Lois Backstage

Please Change Your Feeds

2009-08-16T15:17:00.001-07:00

It has come to my attention that in the course of my change over to wordpress my feeds are no longer the same. If you have been subscribing to this blog and have not yet switched over, click on through to www.loisbackstage.com and hit the "subscribe" button so you don't miss out on any new posts!

New Blog Location

2009-07-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers!

I've gone off the deep end and moved my blog over to my personal domain permanently. You may have to update your feeds. Please head on over to www.loisbackstage.com and see the new and improved site!

The Winds & Woes of Outdoor Theatre

2009-07-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday started out as a normal rehearsal day: Wake up, check the weather (twice), and then head to site for the day. The forecast included a 30% chance of thundershowers, but with light winds and almost no rain, so we pushed forward. About 2 hours into rehearsal the winds began gusting - we're estimating about 80 km/hr and we began to scramble to get the site secured so it wouldn't get wrecked.
The winds were so strong that our fencing was blowing sideways, and after getting pushed around trying to keep it upright, we finally gave up and lay it down on the ground and began to focus on securing the tents which were trying to take off. At the same time we were being hit by gusts of wind that started to knock over the front rows of seats.
The wind did not want to stop there though! It decided that tree branches should no longer be remaining in trees, and once the large branches started falling on stage, we decided that for safety's sake we all needed to leave the site and head to safer grounds. The dust was flying and getting in everyone's eyes, and if the tents did pick up we did not want to be under them.

Today's forecast is for thunderstorms again, so hopefully we don't have to cancel opening night.

Welcome to the rehearsal hall

2009-07-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

During my time as a stage manager I have come to strongly believe that the atmosphere of the rehearsal hall is one of my key contributions to the rehearsal process. This contribution takes a few different shapes.

First of all, it is important to maintain an atmosphere of respect and safety - a place where actors are comfortable being vulnerable and are able to do their best work. In and of itself this charge takes numerous forms. It can mean covering over a mirror in a dance studio so that actors aren't checking themselves out instead of looking at their scene partner. It can mean silencing a group of actors waiting for their scene or asking them to wait in another room while scenes are being worked. It can mean talking to the director and encouraging him/her to give more positive notes after running scenes & acts to keep spirits up. It can mean being the listening ear for an actress who has just found out that her costume is essentially a spandex cat-woman suit. Each of these things help to create a safe environment.

The second part to creating a good rehearsal hall atmosphere has to do with the room itself. Most rehearsal halls are dark and dingy. Rooms rented out for this sort of thing that never get cleaned. I've been lucky on my current show to be rehearsing in a dance studio that is closed for the summer. We have separate rooms for each show, so we can put things on the wall and not have to worry about taking them down at night. We also had access to a kitchen, so I didn't set up a coffee station in the room as I usually would. But our walls are full of show related things.

When costume designer Bonnie Pavlovic did her design presentation for Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead she had renderings for the three main characters: Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, & The Player, but instead of individual renderings for our 6 ensemble members who play all of the Hamlet roles as well as creating the ensemble of travelling players, she created these collages of 60's icons Each ensemble member, she explained, would be dressed as one of these icons, but she was waiting to see them to pick their inspiration. We hung her collages in the rehearsal hall so whenever the actors had questions about their look it was easy to check the photos, but it also gave the room a bit more warmth & some of the flavor of the show.Our rehearsal schedule began with a week of working just with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and one of the excersises the director did that week was a series of tableaus: waiting, hopeful, hopeless, etc. Of each tableau we took photos and hung them on the wall. These photos became inspirations for blocking moments, as well as something else about our show to have on the wall, making the room feel like it was ours.

One of the complications of doing Hamlet & Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead in rep is that the cut of Hamlet we are doing doesn't always line up with the Hamlet lines that have been inserted in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. In an effort to make that transition easier for people who have the same speech in both shows except in one show there is an added line here and a removed line there, I created text comparisons. Providing the dialogue for the scene from each show side-by-side so that any confusion could be quickly cleared up.

This sign is compliments of the director, and I think is as much for her own benefit as for that of the company. However, we all need to be reminded, especially during the rehearsal process, that we need to "Keep Calm & Carry On".

Friday Arts Quotes: Slings and Arrows Season 1

2009-07-10T05:01:00.000-07:00

Ever since I got to Kamloops I have been missing live theatre. It's been a month since I've seen a show and will be another month until I see another. In an effort to appease my soul's desire to see live shows, I've been watching Slings and Arrows. If you've never heard of the show, it's time you watched it. All of it.

In the meantime, let me present you with a couple of quotes from the first season when the fictional theatre company produces "Hamlet".

"Cheer up, Hamlet; chin up, Hamlet; buck up, you melancholy Dane! So your uncle is a cad who murdered Dad and married Mum. That's really no excuse to be as glum as you've become! So wise up, Hamlet; rise up, Hamlet; perk up and sing a new refrain. Your incessant monologizing fills the castle with ennui. Your antic disposition is embarrassing to see. And by the way, you sulky brat, the answer is to be! You're driving poor Ophelia insane. So shut up, you rogue and peasant; grow up, it's most unpleasant; cheer up, you melancholy Dane!"
- Act 1 Theme Song

"There are some of you who will be terrified to learn that I'm going to take over direction of this play. There are others who will be thrilled because they know that in my production there will be little danger of you stepping in a pile of horse shit. But I think that there is one thing that both, the pro-Geoffrey and the anti-Geoffrey, camps can agree upon and that is, that my reason may very well be hanging by a thread. Well, my friends, it is my belief that the best of happens just before the thread snaps"
- Geoffry Tennant

How to make great theatre:

2009-07-09T19:22:00.001-07:00

The director for Rosencrantz & Guildenstern ran across this book at a local second-hand bookstore. subtitled "A handbook for the Backstage worker; a guidebook for the Student of Drama" this book is a joke.

The sample of a "good" promptbook is ridiculous: notes scribbled everywhere & no sense of order to it.

For the actors among us, the book presents the proper way to sit in a chair, the variety of ways one can pose with certain furniture. We've also got the correct & wrong ways to embrace, foot positions & how the first step should be.

One of my favorites is this graph of how a laugh on stage works.

and if you're looking for advice on aging makeup they have that too.

The June Review & July "To See" List

2009-07-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Leaving town June 14th really did make it next to impossible to see anything in Vancouver during the month of June.

I did see Othello at Bard, but was not thrilled by the production. I attended a preview and the cast was still tripping over the set, costumes & at times their lines. Hopefully I will make it to a studio stage show by the end of the summer, but I do not know how that will work.

As for VACT's Flower Drum Song, I made my way to see it and then found out that their weekday matinee began at 1pm, not 2pm, so I had missed the first 40 min. They offered to still sell me a ticket and let me watch the rest, but at that point I was frustrated and uninterested. The lesson I learned from that: Always triple check performance times. Just because every other matinee is at 2pm, doesn't mean the one you are attending is.

I'll be continuing to live in Kamloops throughout the month of July, and as far as I know nothing else is playing in town during that time. This is a sad theatrical drought, but I have no doubt that I will be seeing oodles of plays when I return to Vancouver this fall (date TBC).

Happy Canada Day

2009-07-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Having spent my day in rehearsal for my summer shows, I didn't have a chance to take any pictures of what it means for me to be Canadian....

....but my dad did.

So here, in all his glory, is my father celebrating Canada day.

Reading Plays 2: 7 Stories

2009-06-28T12:57:00.001-07:00

In honor of Canada Day this Wednesday, I decided that this week would be geared to Canadian playwrights.

7 Stories is one of those plays that being from Vancouver, everyone has seen, talks about, etc. I have never seen it and had never read it before now. But I certainly went into it knowing the basic plot: A man stands on a seventh storey building ledge, preparing to jump to his death but is constantly interrupted by the building's residents.

What I didn't know (but should have suspected) was how wonderfully quirky the 12 building resident characters are. Played by only 4 actors, the 12 characters are a great mix of comical and tragic with a lovely hint of neuroses.

I would love to see a production of this show. There is a lot of potential for interesting design choices as well as the variety of ways the shows ending could be perceived by various directors.

Friday Arts Quotes: R&G Edition

2009-06-26T04:27:00.000-07:00

In the past two weeks of rehearsing Rosencrantz & Guildenstern I've picked out a handful of my favorite quotes, some about what it means to be actors and others just because they make me smile. Enjoy.

"We keep to our usual stuff, more or less, only inside out. We do onstage the things that are supposed to happen off. Which is a kind of integrity, if you look on every exit being an entrance somewhere else." - Player, R&G

"We're the actors - we're the opposite of people" - Player, R&G

Reading Plays 1: Hamlet & Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

2009-06-25T19:28:00.001-07:00

I know that it's cheating to talk about reading plays that I'm doing, but this past week has been entirely filled by reading, re-reading, scheduling, listing, re-reading, and all of the other "first week of rehearsal" things that go with stage managing two shows in rep [point of clarification: I am SMing R&G and ASMing Hamlet].

I don't know about you, but I read Hamlet in high school and studied it until I no longer cared about any of it. I also did a production of it when I was in university where it was cut down to 60 minutes and again, didn't really care. All of this makes it far more interesting to read now and enjoy in a whole new way. The version we are using for the show is cut by our director using the First Folio as well as the quartos...It's not your traditional Hamlet. There are scenes in different orders what what you'd find in most modern publications of the play and as such the character relationships are different. And I like it. I sat at the first read today, finally hearing aloud the play I have been reading all week and the characters came alive for me.

I've always been an auditory learner. I learned that fact in grade 3 and have been forever grateful for it. When I hear something I remember it and if I don't hear it (but rather see it) I am far less likely to remember it. For me this means that plays I have read are not nearly as alive for me as plays that are read aloud.

On the other hand, I had never read R&G before going into this process. Sure, I knew of it, but I didn't know anything about how it fit together, and my god is it brilliant. Every time I re-read it (by which I mean every day this week) I am amazed at some new detail. Today as we read Hamlet aloud, I was amazed by pieces of R&G where words and phrases were turned on their heads that I had not previously noticed.

Both plays are a lesson in solid playwrighting, though from completely different schools. Shakespeare is considered a master playwright for a reason. His words evoke images so beautiful and detailed while still furthering story. Stoppard's post-modern look at the fall of the meta-narrative and the dissapearance of the hero is similarly evokative, but in its simplicity and absurdity rather.

And I'll never look at a coin toss the same way again.

New Season's Resolution: The Summer Play Reading Plan

2009-06-22T03:10:00.000-07:00

My new year's resolution was to see more theatre; to be specific, 3 or more shows a month. This summer, there isn't that much theatre to see in Kamloops and my lack of vehicle makes going elsewhere to see theatre problematic. With that in mind I have set myself a new resolution. For the next 7 weeks (until August 6th) I will read 2 plays a week and discuss them on my blog. You'll find the first post on Thursday of this week and then every Monday & Thursday after that.

Reading plays is hard for me. I'm not a visual person. I don't dream in pictures. When I read a play I can't picture it staged. It's much easier for me to spend my time watching TV or even reading novels where things are much more clearly written out for you. But connecting with theatre and the larger theatrical community doesn't happen solely by going to see plays. Reading plays, both new and old, is a vital part of our development as theatre artists (regardless of what role we play within the theatre world). It sharpens our theatrical senses and makes us aware of the plays that are out there - both good and bad.

I have a lot of friends and aquaintences who are playwrights. I go and support the work my actor/director/designer friends are doing. Why am I not supporting the work of my playwright friends?

As a first step to finding plays I made a call on Twitter on Saturday & Sunday. I said, "I am starting to blog about reading plays. Mostly because I need to read more plays. What should I read first? Suggestions please!? #theatre" And the responses came roaring in. Here's just a small sample of the plays people are suggesting:

runismymantra I am assuming you have read top girls, anything by Ibsen, my beautiful laundrette- more of a screenplay though, Walsh by S Pollock
getrealtheatre Killer Joe by T Letts, all of David Lindsay-Abaire, As Bees in Honey Drown by D Carter Beane LOTS more
RyanInVancouveraugust Osage county is a great play I'd look into!!!
atomicfezThe list is massive. I'd recommend 'anything you can get your hands on', or start with names like Orton, Pinter, Churchill #theatre
kittybelleOn the not-so-obvious list: check out Ugo Betti.
lekogirlAmy Freed is a completely brilliant contemp playwright with the best intelligent sense of humor. "You, Nero" is PHENOMENAL.
_redshoes_Anything and everything by Wole Soyinka.
MareBiddleRabbit Hole, How I Learned to Drive, Homecoming, and The Goat.
fishbowlmuse@SMLois Anything by Daniel MacIvor and "Proof" by David Auburn
PBCrookTry Fat Men in Skirts, by Nicky Silver #theatre
helenemontagnaOne of my favorite plays ever is Sam Shepard's "Fool for Love". Also, anything by O'Neill, esp Long Day's Journey Into Night.

The house where I'm staying here in Kamloops belongs to the former AD of a theatre company, so there are scripts throughout the house. Some I've heard of or read before, but others have no name recognition. Some are on the recommended lists that people have sent to me. I plan to read some from all categories. I will try to read some Canadian plays, some international plays, some modern plays, some classics & some that defy categorization. If you have suggestions of plays I should read, please leave them in the comments section!

Friday Arts Quotes: You Still Can't Edition

2009-06-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

With only 3 performances left of You Still Can't at Pacific Theatre, I bring you an all YSC version of Friday Arts Quotes.

Grandpa Tony: "Working against something you believe in. That's not good for a person's soul. What'll you have to take home with you at the end of it all?"

Norman: So you actually got to work with Philip Glass?
Dylan: You will recognize something of a cyclical organizing principle, and would be correct in any conjecture with regards to a certain Glassian influence.
Norman: Cool! Ripping off the greats!
Dylan: I think of it as a consciously post-modern referentiality -"

Photo: Sasha (Laura VanDyke) encouraging Dylan (Brett Ziegler) to sign the Dylan poster for Norman's (Tim Bratton) pseudograph display.

(Cut from the play) Norman: "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing"

Awards for Stage Managing

2009-06-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

My friend Nick posted today about the lack of awards for Stage Managers in both the big awards shows (Tonys) & the smaller community based awards.

Nick suggests that "the need is really to recognize SMs who are emerging in their careers and trying to get enough work to develop their craft into full-time work, which is really what I see these awards as being all about anyway....My feeling is that public recognition by the community enables a talented SM to be exposed to larger theaters so that they can do their work and get compensated appropriately for it. Without that recognition, the SM is the most likely position to achieve burn out."

Here in Vancouver at the Jessies there is the Mary Phillips Prize for Behind-the-Scenes Achievement which is

"Awarded to an unsung hero. The recipient is nominated from the community and chosen by a private committee. Nomination forms are available online and must be received by April 30th. The recipient is chosen by a private committee. Receives a cash prize."

This is not specifically an award for Stage Managing, but I have seen stage managers win it before.

So. Should there be awards for stage management? If there should be, what should they look like? Chime in here, or over on Nick's post.

But what do you DO?

2009-06-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

I was recently at a dinner party where one of the guests commented that when she asked people what they did for a living, she wished they'd give details. To her, hearing a title, whatever it may be, didn't matter. What she was interested in was the nitty-gritty of what people actually do with their lives.

