• Showing the ring in the final image of Act 1: make it clear that something is going to happen, especially since dialogue makes clear he has done nothing with the ring in three years
• Tony’s scene was a poignant exploration of “in love”
• First-class acting—performers had talent and technique
• Act 2 was a tour-de-force: Every comment had a reaction, nothing was without a response; took time, trusting audience to go with performers, kept audience engaged
• Different reaction at home, primarily an Irish audience with bigger laughs on Tony and Aoife talking about places where they come from, but other lines got laughs for the first time in Ottawa
• Good sense of them as neighbours, plausible that they would wait this long
• Actors were at their finest trying to “get it out: Anthony’s line “I believe that I am a honeybee” then we see Rosemary trying to process it; similarly “Yes, I’m a virgin” / “We can fix that” was beautifully played—characters were self-conscious but actors were not
• First performed in October/November; began remount on April 9
• Lighting designer couldn’t remember all the original cues—always the biggest challenge since costumes are the same, set fundamentally the same, lighting has different instruments, hung differently, not enough rehearsal time: it was clear what were mistakes in execution (rather than design)
• Similarly, sound levels will be different in new venue
• As a designer/director you must nitpick (“pick the fly shit out of the pepper”) but audiences won’t when they are absorbed in the production
• Re-visiting the work meant finding MORE: exploring more; seeing more things, knowing the characters more; things you had forgotten you re-discovered in a new way; director’s instruction was to “re-live”, not re-produce; positive vibes bringing it back into the working space after a successful run
• A specific example was the timing in the Guinness sequence; the moments were refined; “stage business” is good when it allows the characters time to react
• Repetition is human nature, character’s repetitive quicks help make characters seem more truthful
• Aoife walking away in her final scene with Rosemary, movement showed us that she was pronounced, her hip was causing problems, her death was imminent
• Anthony and Tony relationship: nagged each other, but there was no sense that he was going to leave
• Director acknowledged Producer as unsung hero, taking care of everyone including the Director
• Applauded their commitment to craft

As always, this is my best effort to record the conversation at the Detailed Adjudication, with apology for any misrepresentations of the ideas of the members of the company and the adjudicator. Corrections and clarifications are welcome in the comments.

Highlights of the Detailed Adjudication of "Waiting for the Parade" at Theatre Ontario Festival 2017

Northumberland Players' production of Waiting for the Parade

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Highlights of the detailed adjudication by Annette G. Procunier of Northumberland Players’ production of Waiting for the Parade by John Murrell (representing the Eastern Ontario Drama League—EODL)