When I tell people that I'm a stage manager I usually qualify that. For people who are involved in theatre there is no need to explain, but for those who attend theatre without working on it, the title of Stage Manager is one they just don't understand. To them I usually explain it as "I carry heavy things around and tell everyone what to do." It's not an accurate description, but its something they can understand. When I start talking about prompt books, blocking, cueing, etc I know that the conversation is done for.

So with that in mind, I bring you "A day with Lois - in Pictures!". Look at all the fun things that being a Stage Manager can mean!

Laundry is far from my favorite part of my job. On this show I do 3 or 4 loads two times a week. That's upwards of 12 hours of laundry a week. One of the best things about this past year was when the theatre bought a new washer/dryer that are a bit faster than the old ones!

This is me killing time while I do the laundry. That's my messy desk, and I'm on gmail, chatting with Travis to pass the time. The cartoon on the upper corner of my monitor is from our former Theatre Administrator who is off on maternity leave. In the cartoon, the baby is thinking "When I grow up, I wanna be a stage manager" and the character that is me is thinking "When I grow up I wanna get pregnant so I can escape this nuthouse too!"This is my assistant Laura. Her arrival is always one of my favorite things because it means help is finally here.On this day we had run out of sticks name tags which are a show prop, so I ran down to the Loonie Plus store and $3.36 later I had two more packs.

Someone's got to make sure all the lights are working, and that person is me. When a bulb goes out, the ladder goes up! Another great buy this year was a telescopic ladder that I can carry with one hand and store so that its easily accessible. And then I call the security company for the building and ask them to ignore all alarms from the building until after the show. There is a smoke machine in the show & I am not interested in setting off the fire alarm & send the audience into a panic.

So this picture, not really a necessity of my day, but come on, who doesn't want to be in a touring case full of fake turkeys! You just never know what each show will hold. These are 12 custom built latex turkeys. In the script they are described as "raw, but not frozen" and they have to be carried around & thrown on stage. Finding the right turkeys was hard and we ended up contracting a film prosthetics student to build them for us.

In the booth, playing at running the show. The booth is so small that I run both the lights and sound, as well as any special effects for the show. My book has to be half on top of the lighting board in order to fit.

The Return of Friday Arts Quotes!

2009-06-05T15:18:00.000-07:00

After a hiatus, Friday Arts Quotes are back!

"Rehearsing a play is making the word flesh. Publishing a play is reversing the process." - Peter Shaffer

"I began my talk by saying that I had not written my plays for purposes of discussion. At once, I felt a ripple of panic run through the hall. I suddenly realised why. To everyone present, discussion was the whole point of drama. That was why the faculty had been endowed — that was why all those buildings had been put up! I had undermined the entire reason for their existence." - Tom Stoppard

"If you want to help the American theater, don't be an actress, be an audience. " - Tallulah Bankhead

I was in the paper...

2009-06-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

...and I didn't even know it.

Two weeks ago the Langley Advance ran an article about You Still Can't at Pacific Theatre, talking about the connection between it and Trinity Western University. From the article:

A Langley contingent is collaborating to bring a wickedly hilarious comedy to the stage in Vancouver this month.
Many theatre lovers will be thrilled to hear the Vanderhofs are back; they're an eccentric family first brought to life in the comic classic You Can't Take It With You. Well, playwright Ron Reed has revived this family in his homegrown sequel called You Still Can't, which opened last week on the stage of Pacific Theatre.
Reed is an award-winning playwright who founded Pacific Theatre in 1984 and serves as the group's artistic director. He has also been teaching advanced acting classes at Trinity Western University (TWU) for the past 20 years, and in 2006 took on the designation as TWU's artist-in-residence.
But he's not the only one with a tie to Langley. Reed is joined by five actors, current TWU students or recent graduates, as well as the resident stage manager Lois Dawson, who is also a TWU alumni.

My mom called me today, having googled me this morning and found the article. I love that my mom googles me :)

Employment!

2009-06-04T22:12:00.001-07:00

So thrilled to officially be returning to Pacific Theatre next season. I'll be stage managing The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe and Refuge of Lies by Artistic Director Ron Reed. which premiered off-broadway this past year.

Here's to a great year to come, and many more shows both seen & worked.

The June To-See List (and what I saw/worked on in May)

2009-06-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy month for me theatrically.

In May I saw the following plays:

John & Beatrice (Pi Theatre)
Secret World of Og (Carousel Theatre)
36 Views (Tempus Theatre)
Antigone Undone (Leaky Heaven Circus)
Fat Pig (Mitch & Murray Equity Co-op)
Les Miserables (Arts Club)
Top Girls (Vancouver Playhouse)
Palace of the End (Felix Culpa, Touchstone Theatre, & Horseshoes & Hand Grenades)

Based on this list, I still missed one show from my "To-See" list last month (Dying City), however I added Top Girls & Antigone Undone, so overall I feel pretty good about it as a month of theatre seeing.

I also rehearsed and opened You Still Can't at Pacific Theatre. This monster of a show features 14 emerging theatre artists from a variety of theatre training programs as well as three "extras' who volunteer and rotate through from night to night. In addition to a large cast (at least for our little 20" by 22" stage), it's a very props heavy show. I've mentioned the dozen custom-made latex turkeys, but there's also a working amusement park model, a Beatles-themed feast, & a working radio DJ booth. It's been a crazy ride and it still runs for another two weeks.

The day after You Still Can't closes I'll be hopping a 7am bus to Kamloops to spend my summer working with Project X Productions on Hamlet & Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. It's going to be a fun summer as far as I'm concerned. Also, it will be a nice break from Vancouver (not that I hate Vancouver. I love Vancouver. I just need a bit of time to get away) and a chance to be close to my parents for a while.

Because I leave town on June 14th, my "To-See" list for June is quite short, though I've decided that I will list shows that I will not be seeing but that I think the rest of you should make sure to check out.

June To See List:
1. Othello (Bard on the Beach)
2. Flower Drum Song (VACT)

Shows that you should see, even though I won't be seeing them:
1. The Walking Fish Festival (www.upintheairtheatre.com) {from what I hear this year has a whole range of shows from amazing to terrible - I'd love to hear what people think!}
2. The Comedy of Errors (Bard on the Beach)
3. All's Well that Ends Well (Bard on the Beach)
4. Mixie and the Halfbreeds (Neworld Theatre)
5. Alter Boyz (Arts Club)

And for those of you in Vancouver for the month of June, don't forget to attend the Jessie Richardson Awards for theatre. If I were in town, I'd definitely be there!
Let's all see some theatre!

What am I reading?

2009-05-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

Google reader has created a handy little thing called "bundling." It allows you to gather all the feeds you subscribe to on a specific subject and e-mail that list to others so that they can also subscribe.

This afternoon Travis Bedard and I shared our collective theatre blog (and related) feeds and now, for your reading pleasure, I post this link to the 258 theatre blogs that we have found to read between the two of us.

On Stage This Week

2009-05-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Now that my show is up and running I've finally had a chance to get back into the audience and enjoy the work of others. I've seen two shows this week and both of them close this coming weekend, so if you haven't already seen 36 Views and Antigone Undone, now is the time to do so.

36 Views (playing at the Jericho Arts Center) has gotten stellar reviews across the board in its run, both from critics and audience members. Michael Kopsa is pitch perfect as Darius Wheeler, the somewhat shady art dealer and the use of projection with the design is beautiful. I know that in the first few weeks of their run they struggled with very low attendance, but they close this Saturday, so please go see it!

Antigone Undone (playing at the Russian Hall) has also gotten very positive reviews, but is a completely different experience than 36 Views. Seated on swivel chairs in a pit, the audience is surrounded by action: choreographed to 67 minutes of music/sound & projections. The story certainly branches off from the traditional story of Antingone, but what else would you expect from Leaky Heaven? This show closes on Sunday and seating is limited!

You Still Can't Video

2009-05-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

You Still Can't, my current show at Pacific Theatre, opened this past Friday night. Today I give to you a two and a half minute video of a scene in act 2 where you get just a hint of the insanity of this show: Disney! Politics! Furniture! Groceries!

Video featuring Alexandra Voicu, Debra Sears, Christie Maxson & Shalyn McFaul

2008/2009 Jessie Nominations

2009-05-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I attended the Jessie Nominations Party. It was the second year that I've gone, and I go because its much more fun to hear them read of the list of shows nominated (and sit in my seat playing the "I did see that, didn't I?" game) than it is to read them on the internet later.

A few of my favorite moments:

- The announcers did not know how to pronounce ITSAZOO when announcing their nomination for Costume Design (Small Theatre)

- Celebrating with cast and designers I've worked with over the past two years on their nominations: Ron Reed (nominated for Best Supporting Actor, small theatre), Hamza Adams (nominated for Significant Artistic Achievement - Ensemble Cast, TYA), Drew Facey (2 nominations), Julia Mackey (nominated for Best Actress, small theatre) & Duncan Fraser (nominated for Best Actor, large theatre)

- Meeting @kenjimaeda in person (and on a day he got nominated!)

- Eating cherry tomatos stuffed with bacon?

I really enoyed my time this afternoon but there were a few things that kind of made me go "hmm....."

- For all of Bard on the Beach's 19 nominations, 15 were for the studio stage shows and 4 were for the mainstage.

- Ruby Slippers' Life Savers, which I thought was okay, but didn't love (which seems to be a common response from people I know who saw the show, and the critics) got 7 nominations across disciplines, the second highest in the small theatre category. I didn't think it was that amazing.

- I spent much of the reception recognizing people and then playing the "I think I know who you are" game in my head, but not actually interacting with most of them. Makes me think that Vancouver Theatre needs more social events for folks in the industry to get to know one another.

To see a full list of nominees, visit www.jessies.ca.

Where Have I Been Hiding?

2009-05-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I haven't written anything in a couple of weeks. Why? Well, I've been in the midst of getting my current show up on its feet. We are in the midst of tech crazyness, but our promotional stills came in today so I figured I'd take advantage of a free minute to post them up here.

Tiffany (Alexandra Voicu), Dave (Mack Gordon), & Sky (Katharine Gauthier)

Norman (Tim Bratton) & Grandpa Tony (Glen Pinchin)

Four Chances Left to see Stop Kiss!

2009-04-29T06:03:00.000-07:00

"As undoubtedly Vancouver's hardest working actors on stage right now, the cast of Secretly Women Productions' Stop Kiss not only serve up a powerful and shockingly relevant piece but do so in the tiny confines of the Havana Theatre, on a shoe-string budget and no guarantees of even being paid for their efforts. And that is the real crime here as this is one show that queer and straight audiences alike should be flocking to see it. Not only because of the relevance to recent gay-bashings in Vancouver but because Director David C Jones has managed to illicit such incredible performances from his actors." - Mark Robbins, gayvancouver.net

Saturday night we had a packed house & we are expecting more of the same this week. If you are planning to see the show, but have not yet booked your tickets, stop reading this, pick up your phone, call 604-630-9051 & reserve now!

UPDATE: Check out the mini review from today's Vancouver Courier.

The "To See" List: May

2009-04-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

I began April with lofty ambitions and plans to see many plays. Here we are now at the end of the month & I've found that I've failed. Of all the shows I planned to see, I've only seen two. (That said, I have tickets booked to see some of them in May). There have been a number of reasons for this apparent failure.

- One performance which I had tickets to was canceled.
- Volunteer shifts got bumped to May
- I agreed to take on another show (which was on my list to-see) and ended up rehearsing evenings when I'd otherwise have been seeing shows.
- On my rare nights off I was just too tired to go & see something else

Looking ahead to May I've made a new list of shows to see, but I've tried to be a bit more realistic about what I can fit in to my schedule.

That said, here's the list of shows for May:

-John & Beatrice (Pi theatre at the PAL theatre)[attending opening: Weds, May6th]
-Secret World of Og (Carousel theatre at Waterfront theatre) [volunteering Fri, May 8th]
-Dying City (at Little Mountain Studios)
-Les Miserable (Arts Club Theatre at Stanley stage)
-Palace of the End (Touchstone Theatre, Felix Culpa, & Horseshoes and Hand Grenades at PAL)
-36 Views (Tempus Theatre at Jericho Arts Centre)
-Fat Pig (Mitch & Murray Equity Co-op at Performance Works)

Got any other shows you think I should be checking out? Tell me about them in the comments. And if you see me at a show, come say hi!

The Value of To-Do Lists

2009-04-27T02:06:00.000-07:00

If lateness is one of my least favorite things, then to do lists are one of my favorite things. I make them everywhere: on napkins, on my computer, on scraps of paper, on the back of my hand... anywhere. My new computer has a great to do list template that you fill in, but it has boxes to check off as things are completed. (See photo at left.) Riding the bus to work in the morning, I can often be found making a list of all the things I intend to accomplish that day.

There are 3 main reasons that I love to do lists:

#1 - When there is a lot to do, a list is more reliable than my brain. This is entirely practical: when I have a lot going on (for example two shows, a job hunt, & a blog to maintain), writing things down is a sure way to remember that they need to be done. I have a pretty great memory for the most part, but ensuring that nothing is missed or forgotten is a key part of my job as a stage manager.

#2- They are a great way to proactively procrastinate. In putting off things I don't want to do, making a list of things I need to do is great. It allows more to still be doing something useful while procrastinating. This was one of the most valuable things I learned in university!

#3- There is nothing as satisfying as looking at a list with every single item crossed off. (confession: I have been known to put things I've already done onto my list, just so I can cross them off.) The sense of accomplishment that accompanies a list with every item finished is fantastic.

--- -- -- - -- - - - - --- - -- - -- -

One of my best tools for list making is this note pad from knock knock Novelties.

Friday Arts Quotes: Stop Kiss Edition

2009-04-24T00:26:00.000-07:00

From the producers notes in the program for Stop Kiss (opens tonight @ the Havana)

"This play struck a cord with our hearts & simultaneously an innocent face was struck in the city. With that in mind we decided this story needed to be told. It's a love story. Simple as that. Too often we hear of hate crimes that happen & all we focus on is the hate. We world like for you to sit back in this dark space & let us remind you of someone you love, that loves you back... just the way you are."

Timeliness is Next to Godliness

2009-04-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

In her recent blog post on auditioning tips, Sabrina Everett gives her number 1 tip:

SHOW UP ON TIME. Seriously. If you can’t show up to an audition on time, what makes me think that you will show up to rehearsals on time? Please don’t waste my time (or anyone else’s for that matter).

And in her discussion of professionalism, BFG85 says:

You know, one really valuable lesson I learned at NYU that I'm fairly certain is taught at all theatre schools is that "early is on time and on time is late." Heck, even Strasberg got that one right. No one likes having their time wasted. This one goes both ways, I don't care who you think you are.

It seems like lateness is a big problem in indie/semi-professional theatre (I can't speak to the large houses, perhaps someone can comment below). As a stage manger, lateness is my biggest pet-peeve. Sometimes, it can arise from miscommunication or misunderstanding of schedules, but more often than not it is something that can be avoided. And must be.

I once had a cast member who was reliant on carpooling to get to rehearsal as she didn't have a vehicle of her own, and she lived over an hour away. When she slept in one morning because she forgot to set her alarm clock, not only had she missed her carpool, but it would now take her almost three hours to get to rehearsal on public transit. With a cast of 15 waiting to work and having to change their plans because of her, the decision to sleep an extra 20 minutes ended up costing a loss of 54-human hours or over 2 days of work (15 cast + 1 director +1 SM + 1 ASM x 3 hours). That is unacceptable.

When you are joining a show for the first time I'd advise planning a route and figuring out how much time it will take according to google maps (or google transit if you are taking the bus). But then add half an hour to that. That will give you a chance to see how long it actually takes you. And then based on that new information, still leave 10 minutes before you think you have to. It is always better to be at the theatre 10 minutes ahead of when you intended than it is to be late because traffic was more backed up than you expected or one bus was full and left you on the side of the road.

I am at the rehearsal hall an hour early getting things set up so that you can do your job. You being 15 minutes late matters. Be on time. Or, as Travis says, PUPPIES DIE.

A little bonus material

2009-04-22T23:55:00.000-07:00

Check out this interview I did with Simon from The Next Stage for a few of my thoughts on Vancouver's fantastic theatre scene!

Friday Arts Quotes

2009-04-17T01:52:00.000-07:00

"A play's got to be a dramatic event, not a lyrical event. It's not music, it's not poetry, it's not dance, it's not narrative - it's dramatic...it's about conflict. It's about forces coming together."
- Romulus Linney

"When the artist is truly the servant of the work, the work is better than the artist; Shakespeare knew how to listen to his work, and so he often wrote better than he could write; Bach composed more deeply, more truly than he knew, Rembrandt's brush put more of the human spirit on canvas than Rembrandt could comprehend. When the work takes over, then the artist is enabled to get out of the way, not to interfere. When the work takes over, then the artist listens."
- Madeleine L'Engle

"Learning to write for the theatre is learning to be a human being, because the theatre by its very nature makes you deal with other human beings."
- David Ives

It's a Puzzling Life

2009-04-16T11:02:00.001-07:00

You may remember that I've been job hunting. Mailing out resumes. Following up with companies. Networking. All of those things that I dread. And I'm starting to figure out just how cyclical it all is.

In the past week I've gotten two jobs. But each of them simply informs me what the parameters are for finding the next one.

The first one that I got is Stage Managing for a production of Diana Son's Stop Kiss which opens a week from tonight. They had a stage manager before, but she was overwhelmed by it all, so they were looking for someone to step in for the final week of rehearsal & to run the show. The cast is very generous and the show is coming together. Interestingly, it was on my "to see" list for April and now I'm working on it. But hopefully any of you in the Vancouver area will put it on your own version of the "to see" list. The play is about two friends' first kiss that leads to a life threatening attack.

This play is particularly timely in Vancouver at the moment with the recent attack on Rich Dowrey. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Dowrey is a 62 year old man who was recently put into a coma by a suckerpunch. The man who hit him allegedly told bystanders, “He’s a faggot — he deserved it.” You can read local news coverage here.

If you're interested in seeing the show it runs APRIL 24 - MAY 2 at 8 PM. Tickets are $20 and you can call 604-630-9051 to reserve. There will be a preview performance on April 23rd at 8:30pm (please note the time difference). Tickets for the preview are $15. Partial proceeds from the performance of the show will go to the GLTB Centre. You can check out the facebook event for it here.

The interesting thing about taking on this show is that it overlaps with with rehearsals for my next show at Pacific Theatre. I'll be rehearsing by day and performing by night; something I'm comign to realize is a necessity of making a living doing this crazy theatre thing.

Before I move on to the second job that I got, I will say that it is a very unique situation to be coming into a show this close to opening and taking over from someone else who is still involved in the production. Everyone involved has been wonderful and making me feel like I am a part of the group, despite my more recent entry to the production.

The second job that I got is spending my summer in Kamloops with Project X stagemanaging Rozencrantz & Guildenstern are dead while ASMing Hamlet. The two shows will run in rep from July 23rd to August 8th. I'm sure I'll be talking more about those shows as they approach.

This second job is what started me thinking about life in the theatre as a giant puzzle. Once I got this job, I had to make some calls to a couple of co-ops that I had spoken with about the summer, informing them that I could not be involved in their shows, but that I hope to work with them in the future. It also meant that I got to call some other folks and let them know that yes, I could work on their productions. As this piece fit into place, the pieces that go beside it became clearer.

For example, I now know that I have the time in August to go to New Mexico and be a bridesmaid in a dear friend's wedding, something that I wouldn't have been able to do if I had gotten a job that was all the way through August. I also know that I have time to fill between August 17 - Sept 5 and again Sept. 20 - Oct. 12 and can begin looking for things to fill those slots.

So the job hunt continues, but it continues in a more informed manner. As I keep saying, the whole process impresses on me a whole new level of respect for the actors who keep on doing this while working another job to pay the bills. My puzzle looks like a 4-yr old's play toy compared to your 500 piece landscape.

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On a somewhat related topic, my friend Sabrina, the Artistic Producer/Director of Twenty Something Theatre has just posted a great blog post about how to give a great audition. You should check it out.

Why Do I Have a Blog Anyways?

2009-04-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been feeling like I need to remind myself why it is that I have this theatre blog, so forgive me - this post is as much to define this blog for myself as it is for anyone who reads it.

I scan & read an average of 45 blog posts per day from my 115 subscriptions, and most of those are Theatre related; yes, Theatre with a capital T. Economics. Manifestos. Theory. Marketing practice. Script Development. Current events analysis. Philosophy. Projections for the future.

I enjoy reading what people are saying and wrestling with the ideas that they are discussing, but that's not what I want to write about, because it isn't what I am passionate about.

Don't get me wrong. I love theatre. I wouldn't be continuing to try to find work doing theatre if I didn't love it. But my passion for theatre comes from creating theatre and seeing the theatre that is being created by my peers, not arguing about theory. And this may be naiive of me, and I'm okay with that. When it comes right down to it, I still have a lot of time to become jaded with the industry or to learn about just how hard it is to get the necessary funding. I'm still relatively new to all of this.

For me, this blog is an outlet for my writing - something I've missed sorely since finishing university. While in school I was churning out about 3000 words a week and when I graduated and had no assigned writing to do, I missed it. A self-imposed assignment is as good as something a professor assigns as long as it makes me keep writing and thinking. And sometimes it's better because I'd far rather be writing about something I'm passionate about (theatre) than something I'm not (pre-confederation Canada).

So, what do I want to write about?

I want to write about all the crazy things that happen behind the scenes in the course of making theatre. I want to share my experiences as I take part in creating this thing we call theatre. I can't share everything interesting - that ends up breaking confidences - but I'll share what I can.

I also want to write about the theatre I see, but I'm still trying to figure out how to do that. When I started the blog I thought I might include reviews (you can find some among my early posts), but the reality is that at this point in my career doing peer reviews of shows will burn bridges I can't afford to burn. I've written about some theatrical trends that bother me and about shows I am looking forward to, but I'm not yet convinced that these are the best approaches to discussing the vast amount of work that is happening in Vancouver. But I'll keep looking for those ways.

Friday Arts Quotes

2009-04-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

"A playwright is the litmus paper of the arts. He's got to be, because if he isn't working on the same wave length as the audience, no one would know what in hell he was talking about. He is a kind of psychic journalist, even when he's great." - Arthur Miller

"The primary function of a theatre is not to please itself, or even to please its audience. It is to serve talent." - Robert Brustein

"I want to give the audience a hint of a scene. No more than that. Give them too much and they won't contribute anything themselves. Give them just a suggestion and you get them working with you. That's what gives the theater meaning: when it becomes a social act." - Orson Welles

How Many are Too Few?

2009-04-09T01:21:00.000-07:00

I was incredibly dissapointed this afternoon to receive a phone call from the Vancouver Playhouse informing me that the performance of Studies in Motion to which I had booked tickets was being cancelled due to lack of attendance.

The performance was scheduled for next Thursday afternoon and for me, a week day matinee is the ideal time to see a show. If I am in performances, I have my day times free and this coming week when I am off work I have booked in evening performances most nights of the week and squeeze in a matinee as well (of course they also tend to be more affordable - in this case a difference of about $15). At this point the Playhouse has refunded my ticket without any problem, but I am uncertain if I will be able to see the show now despite really wanting to. Am I willing to shell out the additional money to go to an evening show? Do I have an evening free to go? What about the closing Saturday matinee?

So I'm curious: how many people are too few to do a show for?

I can understand the need to have enough people to cover costs, but for any union house, you wouldn't be paying performers & stage management extra per show - 8 shows per week are written into the Equity contract. The only additional fees that would exist would be technicians who are paid hourly & any additional front of house and bar staff. There really must not have been many of us booked in for that matinee.

In a smaller theatre where there is no hourly staff, I've done shows for as few as four people. In a Fringe situation I can remember doing shows for two. Friends tell stories of doing a production of "Jack, or the Submission" for one elderly woman who at the end, when asked how the production was, said, "That was exhausting!" Reality is, in smaller theatres we can make those decisions and go on with the show.

Backstage during co-ops there are always the whispers of "if the house is smaller than the size of the cast we can cancel" but each time I've been in that situation, the cast has chosen to go on with the show: they've come this far, they don't want to turn back now. And I've had positive experiences in doing those smaller audience shows. There are people who have come up to the performers afterwards talking about how touched they were by the show. And we've been glad that we haven't cancelled.

What would it take for you to cancel a performance?

Ken Davenport of The Producer's Perspective Hosts Theatre Bloggers Meet Up

2009-04-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

I've RSVPed for this, despite not being from New York - if they find a way to link in the rest of us through the wonders of online technology, I'm excited to be a part of the wider discussion about theatre & the role of theatre blogs.

Here's the info from Ken's blog: click on over there to RSVP yourselves.

1ST THEATER BLOGGERS SOCIAL
Thursday, April 23rd. 6 PM - 8 PMPlanet HollywoodBroadway at 45th St.
To RSVP, comment to this blog with your name and the URL of your blog. Confirmation and final details will be emailed to you. Oh, and to qualify as a "Theater Blogger", you should:
Have a blog devoted primarily to theater
Post regularly
Be an independent blogger (not sponsored/paid to blog by any organization)
If that's you, then come on down to Planet Hollywood on the 23rd and meet others who do what you do. Share some appetizers. Swap some links. Find guest columnists. Argue about whether discounts are eroding our sales or not.
Maybe we'll agree, maybe we won't. But at least we'll have the conversation. And when we're all in one room, the volume of that conversation will be loud enough that people will have to listen.
Who knows, maybe it will be the first meeting of this.
If you're an out-of-town theater blogger, RSVP as well. We're working on a way to e-hook you in.
And if you don't have a blog? Start one. And you can come to the next event.

Friday Arts Quotes

2009-04-03T00:43:00.000-07:00

"I regard theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being" - Thorton Wilder or Oscar Wilde (attribution debated)

"Men are not suffering from the lack of good literature, good art, good theatre, good music, but from that which has made it impossible for these to become manifest. In short, they are suffering from the silent shameful conspiracy (the more shameful since it is unacknowledged) which has bound them together as enemies of art and artists.” - Henry Miller

“You don't merely give over your creativity to making a film -- you give over your life! In theatre, by contrast, you live these two rather strange lives simultaneously; you have no option but to confront the mould on last night's washing-up.” - Daniel Day-Lewis

Why Theatre: or, What I Loved About World Theatre Day

2009-04-02T14:49:00.001-07:00

There are already a handful of World Theatre Day 2009 round-ups online. You can find them here. And here. And here. And h ere. And here. But now it's my turn to weigh in on it.

In the lead up to World Theatre Day there was a lot of discussion about "Why Theatre?" It was blogged (and again and again). It was videoed a few times. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, but never got as far as writing about it. But here's what it boils down to for me: I tried to get out, and I couldn't.

I did some theatre in high school - stage managed a couple of shows, designed a poster, built some sets & hung some lights. And I liked it. But I didn't see it as something that I could make a career out of. Someone else, sure. But I was cut out for something different. I was going to study PR & marketing, and I was going to work in the music industry doing that.

So I went into university looking to do that. I declared a Communications major (& media certification) before I took my first class and I was ready to conquer the world. But I needed some fine arts electives, so why not just take 1 credit worth of production. Well, 1 credit turned into 3 and soon I found myself declaring a theatre minor. And then a theatre concentration. And then I was stage managing a professional show while still in school. It was only after that experience that I went to my adviser and re-wrote the graduation requirements so that I could do a theatre major without upper level acting classes. Even then I still kept the communications major, just in case.

But here I am, a couple of years out of school and still doing this crazy thing called theatre full time. And I'm here because theatre pursued me and won me.

But now you're wondering what the heck does any of that have to do with World Theatre Day.

For me, World Theatre Day was all about celebrating this crazy thing I love to do & inviting others who love it to celebrate with me. Sure, as Rebecca pointed out, Vancouver's events weren't that well attended, but those of us who were there had fun (see myself & Simon at left). I even stage managed a special World Theatre Day show here in Vancouver. Even more important than any events at a local level was the international co-operation that truely made this a WORLD theatre day. With each online meeting of the facilitation team excitement grew and new relationships were formed. There are still ways to get involved in WTD09. Have you submitted a photo of yourself standing on books yet? Ian over at Theatre is Territory is collecting them from the tumblr site and you can submit yours by e-mailing it to frabbaurt633@tumblr.com. The idea is that the photos will be used to create a commemorative poster from this year's event.

Already people are talking about 2010 and all the things they want to try out, and 2009 has barely wrapped up. I've got to say, I'm looking forward to it.

Photos from A Time to Dance (and a special 2-for-1 offer!)

2009-04-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

"Her dance was as varied as her vocalizations and the story rich and captivating from beginning to end. Touchingly telling the tale of this remarkable pioneer of 1930's modern dance and innovator of dance therapy, Libby followed Lisl life from Vienna across Europe escaping Nazis to poverty then fame in New York City. Libby was beautiful throughout bringing the heart, sadness and promise of an era to the little theatre with her remarkable art." -William Hay

(Photos of Libby Skala by Damon Calderwood. Ms. Skala appears with permission of CAEA)

I do have a special 2-for-1 ticket offer available for the next two days. Just call the box office (604-731-5518) and say that it's "A Time for Tickets". Simple. See you all at the show!

The "To See" List: April

2009-03-31T00:25:00.000-07:00

I'm finding that I'm seeing an average of seven shows a month. That's almost two a week and when I have my own shows usually running four days a week it can get pretty crazy to try to schedule it all in. So I start early. Usually I start tracking what I plan to see each month a week before the month starts. Here's my list of shows I want to see in April. April is a bit of an anomoly in my world for two reasons. The first reason is that I am on in performances for seven nights out of the whole month - the rest of the month is rehearsals for the upcoming production of You Still Can't at Pacific Theatre. The second reason is that I'm going away for a week to visit my parents, so I won't be able to see anything during that time (there is nothing playing at their local community theatre!).

That said, here is my list of shows I want to and/or am planning to see in April. The list will likely evolve as I hear of additional shows and/or run into scheduling conflicts:

Studies In Motion: The Hauntings of Eadweard Muybridge (Electric Theatre Co at Vancouver Playhouse)
The Secret World of Og (Carousel Theatre)
Stop Kiss (Secretly Women)
Ernestine Shushwap Gets Her Trout (Firehall Arts Center)
Invention of Love (United Players)
LifeSavers (Ruby Slippers)
The Zoo Story (Itsazoo)

World Theatre Day Live Tweet of A Time To Dance

2009-03-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

Last night, in honor of World Theatre Day, I did a live tweet of my current show, A Time to Dance.