• Group performed originally in a 50-seat venue, the Firehall Theatre
• Director took on play from her interest in subject matter, heard stories of life at home during Second World War
• Play has interesting sensibility: written by a man, not Canadian- or British-born
• Takes place over six years, women age over the course of the play, challenge for company is depicting that evolution over time
• Established the character types, but then gnawed away at the edges
• Beautiful palette for the show
• Music was evocative, changed with the time of the play
• Props were excellent, but the only one that was unclear was the teddy bear in Catherine’s area: director intended to depict her child, problem was that it was not engaged enough in the action, seemed ornamental rather than useful
• Discussed differences between symbols and images: symbols are what they are (e.g. a cross is a clear Christian symbol) whereas images objects/sound/actions represent something
• Set used platforms/risers for certain areas: Marta’s area was quite full
• Lights are always a challenge in Festivals, especially with this show’s women of varying heights
• Janet’s hat had an ornamental object on top; she needed to keep her head up so that her face would not go into the shadow of the object—audiences need to see faces in order to hear them
• Each actress has an internal rhythm that helped distinguish the characters; they took time and were willing to react, there was never an disengaged moment
• When the characters were not in the scene, they were in their own world, not frozen (e.g. Marta was sewing by hand, referenced by her father for delicate work, the action draws us to her)
• Would Janet’s area with the piano have benefited from being on a riser/platform?  She is the “bossy boots” and would give her height and status
• Catherine’s playing area was S.C. and concerning: most central – does that mean hers is the most important story?
• Catherine’s story would play well S.R., delving into love and sexuality
• Had a riser U.S.C. – originally 3 feet high, but then stairs would be needed and would get in the way of the playing areas, lowered
• Clear white light isolation on Marta while she was talking to the officials was extremely effective
• Another effective scene was the fight between Catherine and Janet—rehearsing violence before the show is helpful so that nothing is left to chance
• Discussed choice in the blocking that Janet backed up when Catherine challenged her: it weakened her position; the intention could have been achieved by having her turn and walk away instead, it becomes Janet’s choice to move and remains vulnerable, Catherine then has to move to her—keeps the stakes up
• Eve did not caricature, which can be a trap with that character; she is naïve but not silly—as a teacher, she would have been eaten alive if she was silly; an excellent example of non-caricature was in the “practicing blackout” scene
• Monologue styles—performers should always think about who you are talking to when addressing the audience
• Good transition of scenes with motion taking us from moment-to-moment
• Costumes were lively, shoes were terrific—showed evolution of characters, especially Janet and Catherine
• Picnic was staged on the U.S.C. platform: In their home theatre, you cannot see scenes on the floor; may have benefitted here from being D.S.
• Play was funny, without being over-the-top (Margaret’s “I can’t stand that woman” was an example)
• Marta and Janet’s confrontation: it was indistinct where Janet was coming from, as she left in a different direction: the narrowness of the space meant that it was played very close together, environment did not allow characters to have appropriate responses (e.g. Janet not looking  at her)
• First entrances are always significant; the opening dances helped establish the relationships
• Eve’s reactions to Harry were good—textual question is “Why did she marry him?”
• Janet may be most “under-written” character in the play; her relationship with Jack is not established early, her monologue is where she articulates why she does what she does
• Ways to make Janet more aggressive through exploration of vocal work: sharpness/emphatic comes in consonants (“Nice and tight”)
• How nice that Janet could actually play the piano—music could be mournful when needed
• The dancing in the final scene could emphasize more of their relationships and its evolution
• Similarly, the singing evolves over the course of the show—the first time it is perfunctory, but it becomes better as we explore their personalities; Marta sings “Lili Marlene” differently (“It’s one of their songs”); unclear how they heard her sing: if she sang from her space in the set, it conveys the sense of her music disrupting the others (emphasized in her confrontation with Janet); Would that split focus?
• In an episodic script like this one, find ways to connect the dots
• The drinking scene following the news that Catherine’s husband was missing: Margaret had an effective balance of sympathetic without condoning, taking and giving focus effectively; Drunkenness was believable, not burlesque; Catherine stayed seated giving her an opportunity to show lack of focus concentration; Marta turned her glass over when she was done drinking—good choice as very European; Catherine’s fall with her dress flailing up was well executed and committed
• D-Day Monologues: Scene could have benefitted from taking greater risks in soundscape so that the battle sounds were 10-times louder by the end, forcing us into the horrible situation for a brief time
• Audience was listening intensely; credit to performers
• For actors, risk-taking should involve pushing scenes to the limit in order to find the boundary; you can always pull a scene back but can’t force it—for Catherine, successful examples were the fight with Janet, the drinking scene, the heartbreak of Margaret writing with the eraser-end of the pencil; similarly for Margaret painting her own legs—showed us that she had made the emotional leap
• Find everything in the script, all of the uncomfortable places

As always, this is my best effort to record the conversation at the Detailed Adjudication, with apology for any misrepresentations of the ideas of the members of the company and the adjudicator. Corrections and clarifications are welcome in the comments.

Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program: Erin Gerofsky

Our Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) offers financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor in any theatrical discipline (except performance.)

Erin Gerofsky is training in set and costume design with Judith Bowden

(March 18, 2017) As a significant part of my training, I accompanied Judith to fabric shop in NYC, and to tech Watch on the Rhine in DC. Both trips provided me with invaluable learning experiences in the process of theatre-making, but also offered an abundance of inspiration in arts and culture that are helping to reshape my process.

From January 10 to 14 I enjoyed making the rounds at many of the larger fabric houses in NYC: I have a freezer-sized bag of fabric swatches to prove it. For the better part of three of those days, I joined Judith and the Head of Wardrobe from Shaw or Stratford (good scheduling meant Judith was able to shop for both shows in NYC one after the other) visiting fabric stores hunting for the perfect ‘purpley-greeney-grey’ linen, ‘a lightweight silk twill in a navy that isn't too dark’, and other such treasures.  It was a great exercise in learning what Judith's eye is drawn to, which shops let you swatch for free, and all the decisions I need to have made before I dare bring someone fabric to be made into buttons and belts. Thanks to Shaw and Stratford's planning and having both Heads of Wardrobe in town to shop, it was also a great opportunity to observe what the dynamic between the Head of Wardrobe and the Designer brings to the process. Observing differences in note-taking style, book-keeping and negotiation tactics was useful for me on a very practical level, as in this time in my career I frequently wear all of the hats, particularly when it comes to costumes; knowing where to shop is just as important as knowing who to hire. This scheduling also had the added benefit of having Nancy Perrin—who is assisting Judith on The Changeling at Stratford—in town for shopping, who found a delightful off-off-Broadway show Gorey: The Secret Lives of Edward Gorey which we took in on my last night in town. It was superb, we enjoyed it immensely, and committed egregious theatre faux pas when we thought a programme insert was inviting us to explore and take photos of the stage. Oops!