SMLois: Half Hour Call #ATTD #wtd

SMLois: Just checked in with Box Office - have quite a full house tonight, many are taking advantage of #wtd 2-for-1 special! #ATTD

SMLois: Five minute call everyone #WTD #ATTD

SMLois: Places everyone! #ATTD #wtd

SMLois: Curtain is up - first dance/monologue is underway #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: Stand-by LX7 #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: LX7 Go #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: "It was a nuisence child because you wouldn't die" The audience loves that line. #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: The interesting thing about this show is that all of the sound cues are manual - usually the shows are programmed into a computer #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: We have a very special audience member tonight. There is a guide dog in training sitting in his trainers lap. #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: Such a great audience tonight! Must be the #WTD spirit wearing off on them! #ATTD

SMLois: "Attraction isn't necessarily because you love somebody. Attraction can be because somebody loves YOU." #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: I love that the audience gets the show - it's set in WWII Austria but has a lot of lightness to it. I love their laughter #WTD #ATTD

SMLois: We're into my favorite lx cue of the show (LX 23). It's very low light with saturated blue break up. I'm a sucker for saturation #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: Crazy Maracca dance! & jumping jacks! & stretching! & sit ups! This play is very fun. #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: We have a talk back after the show tonight. I'm now taking bets on what the first question will be. #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: We're about 7 min to the end of the play. It's a short, sweet piece. Then I get to go collect money for theatre cares week! #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: Stand by black out & sound fade out #ATTD #WTD

SMLois: Black out and music fade go! Back after I collect money! #ATTD #WTD

Friday Arts Quotes: World Theatre Day Edition

2009-03-27T01:09:00.000-07:00

"The survival of the art of theatre depends on its capacity to reinvent itself by embracing new tools and new languages. For how could the theatre continue to bear witness to the great issues of its epoch and promote understanding between peoples without having, itself, a spirit of openness? How could it pride itself on offering solutions to the problems of intolerance, exclusion and racism if, in its own practice, it resisted any fusion and integration?"- Robert LePage, 2008 International Message

"The world has never before had as much drama as today. Radio, films, television and video inundate us with drama. But while these forms can engage or even enrage the audience, in none of them can the viewer’s response alter the artistic event itself...That is why theatre is signing its own death warrant when it tries to play too safe. On the other hand, that is also the reason why, although its future often seems bleak, theatre will continue to live and to provoke." - Girish Karnad, 2002 International Message

"The imagination cannot lie. It reveals our psychology, our abidding or passing anxieties, the concerns of man in every age and of the present time, the depths of the human soul. A person who does not dream is a sick person. Dreams perform an essential function and the function of the imagination is no less essential. An artist whose freedom of imagination is threatened becomes alienated. The great revolutionaries and their precursors were dreamers." - Eugene Ionesco, 1974 International Message

"Lastly, I believe that theatre is the light that illuminates the path of mankind. A light that ensures an organic link with the spectator by creating warmth between us — be that communication through the written text or through the performance on stage." - Fathia El Assal, 2004 International Message

World Theatre Day is Tomorrow

2009-03-26T01:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (Friday, March 27th) is World Theatre Day. Incase you have somehow not yet heard about World Theatre Day, here's a little background:

World Theatre Day takes place every year on March 27, and is the brainchild of the International Theatre Institute. It’s aim is to promote international exchange of knowledge and practice in theatre arts (drama, dance, music, theatre) in order to consolidate peace and solidarity between peoples, to deepen mutual understanding and increase creative co-operation between all people in the theatre arts.

Here in Vancouver there are a lot of events happening, but I'd like to extend an invitation to the offical World Theatre Day after party.

Where: The Other Space (Former Queen Elizabeth Theatre Restaurant)

When: Friday, March 27, 10:30pm - ??

Why: Because celebrating theatre is good for everyone.

If you want more information about World Theatre Day click on over to www.worldtheatreday.org. You will find international events listings, the official world theatre day speech, and many other suggestions for how you can take part in celebrating Theatre this year.

I hope to see you all at the party!

What I'm Working on - A Time To Dance

2009-03-23T13:29:00.001-07:00

My current show opened at Pacific Theatre last Thursday, but in the midst of getting it up and running I didn't have a chance to get anything on my blog about it. Because it was already an established show, we rehearsed it for our space, teched it, and opened all in one week. It's been a busy week.

So better late than never, right?

The show is A Time To Dance, written and performed by Libby Skala. Based on the life of Libby's great-aunt Lisl, the play mixes theatre with modern dance against the backdrop of the rise of the Nazis in Austria.

People who have seen the show are saying lovely things about it.

"Her dance was as varied as her vocalizations and the story rich and captivating from beginning to end. Touchingly telling the tale of this remarkable pioneer of 1930's modern dance and innovator of dance therapy, Libby followed Lisl life from Vienna across Europe escaping Nazis to poverty then fame in New York City. Libby was beautiful throughout bringing the heart, sadness and promise of an era to the little theatre with her remarkable art." - William Hay

"Chriswalts: Saw "A Time to Dance" at Pacific Theatre last night. Great one woman show-highly recommend you catch it if you get a chance!"

The show runs until April 4th & more information can be found at www.pacifictheatre.org.

If you are still looking for ways to celebrate World Theatre Day this Friday, why not come down, see the show, & join us for a post show talk-back! Tickets are 2-for-1 and afterwards you can join me in heading down to The Other Space for the official World Theatre Day afterparty. If you can't join us at the theate, follow me on twitter and watch the live tweet of the show!

Friday Arts Quotes

2009-03-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

"Fringe theatre, playing in small and unlikely places, happens all over the country. It is fitful, but then it should be. Wonderful things occur alongside terrible things. But the vitality exists because of the support of the actors. They are the subsidy. They often put up with the humiliation of working for no money - or just for bus fares, becuase they believe." - Peter Hall, The Necessary Theatre

God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things. - Pablo Picasso

Dancing, Planning, & Irish (Oh my!)

2009-03-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Monday was a very theatrical day. I spent most of my day in rehearsal for A Time To Dance which opens at Pacific Theatre on Thursday night. It's a one-woman show about one of the pioneers of dance therapy and is quite lovely. I'll post some pictures up here as soon as the photo shoot happens.

After rehearsal I ran off to the Vancouver World Theatre Day meeting where Simon, Rebecca, Trilby and I began to plan our attack on the World Theatre Day events in Vancouver. Some highlights: Rebecca and I will be hitting a local panel event this Sunday (March 22nd) that kicks off Vancouver's full week of events. On Friday, the actual World Theatre Day, I'll be in the booth at A Time To Dance, where we are offering buy 1, get 1 free tickets & are hosting a talkback after the show. After my show I'm headed down to The Other Space for the World Theatre Day Club where I'll meet up with Simon and we'll celebrate with everyone present. Finally, on Sunday the 29th Trilby, Rebecca and I will be heading to "My First Time: The Tour" which is an evening of anecdotes and scenes as well as a reception and silent auction.

When I left that meeting, I hopped a bus over to the Havana Theatre to assist with front of house for Under The Hawthorne Tree (see facebook event here). This brand-new Irish musical was the perfect St. Paddy's Day fit. In it's first production (a co-op) which runs until this Saturday, March 21st, Under the Hawthorne Tree has both strong & weaker moments. It runs about two and a half hours and could probably do with loosing about 15 or 20 minutes, but the music is lovely & the adaptor/director Mary Clark has done a good job with the show for a first production. I would be quite interested in seeing a production again after another round of edits and with a fully professional cast.

I will say that I was very impressed by the graduates of the CapU Musical Theatre program. I have never seen a show at Cap, but judging from this production which had a large number of grads in its cast, the school is doing a great job of training them in singing, movement & acting. I've put it on my list to head up there and catch one of their shows this year.

Friday Arts Quotes

2009-03-13T03:57:00.000-07:00

Whether I'm painting or not, I have this overweening interest in humanity. Even if I'm not working, I'm still analyzing people - Alice Neel

There's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there's no end to it. - Henry Moore

What works for acting works for life. To act brilliantly, to live fully, requires nothing less than the complete investment of your entire soul! What we do is holy! - Alice Saltzman

Be The Audience

2009-03-09T19:38:00.001-07:00

Lately my inbox has been innundated with e-mails telling me about shows that aquaintences of mine are doing. I've sent my share of those e-mails too - hoping that one or two people will come to see the hard work you have put into a show. Even moreso when it's a co-op and the only income you'll be getting is a cut of the box office. But I've noticed an interesting trend. For all these people sending invites to see shows, I don't very often see them at shows.

Last week a friend was complaining about what she saw as the cliquiness of Vancouver theatre. Her complaint was that there are all of these little groups doing theatre and they were ridiculously hard to break into. When I said that I hadn't had that problem, she suggested that it was becuase I am not an actor & therefore not the competition. But I'm not certain she has ever gone up to anyone in one of these companies and said, "Hey, I like what you're doing - how can I be a part of it?"

What strikes me about all of this is how entitled we as artists tend to seem. We want people to come to our work without us going to see theirs, we want companies to seek us out rather than taking the first step on our own.

In my experience, the theatre community in this city is very open. I've been invited to opening night parties for shows that I haven't been involved in simply becuase I struck up a conversation with someone who was involved about how much I enjoyed the show. But it requires me to take a step. I have to be at the play to be invited out after it. I have to be willing to step out in order to see things happen.

Instead I often see people (and at times myself) so caught up in what I am creating that I forget to engage with those around me and the art that they are creating. That's why my new years resolution this year was to see three shows a month. Last year I averaged two, and I figured I wanted and in fact needed to see more than that if I wanted to be a part of the community and I needed to be the audience if I wanted to talk about theatre in this city in any sort of responsible way.

I'd put this forward as a challenge to other artists: See a show this week that doesn't have anyone you know in it. Approach an artist whose work you admire & let them know. Ask someone for a tour - the worst they can say is no. Ask questions. And take some time to create something new - a character, a poem, a script, a set design idea - just sit town and do something.

Friday Arts Quotes: Theatre Textbook Edition

2009-03-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

If you went through any sort of post secondary theatre training as I did, you probably have a pile of text books kicking around. Of various sizes, shapes, & colors they sit on shelves waiting for their turns to be taken off & consulted as I run into various problems.

For today's edition of Arts Quotes I have turned to that pile & have picked out a few quotes that spoke to me as a student. Some of them I don't find particularly enlightinging today, but when I took the class 5 or so years ago, I seemed to think it was pretty worthwhile.

"We are makers of belief. The director is the one who believes first....He has to believe that he could stand on the corner and sell it, that he could market it, that he could convince people of the beauty, that he could stop passersby and say, "Did you ever wonder about the possibility of this? Isn't this beautiful? Doesn't this strike you as peculiar and wonderful?"
- William Ball, A Sense of Direction

"Playwrights, like all artists, create their works becuase they have something they feel compelled to communicate. Remember that what you come up with should be something you feel passionately about, something you believe in and can get emotional over."
- Buzz McLaughlin, The Playwright's Process

"People tend to dance around the most potent possibilities becuase they fear the monsters that might be lurking there."
- Buzz McLaughlin, The Playwright's Process

"If a performance is truly a collaborative effort, then all the artists and workers in the theatre can be considered performers."
- Oren Parker, Craig Wolf & Dick Block in Scene Design & Stage Lighting

Job Hunting is not for Wuss's

2009-03-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

Above: Surrounded by my mountain of mailouts.

A month ago I got the news: my incredibly stable stage management gig that I'd had for the past two seasons wasn't going to be quite so stable next year. In fact, I'm going down to only two shows at Pacific Theatre. It's partly my choice & partly due to a slightly scaled back season. I'd been lucky. I've only been out of university for two years, and I've had steady theatre work since before I graduated. All of a sudden I found myself in the position that everyone in the world hates: needing to find a job.

So I spent this whole week preparing for that. Updating my resume, researching theatre companies throughout BC & Alberta, writing cover letters, getting references & finally addressing envelopes. It took all week. But it's done.

The envelopes are in the mail now & it's finally all out of my hands...Or at least until I start follow up in two weeks.

Tonight's Live Tweet of Holy Mo

2009-03-05T01:11:00.000-08:00

I live tweeted tonight's performance of Holy Mo. To read everything in Chronological order you need to start at the bottom.

atomicfez: RT: @SMLois} Show's over - time to go wipe the paintballs off the set and close down the theatre for another night. #holymo #theatre

shamelesshussy: RT @SMLois Shows over - time to go wipe the paintballs off the set and close down the theatre for another night. #holymo

SMLois: Shows over - time to go wipe the paintballs off the set and close down the theatre for another night. #holymo

SMLois: @travisbedard That's the joke. God is referred to as either Yamma or Yam all show. #holymo

travisbedard: @SMLois I Yam who I Yam #holymo

SMLois: One more chorus of "Love you Yam" and the show is over. #holymo

SMLois: Only about 7 min left in Act 2. Tonight's show has flown by. #holymo

SMLois: When we got to this point Saturday, where no one talks for a couple mins, audience member shouted out "We paid good money for this." #holymo

SMLois: "There is no money in the profession [of acting]." "Then why do we do it?" "The story. The story needs to be told" #holymo

SMLois: We're almost at my favorite lighting cue: LX 77. It's just after this YouTube reference. #holymo

SMLois: Time for our one operatic song of the night, titled "Piece of Turd" #holymo

SMLois: @atomicfez I'm guessing you're not going to make it for this production? #holymo

SMLois: Oh - a little Braveheart in here as well. #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } I vote brilliant as well. Been a fan of hers from some time. #Frangione #holymo #theatre

SMLois: Now we have our first sword fight of the show. The swords are wooden baseboard pieces stapled together. SQ = Flight of Valkyrie #holymo

SMLois: @atomicfez Don't forget Celine Dion, Mission Impossible, Lassie, & Louis Reil. Lucia is either brilliant or crazy (I vote brilliant) #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } so… Scots Tragedy, Evita, Jaws, Good / Bad / Ugly, Hockey, asparagus (and SJR), and a paintball gun. Oh Lucia… #holymo #theatre

SMLois: Now we'll mix in a little MacBeth. Because why not? #holymo

SMLois: Don't cry 4 me little Spew Boy/My heart will never leave u/I know u will wait for me/& soon will return to me/because I am gorgeous #holymo

SMLois: @atomicfez No complaints from folks expecting Sunday School here. Most of them like it. And yes. There's a paintball gun. #holymo

SMLois: Only in #holymo are aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, & reflexology threats underscored by the Jaws theme. #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } anyone expecting trad Sunday School Bible interpretations ought to adjust their expectations before attending #holymo #theatre

SMLois: I'll be right back - gotta go grab the paintball gun and pump it full of air pressure #holymo

SMLois: Throwing an asparagus boquest slow mo into the audience. Caught tonight by Miss Sarah Jane Redmond. #holymo

SMLois: Goliath just hit a lighting instrument with her sword. The audience loved it. And the light is well locked so it won't move #holymo

SMLois: Okay, it's everyone's favorite part of the show: Goliath. (S)he's up a ladder with a hockey helmet on. With a broom brush on that. #holymo

SMLois: "I'm the princess and men only want me for my great big...........kingdom" #holymo (it always gets the audience laughing)

SMLois: @atomicfez Actually, the lighting designer is @bryson. He's swell. #holymo

SMLois: @atomicfez The lighting designer and I have worked together a number of times. He knows I'm not a fan, but sometimes its unavoidable #holymo

SMLois: The entire prophet character is defined by a staff with a bell on the end that rings whenever she moved. And its funny. #holymo

SMLois: @travisbedard The bandana is out there. Though I fear that the sign is in the wrong place. OOP. #holymo

SMLois: @atomicfez Sorry I couldn't give you the go for that one - I had to actually push the button. I'm now at LX 58.5. #holymo

SMLois: In Act 2 we move from the story of Moses (Mo) to David (Spew Boy) #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } I"ve still got LX 512 standing by, you know… #theatre #holymo

SMLois: Enter the Kit Kat bar. I have a whole case of them in the booth and am going to end up with left overs. #holymo

SMLois: @atomicfez The drape is on a track and moves throughout the show #holymo

SMLois: Act 2 is up! #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } LX 51 standing by… #holymo #theatre

SMLois: Last song before Intermssion. Standby LX 51. #holymo

travisbedard: @SMLois BANDANA #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } I'm always amazed at what PT is able to shoe-horn in that space merely by tilting a deck and careful use of drape #holymo #theatre

SMLois: Buffoona (one of my lovely clowns) is blessing the 12 tribes...also known as the audience. #holymo

SMLois: The first act is flying by. We are now about 5 min to intermission. Intermission is also known as those 10 minutes where I run. #holymo

SMLois: I love it when the audience laughs as Mo is given the 10 commandments. #holymo

SMLois: For those who are wondering what kind of set we're working with http://smlois.tumblr.com/ #holymo

SMLois: Lassie, Chariots of Fire & the parting of the Ocean all in a matter of seconds! #holymo

SMLois: 12 days of Christmas meets the 10 plagues upon the Egyptians. "Flies floating freeeeeeeee." #holymo

SMLois: Oh dear. An actress just ran into a set piece. Looks like everyone is alright, but i jumped! #holymo

SMLois: What a great audience tonight: They're banging away on their pots and pans at all the right moments. #holymo

travisbedard: @SMLois After I properly weighted it and everything? #holymo

SMLois: Ever heard a rap featuring "Aunt Jemima" "Betty Crocker" & "Mr. Christie"? I'm listening to one right now. #holymo

SMLois: LX28.5 GO #holymo

SMLois: First Elvis joke of the night. Complete with radioactive jukebox. #holymo (Sorry @travisbedard I didn't tweet the flying palm tree for you)

SMLois: Country music for y'all. "To forget about my blues, I tune into the news. It's the only way that I can take a little mental snooze" #holymo

SMLois: Ooooh! It's my favourite secret Horatio cane moment. I never know if anyone sees it, but I love it. #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } never use "Celine Dion" and "good" in the same sentence without also employing a negative modifier. #Frangione #holymo #theatre

SMLois: There seems to be a large group of high school students in the audience tonight. Wonder what they think of it all? #holymo

SMLois: And a little Celine Dion for good measure.... #holymo

SMLois: @atomicfez True enough :) #holymo

SMLois: Straight from Mission Impossible to The Good The Bad and the Ugly. This show is full of pop culture references #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } THEY'RE CLOWNS! Don't go demanding the Dali Lama! #Frangione #holymo #theatre

SMLois: "Can't I just go kick his head? Why's he got to die?" - That's what I call wisdom. #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } let's watch the master working at speed, folks… quietly now, no distractions… #Frangione #holymo #theatre

SMLois: @atomicfez Unfortunately #Frangione won't be able to see it - she's in a show of her own at the moment. #holymo

SMLois: It's almost at my busiest cue section in the show: a little Mission Impossible inspired chase scene. #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } clowns is the funnnerest! Plus is a #Frangione script, so all is well there. #holymo #theatre

SMLois: @atomicfez You'd have fun in this cast though. Come on, it's a clown show! #holymo #theatre

SMLois: I like to call this part the send up of "2001:A Space odyssey" #holymo

atomicfez: @SMLois } this is almost like sitting in the booth… which is possibly better than being in the cast, depending. #holymo #theatre #Frangione

SMLois: First song of the night "Holy Mo" - Guitar, Mandolin, and a homemade Washtub Bass. #holymo #theatre

SMLois: First sound cue of the show and I don't push the button - it's run from an onstage CD player. #holymo

SMLois: My innovative FOH speech: there is no speech, just a clown with a cell phone threatening death #holymo

The next live tweet of a show will be A Time to Dance on Friday, March 27 as a part of the World Theatre Day 2009 celebrations.

Friday Arts Quotes: The Scripted Edition

2009-02-27T09:20:00.000-08:00

This week's edition of Friday Arts Quotes features quotes from the stage, films & TV.

"You write your first draft with your heart but you re-write with your head. The first key to writing is to write, not to think" -William Forrester in Finding Forester

"Observation is a more powerful force than you could possibly reckon. The invisible, the overlooked, the unobserved are the most in danger of reaching the end of the spectrum. They lose the last of their light. From there anything can happen...lives altered forever by you. By the simple effect of being present, by entering the light, by joining the dance." - Old Lady God on Joan of Arcadia

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My arts quotes book is beginning to run out of fresh quotes. If you have any favourite arts quotes that you would like to see featured here, please send them to lois.dawson@mytwu.ca.

World Theatre Day International Message 2009

2009-02-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

This year's International Message is now available on the ITI's brand new website: www.iti-wordlwide.org

World Theatre Day – International Message - 27th March 2009 - Augusto Boal

All human societies are “spectacular*” in their daily life and produce “spectacles” at special moments. They are “spectacular” as a form of social organization and produce “spectacles” like the one you have come to see.

Even if one is unaware of it, human relationships are structured in a theatrical way. The use of space, body language, choice of words and voice modulation, the confrontation of ideas and passions, everything that we demonstrate on the stage, we live in our lives. We are theatre!

Weddings and funerals are “spectacles”, but so, also, are daily rituals so familiar that we are not conscious of this. Occasions of pomp and circumstance, but also the morning coffee, the exchanged good-mornings, timid love and storms of passion, a senate session or a diplomatic meeting - all is theatre.

One of the main functions of our art is to make people sensitive to the “spectacles” of daily life in which the actors are their own spectators, performances in which the stage and the stalls coincide. We are all artists. By doing theatre, we learn to see what is obvious but what we usually can’t see because we are only used to looking at it. What is familiar to us becomes unseen: doing theatre throws light on the stage of daily life.

Last September, we were surprised by a theatrical revelation: we, who thought that we were living in a safe world, despite wars, genocide, slaughter and torture which certainly exist, but far from us in remote and wild places. We, who were living in security with our money invested in some respectable bank or in some honest trader’s hands in the stock exchange were told that this money did not exist, that it was virtual, a fictitious invention by some economists who were not fictitious at all and neither reliable nor respectable. Everything was just bad theatre, a dark plot in which a few people won a lot and many people lost all. Some politicians from rich countries held secret meetings in which they found some magic solutions. And we, the victims of their decisions, have remained spectators in the last row of the balcony.

Twenty years ago, I staged Racine’s Phèdre in Rio de Janeiro. The stage setting was poor: cow skins on the ground, bamboos around. Before each presentation, I used to say to my actors: “The fiction we created day by day is over. When you cross those bamboos, none of you will have the right to lie. Theatre is the Hidden Truth”.

When we look beyond appearances, we see oppressors and oppressed people, in all societies, ethnic groups, genders, social classes and casts; we see an unfair and cruel world. We have to create another world because we know it is possible. But it is up to us to build this other world with our hands and by acting on the stage and in our own life.

Participate in the “spectacle” which is about to begin and once you are back home, with your friends act your own plays and look at what you were never able to see: that which is obvious. Theatre is not just an event; it is a way of life!

We are all actors: being a citizen is not living in society, it is changing it.

Augusto Boal

(Original Portuguese)

Ambiguity or the Lack Thereof

2009-02-25T23:47:00.001-08:00

Please note :: This blog post will contain spoilers for the ending of East of Berlin. If you haven't seen the play and don't want to know how it ends, stop reading now.

I went and saw East of Berlin tonight. It is produced by Tarragon Theatre, presented by Touchstone Theatre, performing at the Firehall Arts Centre as a part of the Chutzpah Festival.

The Touchstone Theatre website describes it like this:

Rudi has grown up in Paraguay, blissfully ignorant of his father’s past. When he discovers the awful truth, he tries to atone for his father’s appalling acts. Can love heal what history has so brutally torn asunder? Or will the horrors of the past haunt him forever? East of Berlin is a stirring and absolutely essential meditation on the psychological legacy of the Holocaust, brought to life in a stunning production from one of Canada’s most respected and consistently innovative theatres.

The show is very strong. The script is well crafted. The lead actor gives a mannered, but solid performance. The lighting design is haunting. The directing was to the point. The actress was fascinating to watch. The sound design had only one troubling choice (the use of "One is the Loneliest Number" both underscoring a sex scene and repeated as curtain call). I wasn't thrilled with the secondary actor (I found him a bit robotic), but I was still ready to come home and write about how strong the show was until the final scene.

When Rudi, who has returned home to face his father, pulls out a gun, my first thought was "Oh god, please don't go the route of the cliche and have him commit suicide." Then he started talking as though he was going to kill his father and I thought "please have it end with him just walking through the door, the sound of it slamming and the blackout. Let us discuss among ourselves what happens. Make us think." But they didn't. And in the plays final moment, stagier than any other point, Rudi opens the door and puts the gun to his head & we went to black.

I felt ripped off. I wanted the ambiguity. The ambiguity would have left me questioning just what his grief and guilt had driven him to, or whether he was capable of forgiving himself & his father. Instead I was told exactly how things were and it didn't work for me.

I love ambiguity in theatre. I love it when I can walk out the door and talk to the person who I've seen the show with and we each have a different interpretation of what happened in the end. That was my experience after reading Doubt by John Patrick Shanley. A couple of friends had also read it and we each had different interpretations of what had happened - whether or not Father Flynn was guilty (an experience that was unfortunately NOT repeated at the Arts' Club production in fall). A lot of my favourite plays are ones where you leave uncertain & asking questions.

After all, if theatre doesn't exist to ask questions of you and force you to ask them of yourself, what good is it?

World Theatre Day Planning

2009-02-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

Above: Simon Ogden, Rebecca Coleman, myself, Jessica Hutchinson & Nick Keenan on video conference to discuss World Theatre Day 2009

My mind is still racing after this afternoon's meeting to discuss World Theatre Day 2009. Eight of us from around the world (Texas, Chicago, Vancouver, Australia & London) met online - some with audio & video, others typing - to discuss the endless possibilities for making World Theatre Day a huge success.

The first chunk of the meeting was taken up with how great it was to all be talking to each other. Travis and I played tic-tac-toe while we waited for others to join the room. It was just neat to be talking "face-to-face" over the computer with theatre professionals from around the world.

Of course, then we settled down to business to talk about what we wanted to see happen internationally on March 27th. What each city could do individually & how we would tie the international theatre community together. There are certainly a lot of ideas out there. Kate suggested some sort of flash mob. Andrew wants to try some sort of twitter-based playwrighting.

I'm really excited about this, despite the fact that we don't yet know what it looks like. Why? Because it is linking theatre artists from all different disciplines (in our meeting alone we had a stage manager, actors, publicist, sound designer, AD, vocal coach, writers & other theatrical hats) around the world to talk about theatre together and to celebrate what we do. It is giving us a good reason to build international communities & support each other's art.

Friday Arts Quotes

2009-02-20T08:53:00.000-08:00

"The poor need beauty as much as bread becuase they live in ugliness all the time." - Martin Luther

God comes to us in theatre in the way we communicate with each other, whether it be a symphony orchestra, or a wonderful ballet, or a beautiful painting, or a play. It's a way of expressing our humanity. - Julie Harris

Wandering Mind

2009-02-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

There are lots of things on my mind that I'd love to blog about in detail, but haven't had time to, so here are some snippets of what I'm thinking about:

1 - World Theatre Day

World Theatre Day is March 27 & this year the international theatre community is getting together to celebrate. How do we intend to do this you may ask? Well just check out the World Theatre Day 2009 Blog for more info.

2 - Fundraising Letters

In the past week I've received letters from both the Playhouse Theatre Company & the PuSh International Performing Arts festival asking me for money. I don't have any to give, but if I did it would have gone to PuSh. Why? The extra effort to put a handwritten note thanking me for volunteering was a good start, but my decision was confirmed when the Playhouse called me yesterday following up on my attendance of The Drowsy Chaperone & asking for a donation. Only one problem: I never saw The Drowsy Chaperone.

3 - Provincial Arts Cuts

My friend Jackie graduated with a theatre degree at the same time I did and now works with a local dance company and earlier today sent me the following e-mail:

"Well in case you needed another reason to contemplate the increasing incidence of "Gordon Campbell" sounding like a swear word. Follow this link to see what he has done to the arts. Health-care, education, and the arts -- hmmm and yet he's still smiling at all the olympic venue openings right now, perhaps he has no need of hospitals-schools-or theatres, after all those things cater to organs he might have misplaced -- like a heart and a brain. "

4 - Shows I Plan to See or Have Just Seen

I went to the PWYC matinee of Whale Riding Weather today at the PAL theatre. If you haven't yet gone, I'd highly recommend it. Allan Morgan, who I most recently saw as Prospero in The Tempest at Bard, is brilliant as Lyle and both Jeff Gladstone & Jon Lachlan Stewart give strong performances as well.

On my to-see list for the next month:

- East of Berlin (Touchstone/Tarragon @ Firehall Arts Center)

- Coriolanus (Coriolanus Co-op @ Jericho Arts Center)

- Beggars in the House of Plenty (Evolving Arts Collective @ The Beaumont Stage)

- Summer of My Amazing Luck (Gateway Theatre Co)

- And also (hopefully) Rigoletto (Vancouver Opera @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre)

If you have any shows to recommend, please do!

Looking for some theatre experience?

2009-02-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

(Above: Past & Present apprenti & their friends getting ready for Vintage Valentine)

Pacific Theatre, the company where I am the resident stage manager, takes on three or four apprentices each year. These are not equity apprenticeships, but are apprenticeships designed to produce well rounded theatrical people. The apprentices assist with Front of House and Box Office, they act in a show (if they want to), produce their own work, assist with tech calls, assistant stage manage, do scene studies with artistic director Ron Reed & numerous other theatre-related things. It is all about helping the emerging theatre artists get a footing from which to leap forward into the next step of their lives.

For more information, please head over to http://pacifictheatre.org/involvement/apprenticeships.htm

The application deadline is March 15.

Personally, I love our apprenticeship program. It's how I met my roommate (she was an apprentice last year). We've had apprentices whose focus has been directing, acting, tech work, writing, administration, etc and we work hard to make sure that they get the most out of the program.