The abundance of selection in NYC is reason enough for theatres to shop for fabrics there.  For every store we went in to, there are three we didn't; stores carrying nothing but zippers in every length, material and colour, stores stuffed with sequins and velvet burnouts, stores specializing in dancewear and spandex. Following Judith around I learned to carry manila tags on a ring and a stapler to keep my swatches organized and on which to write the price, width and supplier for reference. I learned the value of over-swatching so that I have a bundle of options at the ready when I feel stuck for a fabric solution down the road, and I already know how it fits into my colour palette.  I was recently able to put these lessons into action through my work costume designing The Penelopiad at George Brown, the first show I have ever designed that is largely being built—and the labour is someone who isn't me. I went out on my own for a few hours one afternoon to swatch the show and then had two very successful shopping trips with my Head of Wardrobe where we found fabrics that worked well into our budget and suited the story I was trying to tell through the textures we used. We are still in the earlier stages of the build process, but the show is shaping up to have a very cohesive visual design that tells its own stories and makes its own connections to support the text, that has at the same time been an exciting vehicle for play and experimentation. 

Okay, back to the USA. This time, a trip to the capital, mere days after Donald Trump took over the White House. It was a very strange time to be visiting the capital, but having over a week there meant I really got to take advantage of the many free museums and beautiful architecture that DC has to offer. During my time there I had the opportunity to sit in on a few tech days on Watch on the Rhine at Arena Stage, which Judith was costume designing. It was a great pleasure to see the final tightening phase on a show with such a phenomenal team, about issues that are so timely. I won't say much here, but do watch the film version from 1943 starring Bette Davis (I did, after coming home, I couldn't get the show out of my mind!) Observing tech and hearing about the production process at Arena Stage was a great insight into the differences between American and Canadian practices of theatre creation. For instance, lighting levels did not have scheduled time to program with light walkers; all lighting cues were created while scenes were worked on stage over the course of two days. In Costumeland, the biggest difference in the build process is that Arena Stage builds muslins for every garment they build, a practice which is oft foregone for being too costly and time-consuming. From the designer's and builder's perspective, building a muslin provides an invaluable opportunity to alter the pattern to better suit the actor before cutting into the final fabric, giving you a cleaner final product. It's also a chance to see how long a garment will take to build, and what materials suit the cuts the best. In the fitting process, a muslin provides a literal canvas to draw on and pin to tweak the shapes to suit. A great fitting tip I picked up from Judith is to keep a long length of 1/4” twill in white and black in my kit to bring into fittings. I can use whatever twill is in high contrast with my fabric to visually adjust the lines and offer a guideline to mark up the muslin for alterations. That's a tip you can take right to the fitting room.

DC's many free museums filled up a number of afternoons, leaving more still to discover next visit. Highlights include seeing an exhibit on how bystanders become complicit in genocide through inaction at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the National Gallery's contemporary art collection (pretty much all of it.) It was a really interesting time to be in DC to say the least, with a few large protests occurring both within the city centre and at the airport while I was in town. One of the unexpected and most enjoyed side effects of this mentorship has been reassessing my sources of inspiration as a part of my process. I have tried to reconnect with old sources of inspiration I haven't gone to lately, as well as look at new avenues and where they could take me. I look forward to continuing to explore this through the second half of our mentorship, and I hope to be coming out on the other side with a newly minted artist’s statement to match my new approach to the work.

Related Reading:

• Erin Gerofsky’s first report

The next application deadline for the Professional Theatre Training Program is October 2, 2017.

Learn more about Theatre Ontario's Professional Theatre Training Program

Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Post Marginal: Cultural Diversity as Theatrical Practice from Modern Times Stage Company opens on Sunday. It’s a workshop and a symposium project that intends to “transition cultural diversity in the theatre from exercises in identity politics into a form of contemporary theatrical practice.” The keynote speaker is Donna-Michelle St. Bernard (our Festival Playwright-in-Person in 2016 in North Bay.) We are proud to be a Major Partner for this project.
• Siobhan Richardson was interviewed on the Stageworthy Podcast, talking about intimacy for the stage and Intimacy Directors International.
• Mitchell Marcus of The Musical Stage Company (formerly known as Acting Up Stage Company) writes about “Unsung Understudies.”