This past Friday night, the apprentices put together a one night musical review called "Vintage Valentines". It ran after the mainstage show and patrons were invited to stay for free for the show. There were also people who came just to see it. And from what I hear it was a great time.

Friday Arts Quotes

2009-02-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

Just one quote this week, but a good one.

"All children are artists, and it is an indictment of our culture that so many of them lose their creativity, their unfettered imaginations, as they grow older. But they start off without self-consciousness as they paint their purple flowers, their anatomically impossible people, their thunderous, sulphurous skies. They don't worry that they may not be as good as Di Chirico or Bracque; they know intuitively that it is folly to make comparisons, and they go ahead and say what they want to say. What looks like a hat to a grownup may, to the child artist, be an elephant inside a boa constrictor. So what happens? Why do we lose our wonderful, racketty creativity? What corrupts us?...A lot of my adult life has been spent in trying to overcome this corruption, in unlearning the dirty devices of this world, which would dull our imaginations, cut away our creativity." - Madeline L'Engle

Holy Mo Sneak Peak

2009-02-12T00:30:00.001-08:00

Today we did our archival photo shoot for Holy Mo. Here's a glimpse at the show. All photos are by Damon Calderwood.

Meet our clowns: (from l-r) Buffoona (Erla-Faye Forsyth), Guff (Julia Mackey), and Follie (Katharine Venour)Guff & Buffoona Face off.

Mo recieves the 10 commandments from Yamma (along with a book of guidelines for the ministry of health and wellfare)

"You cannot see my face and live"

So those are just a few of the sights you'll be in to see if you come see Holy Mo ;)

Friday Arts Quotes: Opening Night Edition

2009-02-06T12:09:00.000-08:00

It's opening night for Holy Mo at Pacific Theatre, so in honor of that, this week's arts quotes are all about audience - the theatrical ingredient that gets added on opening.

"The writer does want to be published; the painter urgently hopes that someone will see the finished canvas (van Gogh was denied the satisfaction of having his work bought and appreciated during his life time; no wonder the pain was more than he could bear); the composer needs his music to be heard. Art is communication, and if there is no communication it is as though the work had been still-born. The reader, viewer, listener, usually grossly underestimates his importance. If a reader cannot create a book along with the writer, the book will never come to life....The author and the reader "know" each other; they meet on the bridge of words. So there is no evading the fact that the artist yearns for "success," becuase that means that there has been a communication of the vision: that all the struggle has not been invalid." - Madeline L'Engle

"When you come into the theater, you have to be willing to say, "We're all here to undergo a communion, to find out what the hell is going on in this world." If you're not willing to say that, what you get is entertainment instead of art, and poor entertainment at that." -David Mamet

"You need three things in the theatre - the play, the actors & the audience - and each must give something." - Kenneth Haigh

Mid Tech Week

2009-02-04T00:46:00.000-08:00

Hello. Out. There.

See that mess there on the left? That's where I've been hiding for the past week. I've been hiding in a dark little room with my binder of awesomeness. We're mid tech week for Holy Mo and every now and then I wonder how much more information I can cram into my brain (somehow there's always room for more, but I'm not quite

sure how). Tonight was our first full dress rehearsal where I actually got to run the show. At Pacific Theatre the Stage Manager is also the lighting and sound operator, so I look forward to the day when the lighting console and sound computer get turned over to me so that I can have a little practice before the first audience members arrive. But tonight went well. I only screwed up a few times & none of them were cause to stop the show.

I'm always amazed during opening week how far forward the shows move with each run through. The actors get to live and settle into the world of the play and so more discoveries are made as they are immersed in it. It's an exciting time. We cut a whole long slow-mo sequence today that had gotten a lot of laughs from the designers yesterday, but it was the right choice. Not only did it take a couple of minutes off the show, it is also funnier.

I should really get back to sending out my rehearsal notes, but I just wanted to poke my head in and say hello to the rest of the world.

20-Minute Musicals at Club PuSh

2009-01-30T11:48:00.000-08:00

If you weren't at Club PuSh last night for the first night of 20-minutes musicals you really should go tonight (or next Thursday & Friday night).

Theatre replacement has put together four 20-minute musicals airing in 2 programs. This week the two shows are Do You Want What I Have Got?: A Craigslist Cantata & Distant Second: The Steve Fonyo Story. Both shows are directed by Ami Gladstone.

(Above: Veda Hille, creator & writer of A Craigslist Cantata)

The Craigslist musical is a hilarious musical that looks at the humorous things people are looking for or trying to get rid of via craigslist. With lyrics taken from actual craigslist postings, the musical makes fun of dead moose, missed love connections, and a box of 14 cat-hats. It's the best integration of a popular website with theatre that I've heard of and is extremely well done.

Distant Second is about the 2nd guy who ran across Canada on 1 leg to raise money for cancer research 5 years after Terry Fox. It draws a line between sacrilege and being downright offensive, dangles one foot over the line, taps around a bit, but ultimately just makes fun of everyone. It's a great look at who our Canadian heroes are. Andrew McNee steals the show as a very drunk Douglas Coupland.

It was one of the funnest nights of theatre that I've had in a while and I'd really encourage you to go. Tonight's show is at 7pm. Tickets are $20 at the door and also get you in to the two music acts at 9pm & 11pm. After 11pm it is FREE.

Friday Arts Quotes: Critics Edition

2009-01-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

In theatre we seem to have this love/hate relationship with the critics and there is a moment in the show I'm working on that pokes a bit of fun at that. But I'm not going to go into that here. I don't need to. Simon already wrote a great post about it back in spring over at The Next Stage " entitled Critics are your friends. Meet your new friends."

This week's quotes are about critics as they apply to all forms of art: writing, fine arts, music, theatre, opera, dance, and every melding of the above.

"Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise, I say ignore the bastard.”—John Steinbeck

"Praise or blame has but a momentary effect on the man whose love of beauty in the abstract makes him a severe critic of his own works."—John Keats

"The history of criticism begins with the history of art. When the first artist drew his first horse in red chalk on the walls of his cave, the first critic was at his elbow.”—Robert Morss Lovett

"A critic is someone who enters the battlefield after the war is over and shoots the wounded."—Murray Kempton

“This whole creation is essentially subjective, and the dream is the theater where the dreamer is at once: scene, actor, prompter, stage manager, author, audience, and critic.” - Carl Jung

An Excerpt from Holy Mo Director's Notes

2009-01-29T12:29:00.000-08:00

Pacific Theatre's Artistic Director Ron Reed has thrown a first draft of his program notes for Holy Mo up on his blog, so I decided that it was only fair for me to throw a section from the director's notes up on mine.

(Left: Katharine Venour, Erla Faye Forsyth, Julia Mackey; photo by Kevin Clark. )

"Plays that deal with big fat questions, ancient heroes and mystical unseen beings are tricky. It’s hard to make someone invisible. It’s hard to be a hero when you’re just an actor making a living in a city like Vancouver. But then, maybe that’s exactly what makes it possible to be an actor and a hero - the fact that making a living is secondary to that great dance these strange people-performers do with an invisible muse whose presence is so often felt in curious buildings where the lights go out on the hour - matinee and evening after matinee and evening - when people take the time to sit down together to listen and watch. I wonder whether those listening and watching people feel and hear the sign of that muse too, rustling behind a stage curtain, shimmering somehow in the sound around them, pin-pricking their imagination with a catchy tune or an unusual turn of phrase. If you do, let us know."

Morris Ertman, Director

Were YOU at Club PuSh tonight?

2009-01-28T00:05:00.000-08:00

Club PuSh is my new favourite thing about the PuSh Festival.

Tonight was opening night for Club PuSh - a bar/cabaret/theatre/music event that will be running every night for the next week and a half. And it's great. The energy in the building is unmistakable as friends drink, discuss PuSh shows they've seen in the last week, & wonder what exactly they've come to see. The room is a veritable list of Vancouver theatre folk: actors, directors, critics, technicians, administrators & volunteers. I saw many familiar faces both from my own previous projects, but also people who I have never met but only seen on stage.

Tonight's two acts were widely varied. The opener, The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac was a drag-queen comedian with a hint of ukelele. She had the audience roaring with laugher as she laid down her 2 fundamental rules for her show:

#1 - Comparision is terror. Do not compare the show to anything else.
#2 - Chatty Catty's are welcome, but will be forced to join the show in a drag outfit.

(Left: Taylor Mac. Photo by Simon Phillips)

The second act, The Awkward Stage is a local band that despite the sound technician's desire to deaffen most of the audience, were very fun and talented.

Both of these performers are back tomorrow night and I highly recommend attending. Swing by after whatever show you see and grab a drink or simply enjoy the buzz. I'll be back on Thursday, Friday, & Saturday nights selling drink tickets and pointing out seats. Come say hi!

What is the value of Twitter to theatre?

2009-01-27T00:27:00.000-08:00

Praxis Theatre in Toronto has got an interesting conversation going on over at their blog. They are asking the question; "What is the value of Twitter to theatre?"

Join in the conversation here.

PuSh Festival: Week 1 in ReView

2009-01-26T21:10:00.001-08:00

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival got off to a great start last week. I kicked it off by seeing Skydive at the Art's Club's Granville Island Stage as my first show of the 2009 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. The show premiered as a part of PuSh in 2007 & I really enjoyed the show then and was looking forward to seeing it again. And it didn't disappoint.

The theatre was only about two-thirds full, mostly with patrons who had no idea what they were about to see. I overheard many husbands asking their wives just what this play was about. The lights went to black at the top of the show and the muttering continued until the lights came up & the curtains were falling down, actors were flying through the air. It is a visually stunning opening scene & from that moment on the show had the audience in the palm of its hand.

There have been a few re-writes in the past two years, but most of them make the dialogue smoother - only one or two places feel a bit clunky - like there were some references that they really wanted to include. But overall the script is strong - a story that evokes a lot of nostalgia in people who are old enough to remember the 80's - and makes people laugh.

But the strongest thing about Skydive are the ES Dance Instruments - the technology that allows the actors to fly above the stage & audience. And at this point I feel the need to give a shout out to the operators of the ESDIs - despite being completely hidden for the majority of the show, they are integral to making the show happen - and get a few moments of guaranteed audience love.

The second show that I saw this week was not nearly as good. 5 Days in March is advertised with the following sentence:

In March 2003, in the days before the US war against Iraq, two Japanese urban hipsters meet at a post-rock show and are swept into a one-night stand that turns into five days’ continuous sex.

And with a premise like that, it shouldn't be nearly as boring as it is. Written entirely in Japanese and performed with English surtitles, it reads like an interesting short story, but doesn't work as a play. The language is colloquial - it sounds like a group of friends sitting around at a party telling a story to a friend who wasn't there - complete with different people telling their versions of what happened, going back over the same part multiple times, and sharing little details that are entirely irrelevant to an audience that doesn't know the specific neighbourhoods mentioned.

As they tell these stories about passionate subjects (sex, war, etc), there is no passion and there is little action: just small fidgety movements on a bare stage. One rocks back and forth, one grabs his crotch, one balances on the side of her foot and so on with the little twitches.

I'll admit it: I fell asleep three times in the first act.

I'm looking forward to Week two which is now up and going & tomorrow night Club PuSh opens at Performance Works where I'll be volunteering Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday night. I look forward to seeing some of you there.

Annoying Audience Poll

2009-01-23T13:46:00.001-08:00

Friday Arts Quotes: Holy Mo Edition

2009-01-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

"It isn't easy traveling around the world in a circus wagon with a couple of clowns. The only reason Follie, Bufoona and Guff are still together is because they love each other and need each other, they are family. It hasn't been easy touring all these years, dust in their nostrils as they pull their wagon across windy prairies, through hostile villages, over skin cracking sand dunes and up mad rutted mountain trails. As Follie sings for tomato slinging tavern sailors, she remembers that she could be making a lot more money dong cartoon voice overs. Bufoona pulls out a ratty picture of Cirque de Soliel on nights when audiencese cough, shuffle and move along. When rain starts to fall during the parting of the red sea and soot fingered boys steal backstage props, Guff remembers how much she got paid as a roadie for the Rolling Stones. So why do they do it? The story. They are more than just performers, they are prophets. Sometimes, when they sing around the camp fire, bells will come after quiet thunder and the presence of Yamma will fill the circle. Follie might see a vision, Bufoona might dream a dream, or Guff might burst into ecstatic dancing under the stars. Either way, they seek an undeniable ferociously beautiful Other and their stories are an invitation to the whole world to dance with the Divine."

- Lucia Frangione, Playwright's Notes, Holy Mo (Emphasis mine)

Rehearsal Photos

2009-01-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

First read with cast, designers & theatre staff

MUFFINS

Costume designs by Drew Facey

Florida Director Accidently Shoots Actor in the Head

2009-01-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

Following so closely on the heals of December's prop-knife accident, I was stunned to see another story of actor/prop negligence leading to serious injury. I take this as a reminder to triple & quadruple check all props before shows & rehearsals.

From the UK's Gaurdian newspaper:

Real-life tragedy nearly struck at a Florida theatre on Monday night, when an actor fired a live gun at a cast member's head.

During rehearsals for an amateur production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men in Sarasota, the show's director, Bill Bordy, shot 81-year-old actor Fred Kellerman in the back of the head at point-blank range, only to realise with horror that the gun he used was loaded with live ammunition. Luckily the shot only grazed Kellerman's skull, and he was quickly released from hospital.

The incident occurred during the final run-through of the play's last scene, in which George Milton shoots his friend Lennie Small to spare him a painful death at the hands of a lynch mob. The Smith and Wesson pistol had been borrowed from a fellow cast member in the Sarasota Senior Theater who had, it appeared, forgotten that it was loaded.

In his defence, Bordy told reporters: "I'm the actor, I'm the director and we're running late, and without thinking I didn't check the gun."

"I was like, 'Oh my God, dear Lord, no'. Luckily I was a lousy shot."

The shooting comes only a month after the attention of the world's media was seized by another theatrical near-disaster – albeit one that occurred several thousands of miles away, in Vienna. Actor Daniel Hoevels made headlines in December after cutting his throat on stage with what turned out to be a real blade. The city's Burgtheater later admitted that the knife had been left out by a stage manager who had forgotten to blunt it; Hoevels suffered only minor injuries and was treading the boards again the following night.

For his part, Kellerman claimed the worst part of being shot was the loud bang, which caused him to lose his hearing momentarily, followed by a painful tetanus shot administered by nurses at the hospital.

The show went ahead on schedule just two hours later, with an understudy filling Kellerman's shoes.

No charges have been filed, although police are still investigating the incident.

Biographical Evolution

2009-01-20T22:09:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of each show, I take time to sit down and revise my biography for the program, but instead of just adding the previous show I worked on to a list of credits, I try to find ways to make the bio personal.

I had to write my first bio for a show in university and it was not very cohesive or smooth, though it still had some personal touches to it. More it was about showing off that even though I was the new kid on the block, I had experience.

Lois is in her second year at TWU, pursuing a major in communications and minor in drama. Lois spent last year learning to appreciate the finer art of stage lighting during TWU's productions of The Mail Order Bride, Defying Gravity, Shadowlands, and Waiting for Godot. She has previously worked on numerous productions for 27th Street Theatre Company in Vernon, including stage managing Little Shop of Horrors and Hotline and assistant stage managing The Tuna Fish Eulogy, Interview and Something's Wrong with Ophelia. Lois is looking forward to working on many other productions in the future.

My third year of university (and five or six bios later), one of the professors decided to write all of the bios based on information they were given on a short sheet of paper. That bio is a little bit different - more a list of credits & things I wouldn't have been comfortable saying about myself.

Lois is a third year TWU student pursing a double major in Theatre and Communications. Recent credits include Cowgirls Gone Wild in the West (Wishbone Theatre), Disney's Beauty and the Beast (VCMS), The Heiress, Two Rooms, Steel Magnolias & Dr. Prescriptions Variety Hour Pt 1 (TWU), Little Shop of Horrors, Hotline, & Tuna Fish Eulogy (27th Street Theatre Company). Lois' skill and dedication will surely lead her into a career in stage management.

My bio for Holy Mo (which opens in 2 weeks) is my attempt to find the best of both worlds: a good variety of credits, while still incorporating the personal touches, and all in 85 words or less.

Lois loves her job as the resident stage manager at Pacific Theatre. It gives her a chance to combine her love for theatre with her compulsive need to organize things; skills she honed at Trinity Western University. Some of Lois' favorite PT credits include: A Bright Particular Star, Driving Miss Daisy, The Woodsman, Mourning Dove & Jesus, My Boy. When not at PT, Lois can be found stage managing dance shows & co-ops, watching her vast collection of TV on DVD or spending time with her delightful friends.

Every time I see a show, I read every bio in the program. Some are personal and only list one or two theatre credits, focusing instead on the person's life history while others are lists of only credits. While I think there is room for both of these different types of biographies to exist (and everything in between), I prefer to read the ones with a balance of the personal with credits, and that is also what I strive to write.

This Weekend in the World of Theatre

2009-01-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

It's been a surprisingly interesting weekend in the theatresphere. Here are the two things that caught my eye:

#1 - EXIT Stage Left

EXIT Stage Left is a new web-series about the fictional Lowry Theatre Company as they produce a play. On their website it is describe this way: "EXIT Stage left is a look at the men and women behind the curtain, from the auditions to opening night, a series with a bit for everyone, comedy, drama and touch of madness all coming from the stages of The Lowry Theater Company." It's free, online, and has 2 new webispodes a month (available on the 10th & 25th).

There are already two episodes online and you should definitely check them out if you have ever worked on a play or even seen a play, this is a funny (& only slightly exaggerated) look at what happens before the audience enters the theatre for the first time.

#2 - Portland Center Stage Live-Tweets Apollo

As micro-blogging site Twitter grows in popularity (both within the theatre community and the larger population), its application to the world of theatre is continuing to be explored. Personally I've been using Twitter and the #theatre group to connect with theatre artists & theatre lovers around the world, as well as "live-tweeting" shows that I've been working on. This weekend, Portland Center Stage invited a group of their twitter friends to sit in the balcony and tweet their responses to the show.

Looking over the comments from these audience members, a lot of it is criticism of the show, and a lot of it is inside comments - things that unless you've seen the show don't make a whole lot of sense.

But this excersize has certainly gotten the twitter theatre community talking about what role twitter could play in upcoming productions. Is there a way for audiences to live tweet a show & somehow use that as a part of the play? Would guided questions for your live-tweet audience members help the responses to make more sense? One friend suggested using it poll audiences & get fast feedback.

PuShing in Busy Season

2009-01-16T23:42:00.000-08:00

Theatre seems to have its slow times (read: the past 3 weeks) and its busy times (read: the next 3 weeks).

Starting Monday, the PuSh festival rolls into town with its diverse, international offerings. This is my third year as a volunteer for the festival and I always look forward to seeing a number of shows. On my calendar for this year:

1. Siren (UK) - A music/performance piece that looks at the relationship betwen light & sound.
2. Skydive (Vancouver) - My second time seeing this award-winning play that makes a quadriplegic man fly.
3. Nanay: A testimonial play (Vancouver) - Exploring live-in care-giving, this local play was written in collaboration with the Phillipine Women Center.
4. Five Days in March (Tokyo) - In Japanese with English surtitles, I think this play will either fly or flop - not sure which, but I'm curious to find out.
5. Assembly (Vancouver) - Won critics choice, but more importantly a mentor said that it was worth seeing. Reason enough to see it, yes?

Also, for my volunteer postition I'll be working at Club PuSh January 27, 29, 30 & 31 as an usher/ticket taker, so if you pop in, come and say "hi!" I'll be the one with the name tag that says "Lois" on it.

As well as the PuSh Festival, the Vancouver Playhouse just opened Miss Julie: Freedom Summer. I saw a preview earlier this week and after a year or two away from the Playhouse I was pleasantly surprised. Often I am enthralled by their production elements, but walk away feeling like the show has missed the mark in a lot of other ways, but this time (despite a few minor things) the production felt very coherent, and all of the elements - acting, directing, design - felt like they were at the same, high level. It's certainly worth checking out.

On smaller stages there is Squidamisu's production of Shocker's Delight! at the Beaumont Studios. I worked on a production of this a few years ago and had forgotten just how sharp & funny the script was.

Sidebar: I had never been inside the Beaumont Studios before tonight, but their 65-seat theatre is a treat. For a city that is really struggling to find performance space, this is a GREAT option for companies that are just getting established and would like a little more flexibility than the Havana. Though I'm told by the actors that the only way to get from stage left to stage right without crossing the stage is to run around the building!

Also, the school's are opening their first spring term shows in the next couple of weeks. I have tickets to see Bye Bye Birdie at Studio 58 & Medea at UBC. I am looking forward to both of them. I think Cap University is opening 1949 as well, but I rarely make it out to where they are. At some point I'll do something about that.

On the community theatre front, There Came a Gypsy Riding opens at the Jericho Arts center next week.

I go back into rehearsals on Monday, so it's a busy time, but getting out there and supporting the rest of the artistic community is important. If I can't make time to go and see someone else's show, how can I expect them to have the time to come and see mine?

Friday Arts Quotes

2009-01-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

"Every real creation of art is independent, more powerful than the artist himself and returns to the Divine through its manifestation. It is one with man only in this, that it bears testimony to the mediation of the Divine in him." - Ludwig von Beethoven

I personally would like to bring a tortoise onto the stage, turn it into a racehorse, then into a hat, a song, a dragoon and a fountain of water. One can dare anything in the theatre and it is the place where one dares the least. -Eugene Ionesco

Back From Vacation

2009-01-14T23:43:00.001-08:00

If you've noticed that posts have been a bit sparse lately, I promise that there has been good reason: I've been on vacation.

8 hours after closing Jesus, My Boy, I hopped on a plane with my family & flew to Mexico for a week, where we welcomed 2009 on the beach with fireworks and a live mariachi band.

Four days after returning to Vancouver (and experiencing a 30 degree drop in temperature) I jumped on another plane to Edmonton (and experienced another 30 degree temperature drop). I spent 5 days in Edmonton with my best friend, being goofy & enjoying each others' company.

(Canada Day came early in Edmonton this year!)

But now I'm back!

Rehearsals for Holy Mo (the next show at Pacific Theatre) start on Monday. I attended my first theatrical production of 2009 tonight at the Playhouse (more on that in an upcoming post). I start volunteering with the PuSh festival in a couple of weeks. I've jumped back into this theatrical world with both feet & am looking forward to what 2009 has to offer.

Top Five of 2008

2009-01-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

After yesterday's post I thought it only fair that I list my top five of 2008, but then I couldn't limit myself to just five because they were all so different, though I did refrain from including anything I worked on (becuase that wouldn't be fair!).

So here are the SIX shows I saw that deepened my appreciation for theatre in 2008, and what it was about each of them that stuck out:

Corteo (Cirque du Soliel)
My first ever Cirque show. The decadence on stage for only a moment of time. Spectacle to the greatest degree, and yet not hollow entertainment. I was so enthralled with what was going on that I couldn't applaud each act, for fear of missing a part of the next. It gave me a new appreciation for the possibility of what theatre is capable of with large budgets & new ways of storytelling.

Jake's Gift (Juno Productions & The Cultch)
The opposite end of the spectrum from Cirque: just a bench and a table on an otherwise empty stage. But the characters! Julia Mackey has created such a lovely pair of characters whose lives are woven together with such care. I sat in my seat with tears streaming down my face. To have characters that one can invest in so deeply is a marvelous thing.

The Tempest (Bard on the Beach)
What a feast for the senses. With a stunning cast, Meg Rowe's first attempt at directing was lovely. She had fantastic material to work with, but the decision to make Trinculo & Stephano women was richly funny. The Shakespearean language is always so rich, but this production really came alive for me.

Unity: 1918 (Theatre at UBC)
I've already raved a bit about this show here, but what I loved about it was the way it used design to help tell the story. With what appeared to be a very simplistic set, beautiful images were created that were individually poetic, but within the greater story they were stunning. It wasn't the strongestly acted student show I saw this year, but it had very strong direction.

No Exit (Electric Company & Virtual Stage)
One of the most unique uses of space & technology I have seen in theatre. Locking the actors in a small room and allowing the audience to watch them voyeristically on huge screens gave a whole new sense of the Hell that Sartre was intending.

The Space Between (Circa)
A cross between dance & theatre, this movement in this show made me re-examine the beauty of the human body. There was no set, just a blank stage, but the images that the performers created through their movements were strong & evokative.

This list certainly reflects my bias towards shows with strong images, but it also leans towards the fact that I love theatre that does what only theatre can do (something I picked up from some wise friends). The thing about all of these shows, despite their differences in budget, cast size, plot, theme, etc was that I left the theatre each time, feeling like my soul had been refilled. As though I had just discovered something new. And remembered that ultimately, theatre is about the relationship between the audience and the performers & we are each changed by what we collectively experience.

2008: What I Saw in the Theatre

2009-01-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

Working in theatre, I find that I often don't have time to see theatre. After a long day of reherasals the last thing I tend to want to do is go sit in some other dark theatre and watch a play. But in 2008 I saw an average of 2 shows per month and worked on eight productions of my own. Not too shabby.

I saw my first Cirque show, Corteo, and was blown away by it.

I saw student productions, community productions, & professional productions.

I saw touring Broadway shows.

I saw shows at The Arts Club but didn't make it to the Playhouse once all year.

I saw a number of shows at the 2008 PuSh Festival & a few at the 2008 Vancouver International Fringe Festival, but managed to miss the Magnetic North Festival due to a crazy work schedule(something I deeply regret).

I saw shows that experimented with technology and its use in theatre.

I saw shows with great scripts, great imaginations, great designs, great acting, & great directing.

I saw shows that failed in each of the above areas.

I saw shows that reminded me why I do theatre.

I saw shows that made me question why the hell anyone would work on something so stupid as live theatre.

I saw the Vancouver theatre community come together to protect our historic spaces.

I saw the theatre community bond together, not only in Vancouver, but across the country, to respond to the comments of our Prime Minister.

I can only imagine what I will see in 2009.

Friday Arts Quotes: Boxing Day Edition

2008-12-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

This week's Friday Arts Quotes come to you with a Christmas theme.

Charlie Brown on Directing:

"One of the first things to insure a good performance is strict attention to the director. I'll keep my directions simple. If I point to the right, it means focus attention stage right. If I make a slashing motion across my throat it means cut the scene short. If I make a revolving motion with my hand, it means pick up the tempo. If I spread my hands apart, it means slow down. It's the spirit of the actors that counts, the interest that they show in their director. Am I right? I said, am I right?"

- Charlie Brown, in A Charlie Brown Christmas

And let me give a tiny bit of context to this second quote: Liz is an aspiring actress who has just had her vision of what theatre is shattered by a crass director.

“I’ve always thought about the theatre like a Christmas tree, all shining and bright with beautiful ornaments. But now it seems like a Christmas tree with the tinsel all tarnished and the colored balls all fallen off and broken. That’s a corny way of saying it, but you know what I mean.”
“Sure, I know what you mean, Liz. And it’s both ways . . . Some of the ornaments fall and break and some stay clear and bright. Some of the tinsel gets tarnished and some stays shining and beautiful like the night before Christmas. Nothing’s ever all one way.You know that. It’s all mixed up and you’ve just got to find the part that’s right for you.”

- Liz & Ben in The Joys of Love by Madeline L'Engle

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T11:35:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite things about Christmas are all the traditions that go with it. My traditions start Dec.1 with a viewing of The Muppets Christmas Carol as I decorate the tree. Always right on Dec.1. And on Christmas Eve my mother always took us to the grocery store first thing in the morning to buy treats. Any fruit or vegetable we wanted we could have on Christmas Eve. Red Peppers were a special treat. Starfruit. Strawberries in December. When I was older, the family started using the fruit in a chocolate fondue after the candlelight Christmas Eve service at church. Christmas Day started with my brother waking me up, us heading down to my parents room, climbing into bed with them and opening our stockings. Even when I was in university this was what happened. Then we'd go upstairs and open presents followed by waffles with whipped cream & strawberries. Then we'd go up the mountain and spend the afternoon cross country skiing.

This year I couldn't go up to my parents house becuase of my work schedule, so I've had to find my own way to do all of my traditions. Decorating on Dec. 1 was easy, but the Christmas Eve plans were harder. And finding a place to spend Christmas day, let alone to go skiing. But I was lucky enough to have a good friend invite me to spend Christmas Eve & Christmas Day with her family.

The last Christmas tradition I have is one I want to share: a time to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. My best friend started sending me links to Charlie Brown Christmas online in October this year, but I love it because it renounces the commercialism that comes with Christmas & leads us back to the true meaning of Christmas.

From A Charlie Brown Christmas, Linus explains the meaning of Christmas:

By the way, if you're looking for a great way to spend Boxing Day that doesn't involve large crowds of people spending more money than they have on sales they can't resist, we have two performances of Jesus, My Boy and the matinee tickets are at sale prices!

Snowy Fun!

2008-12-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

I love playing in the snow!

Enjoy this white Christmas!

A Vancouver Experiment

2008-12-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

On Friday, 99seats wrote an interesting blog post about the mandates of a handful of mid-level, NYC not-for-profit theatres:

Pretty hard to tell which is which, right? Or who's doing what kind of work? It's all the same language about "nurturing," "supporting," "encouraging," and "challenging." It says nothing about style or approach. Nothing about the content. Shouldn't that be important? The problem is the grant language, the corporatespeak that dominates our conversations. It's safe, fuzzy and easy and it's the lingua franca of the arts.

So I thought I'd take a look at a few Vancouver Theatres in the same category (mid-level, not-for-profit), but then I remembered that Vancouver doesn't really have mid-level companies. We have a lot of smaller, independent companies & the two big ones, but not much in between. So I've picked 5 companies that are on the larger side of independent or as close to mid-level as Vancouver has.

Company 1:

XXXXXX is dedicated to the creation of new performance works using unique processes of collaboration and extra-ordinary interactions between performer and audience. XXXXXX is devoted to discovering and actively seeking out international, national and regional artists to collaborate with in creating new works drawn from our collective experience. XXXXXX is committed to providing professional opportunities to diverse artists and individuals in our productions and tours in both emerging and leadership positions.