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• This weekend marks the end of the Association of Community Theatres - Central Ontario Festival and Eastern Ontario Drama League Festival with their respective awards events in Vaughan (April 8) and Brockville (April 9.)
• Learn more about “The Junction” at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton—for performers who create work that may not be served by traditional development methods (storytelling, movement pieces, collective creations, etc.)
• Camellia Koo had a Q&A with the Ontario Arts Foundation about being a recipient of the Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design, and what private arts philanthropy means as a working artist.
• Check out the Playwrights Guild of Canada “Play Map of Canada” for April highlighting Canadian-written plays on stage this month.

TO Toasts

• ... to Claire Calnan of the Hamilton Fringe Festival, one of the winners of the 2017 K.M. Hunter Artist Awards for mid-career professionals.

In Case You Missed It

• Browsing Our Bulletin Board featuring opportunities across the province including workshops on grant writing, self-producing, director-dramaturge collaborations, career development, our Summer Theatre Intensive, and TAPA’s Indie X.
• ONstage Openings this week in Cookstown, Oshawa, Leamington, and Toronto.

Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program: Erin Gerofsky

Our Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) offers financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor in any theatrical discipline (except performance.)

Erin Gerofsky will train in set and costume design with Judith Bowden

(December 5, 2016) In a windy Tim Horton's parking lot, over a half full cup of hot chocolate and a box of tiny furniture, Judith Bowden first mentioned applying for the Professional Theatre Training Program with me as a way to further develop my skills and network as an emerging designer. Three years later, we're finally making good on that idea! I'm beyond ready to follow Judith around for our six month long program focusing on Set and Costume Design.

Judith and I first met back in 2011 when I started as the Design Assistant at the Shaw Festival. I recall seeing her work on stage in My Fair Lady when I came to interview with The Shaw and feeling immediately connected to the way her costumes used texture, colour and period elements in such a playful way. Over my two years assisting at The Shaw I had a few opportunities to work with—or at least in close proximity to—Judith, and we kept in touch after I moved on from the festival. Due to our past shared experience and my time assisting at The Shaw, Judith and I felt moved to design a program of study to follow that would see my role less as an assistant designer, and more like a scholar; using the real productions Judith is working on as a basis of study of the practice of theatre making as a whole.

We have developed a plan of study that centres around the topics of idea creation, the director-designer relationship, and the influences that evolve a design through the creative/build process. Judith will be bringing me up to speed on the shows she has on her roster in whatever state they are in at this time: two, six or seven months away from opening, so that we can examine the process in (and on!) a variety of stages and see the effects that different environments and people have on the process.

Through our six months together I hope to further develop my skills in researching, communication, budgeting and time management, as well as of course learning all I can about Judith's creative process and practice. In return I hope to provide a sounding board, a second set of eyes, an extra pair of hands and an eagerness to help and learn all I can. I'm looking forward to further developing my skills—even the boring ones—through this incredible opportunity, and using this experience to broaden my horizons as a designer. Thank you again to Theatre Ontario and the Professional Theatre Training Program for making this possible.

The next application deadline for the Professional Theatre Training Program is March 1, 2017.

Learn more about Theatre Ontario's Professional Theatre Training Program

Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Congratulations to the Professional Theatre Training Program Fall 2016 Grant Recipients

We are pleased to announce the latest recipients of training grants through Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP). We thank all those who applied to the program.

$36,094 was awarded in total among the following 9 recipients:

• Heather Davies will train in artistic direction with Gil Garratt at Blyth Festival
• Erin Gerofsky will train in set and costume design with Judith Bowden
• Valerie Hawkins will train in direction with Jillian Keiley at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa
• Michael O’Brien will train in digital media creation and directing with Sarah Garton Stanley at SpiderWebShow
• Norah Paton will train in production management with Kevin Waghorn at the Ottawa Fringe Festival
• Michela Sisti will train in artistic direction with Ross Manson at Volcano Theatre in Toronto
• Jennifer Stewart will train in directing classical theatre with Jeannette Lambermont-Morey at Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie
• Lisa Van Oorschot will train in lighting design with Kimberly Purtell
• Kevin Wong will train in artistic direction with Marjorie Chan at Cahoots Theatre in Toronto

Over $147,780 was requested during this application round. The next application deadline for this program is March 1, 2017.

Our Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) offers financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor in any theatrical discipline except performance.

Learn more about the Professional Theatre Training Program

This program is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.