Company 2:
XXXXXX endeavors to bring life to classics, past and present. It is interested in producing plays that are both rooted in myth and that have contributed to the mythical landscape of our society. We want to question perceptions of classical theatre and find the pulse, rhythm in the plays that contribute enormously to our cultural identity while, at the same time, freeing them from the confines of traditional staging. We want to push the boundaries of classical interpretation, approaching classics not as literature but as events.

Company 3:
XXXXXX exists to develop and present professional Canadian theatrical productions. It encourages explorations in content and form, and introduces new works to the public. XXXXXX stimulates and develops public interest in an evolving Canadian cultural perspective.

Company 4:
XXXXXX aspires to delight, provoke and stimulate dialogue by producing theatre that rigourously explores the spiritual aspects of human experience. We foster new work and established plays, develop emerging artists, create an artistic home for established practitioners, and engage the community at large.

Company 5:
XXXXXX deepens intercultural dialogue through theatre. We do this by producing French-Canadian plays in English translation and cutting-edge contemporary works from the world stage, including work that has been translated or adapted from its original language.

Sure, there is still the same grant-speak, but these talk about content. Classics, French-Canadian, New Canadian, Interactive, Spiritual. And there are lots of others: Asian-Canadian, contemporary, musicals, site-specific.

Looking at these 5 mandates, I'd say that Vancouver is very lucky to have such variety in what is being presented.

Friday Arts Quotes:

2008-12-19T10:34:00.001-08:00

In this week's edition of Friday Arts Quotes: An old favorite & a new find.

I keep a leather bound book on my night table with the word "meditations" on the front of it. Into it I copy any quote that I find particularly inspiring that I will want to look back on and meditate on when I am down. The first quote this week has been in that book since the beginning, and the second just was added this week as I was watching TV.

"What do[es it mean to be] creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint or clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter what our vocation, or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts, or having some kind of important career....Our freedom to be creators is far less limited than some people would think." - Madeline L'Engle

"But our job as artists is to press on: continue creating, because that's who we are. Even if some critic does squash you like a bug. That's who we are." - Joan of Arcadia, "No Bad Guy"

York Theatre Saved, Pantages Next?

2008-12-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

Vancouver Council gave a Christmas present to the Vancouver Theatre community today: a unanimous vote to save the York Theatre.

After a year of limbo, waiting to hear whether the city would step in and stop this landmark from being demolished to build condos, today a contingent of Vancouver Theatre folks went before City Council asking for a density transfer that would save the theatre.

And the Council said yes!

I received a facebook message from Deb Pickman, one of the co-ordinator's of the group that went to council this morning which said:

The city council meeting was a mighty fine piece of theatre this morning. never have I been so riveted by a three hour performance with no intermission. there were a few tears and a standing "o" at the conclusion!

there are still important details to work out - but congratulations and thanks are in order. council mentioned the many emails they received.

let's keep our fingers crossed that the developer and owner can reach an agreement on the selling price.

A local, cultural landmark, the York Theatre was built in 1913 and has been the home of multiple theatre companies including The Vancouver Little Theatre Association & Alcazar Stock Company. More recently it has operated as the Raja Cinema showing Indian films. It has the capacity to seat 500 people, a size of theatre that is sorely lacking in Vancouver.

With the decision to save the York Theatre, the question remains: What will council do with the Pantages Theatre on Hasting's that there is also a call to save?

Updated: Dec. 18, 4:12pm
More details to come as information on this morning's council decision emerge.

Carousel Theatre's Seussical is a Real Treat For Young & Young at Heart

2008-12-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

Left: Gertrude McFuzz (Alison MacDonald) and The Cat in the Hat (Jeremy Lowe) battle it out in Carousel Theatre's SEUSSICAL: THE MUSICAL. Photo by Tim Matheson

Working full time in theatre means that it is rare for me to have to the time to make it out to see the work that other companies are doing, even if I want to. Last year, when Carousel Theatre staged Seussical: The Musical I wanted to attend, but being in the midst of my own work I couldn't seem to make the time. And I regretted it each time I thought about it (or was told how great it was).

When I first hear that they were doing a remount this year, I told myself that I had to make sure to go, but I kept putting it off. Luckily for me, my roommate kicked my butt into gear with a glowing review of the show, and I quickly bought myself a ticket for the only performance that fit within my show schedule. I am so glad that I did.

I arrived at the theatre and the first thing I saw was a pair of small children - aged three and five - who were asking their grandmother how many minutes it would be until the play started. Every minute. (For those who are suggesting that theatre audiences are dying off [literally!], I would say that these children are the future and we need to do whatever we can to keep them that excited to see a play.)

I took great pleasure in eavesdropping on the children sitting around me as I thumbed through my program. The excitement in their voices as they slowly noticed things on the set & the sense of wonder at what they were about to see:

"Look Nana - did you see the flowers along the front of the stage?! I bet they're the clovers!"

"I see the hat! The hat for the cat in the hat! I see it! Do you?!"

"There's smoke in front of that light. That's cuz someone is smoking in the theatre, but I don't see them." (Really it was a hazer, but hey - the kid's quite observant.)

As the houselights dimmed, the room buzzed with excitement. And I found myself wishing I'd had the same opportunities as a kid to see professional theatre. (Though I thought the local high school was AMAZING & looked forward to each production they did that allowed kids to attend.)

For those who don't know what Seussical is about, the program describes it like this:

Our Master of Ceremonies, The Cat in the Hat, pops up and narrates our story from every which way! The play follows Horton the Elephant as he begins a quest to save the people of Whoville, who happen to live on a tiny speck of dust that is floating uncontrollably through the air! Horton befriends and protects the tiny Whos on a clover, even though his Jungle of Nool neighbours think he's crazy. Even more trouble arises when Horton is given an unexpected task - the biggest task of all!

The cast, which includes Allan Zinyk as Horton the Elephant, Alison MacDonald as Gertrude McFuzz, Jeremy Lowe as The Cat in the Hat, and 10 year old Brian Riback as JoJo (a who-boy who thinks really big thinks!), was fantastic. In the large opening number"Oh The Thinks You Can Think" as they all sang and danced, I knew I was going to enjoy myself becuase I was in good hands.

One of the things that I loved about the production were the costumes for the animals in the Jungle of Nool. Rather than trying to create realistic animal costumes, designer Barbara Clayden uses slightly altered modern clothing to give us a feel for the animals. For example, Sour Kangaroo's ears are created by the way a bandanna was tied on her head & Horton's elephant ears are the flaps on his toque.

My favourite moment in the play was when Horton the Elephant and JoJo sing their duet, Alone in the Universe. They each discover a friend for the first time & the stars in the sky twinkle. And boy, can they both sing!

I won't give away the ending, but suffice to say, Seussical is a feel good treat for the whole family, especially children, or children at heart.

Seussical: The Musical runs at the Waterfront Theatre until January 3. Tickets at www.ticketmaster.ca or by phone at 604-685-6217.

Right: Horton hears the Whos! (The Company).
Carousel Theatre's SEUSSICAL: THE MUSICAL.
Photo by Tim Matheson

Music to Hear

2008-12-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

One of the things I love about my job is that I have an opportunity to work with very talented people. A lot of actors & directors, but every once and a while we do a show with live music and I have the chance to get to know some great musicians too!

(Sheree Plett & Jeremy Eisenhauer)

Currently, I have the privilege of working with two lovely & talented musicians on Pacific Theatre's production of Jesus, My Boy. Sheree Plett & Jeremy Eisenhauer are local musicians with an impressive discography, but their immersion into the world of theatre is a new thing for them.

Regular's at Pacific Theatre's "Christmas Presence" event for the past few years, this is their first foray into the world of theatre. They play live each night, interacting with the single actor as they underscore moments, play their original pieces, their re-interpretation of Christmas classics, and a couple of covers.

Their sound is a combination of folk, indie rock, & pop and it gives a great new interpretation of many of the Christmas favorites. One of my favorite songs that they play during the show is one of Sheree's original's called "Yellow Dress." It is a haunting love song that touches my heart every time I hear it...And after 20+ performances it still impacts me. I'd highly recommend buying it off of iTunes.

Unfortunately, Sheree & Jeremy's co-produced Christmas album, "Lights Used to Shine" is not available on iTunes, but you can get a free mp3 download of their version of Silent Night.

Their next show is Sunday, Dec. 21 at Christmas Presence on the North Shore.

PuShing onto the Scene

2008-12-13T16:54:00.000-08:00

Five years ago the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival burst onto the scene in Vancouver and has quickly become one of the most anticipated festivals of the year.

Running for two and a half weeks beginning January 20th, it boasts work from as far away as Japan & New Zealand while still promoting shows from right here in Vancouver. Some of the shows have been very successful internationally while others have been commissioned especially for the festival.

With a line up that includes dance, theatre, music, film as well as performances that defy categorization, it provides something for everyone whether they are regular patrons of the arts or not. This year they've added Club PuSh, a miniature fringe festival with lots of live music, one-man shows, miniature musicals and multiple performances each night.

As we approach the festival I will be writing previews of the various shows and once the festival is up and running I will be providing reviews of as many of the shows as I can make it out to.

But now, a little over a month before the festival begins, I'd like to encourage you to volunteer. This will be my third year as a volunteer with the PuSh festival and I highly recommend getting involved. For those of you who are involved in the arts, this is a great opportunity to support other artists in the community, as well as meeting a number of other artists. For those of you who just love the arts, the PuSh festival provides complimentary tickets to shows for every four hours of volunteering that you do.

I have worked as an usher, I have poured wine for opening night receptions, I have sat at information booths for art installations, & I have driven to the airport to pick up artists. Again this year they are looking for people to volunteer in all of those capacities as well as others.

If you are interested in volunteering, please read the volunteer job descriptions for more information and then fill out the volunteer registration form.

The registration deadline is December 19th, so register now, before it's too late!

Two ArtsQuotes to Start my Day

2008-12-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

"If the work comes to the artist and says 'Here I am, serve me." then the job of the artist, great or small, is to serve."
-Madeline L'Engle Walking on Water

"The few seconds before the curtain went up: she called it the Holy Time. But you don't have to be an actor to know what the Holy Time feels like. It's that breath you take just seconds before you become the person you are meant to become. For some people it feels like forever, and for some it's a moment over far too fast."

- Everwood, Season 1, Episode 13 (The Price of Fame)

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

2008-12-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

(Photo by: Flickr user blue ridge laughing)

One of my favorite traditions as a child was the day we drove around and looked at Christmas lights.

A week before Christmas (or there abouts) my parents would load my brother and I into the car with a thermos of hot chocolate and a few cookies to begin the annual tour. There were some houses we always hit: one of them looked a lot like the picture at the top. It was owned by an elderly couple who went out of their way to make Christmas bright for others. And over the years we got to know this couple & their talking parrot. They would invite us in for mandarin oranges & an opportunity to take a look at the decorations inside their house. Sure the outside was a bit overwhelming, but it was always fun.

It was a sad day when we drove up to their house and there were only lights around the windows. We went and knocked on the door to see if they were okay. They were fine, it was just, they said, that they were getting too old to put up all those lights themselves & they'd hired neighbours to put them up the year before, but it hadn't worked this year. But, if we drove another five blocks we'd find their friends who they had given all the lights to.

So we drove three blocks and began to see the glow. Not only had these friends put up all of the original decorations, but they had added to them, along with a sign out front that said something about an injury their son had sustained the previous summer & how these lights were very special to him, but that they wanted to give back, so if the viewers enjoyed the lights, they could make a donation which would go to charity.

And then it invited you to walk through the yard.

It was magical. The whole yard had been transformed into a winter wonderland, and when you got around back, there was the couple with candy canes for all the kids & some antique ornaments that they were showing off. When asked why they did it, they were quick to mention their son's desire to do it, but also they wanted to share it with the community.

There were other houses that we visited (one even had a live Nativity play in the backyard!), some of the homes were classy, others were tacky, but it was a very communal event. There were other families looking at each home, getting out of their cars to look around. It was also a special family event: an evening that we all spent together, even through my university years, this was still what we did when I got into town.

On Tuesday night, I had been out shopping with a good friend of mine and on our way back to her place, we saw some houses with lights & decorations and began to reminisce about our childhood adventures looking lights (like my family, hers had done a similar tour each year, though hers was usually much more spontaneous). So we drove around the block looking at lights.

There weren't many houses with them, but like always some were classy & some were ridiculous.

But it made it feel like Christmas. And I loved it.

I'm not going to see my family for Christmas this year becuase I have shows on Christmas Eve & Boxing Day, but one night next week after work I am going to get on a bus, and just ride it for a while & take in the lights. Maybe I'll fill my ipod with Christmas music :)

Three Shows To See This Month (+ One to See Every Night)

2008-12-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

It seems that this December the Vancouver theatre scene is full of remounts, musicals, musical remounts, pantomimes, and little else.

The Arts Club has brought back This Wonderful Life and Beauty & The Beast which have been huge hits for them. Carousel has back Seussical the Musical. The Playhouse is doing The Drowsy Chaperone. Gateway's choice is Guys & Dolls. And outside of those, there are only a few other shows still running in the city.

So this is my December list of shows I intend to see. Don't know if I'll make it to them all with my work schedule this month (I am down to only 6 days off left this month and I'm away for 3 of them), but here they are:

Seussical the Musical.
I didn't make it to this show last year because of work, but my roommate saw it and told me that I needed to go and see it. And lucky for me they have Sunday afternoon shows, so I have a ticket for next weekend and am looking forward to sitting and being entertained for an hour or two :). It's not that I don't like musicals, its just that usually I want to leave the theatre asking myself lots of questions (if I just want pure entertainment I often choose something cheaper than theatre....which is a little silly, but that's a whole additional post). But I am looking forward to seeing this and being purely entertained. I am seeing it in the midst of a two week period with no days off, so I will see it before my own evening show and it will be nice to just sit and enjoy!

The Sweetest Swing in Baseball
Playing at the Beaumont, this play about the New York art scene & faking multiple personality disorder interests me, and its only $20, so I'm hoping to check it out. Also, I don't think I've ever been inside the Beaumont and something about that just feels wrong.

Confessions of a Paper Boy
The first show in the Vancouver East Cultural Center's Kids series, this play about a paperboy who hears the voice of God. It's a short run, but a great opportunity to see the new studio space at the Cultch as well as a show that I think has the potential to be really interesting. Hopefully I'll be able to see this on Tuesday night. Anyone want to come with me?

And one to see every night:
Jesus, My Boy
The Christmas story according to the Step-Father of the Son of God - a comedy with live music that I'm still enjoying after seeing it 15 times. I'll look forward to the next 15!

The Gift of a Great Audience

2008-12-05T23:58:00.000-08:00

Audiences can be fickle beasts. They laugh. They're silent. They cry. They clap. They sleep. They talk on their phones. They throw things at the actors. They leap to their feet with applause. They use their camera phones to take pictures. They spontaneously clap in the middle of a show. They are entirely unpredictable.

At their worst, I wish the from my post in the tech booth I had a paintball gun or watergun and the opportunity to take out the worst offenders (especially those that not only let their phones ring, but then proceed to answer them).

But at their best they make ME want to burst out in spontaneous applause.

Following tonight's performance of Jesus, My Boy we had a talk back. We do it once in the run of every show (and sometimes more often if the show has a more controversial subject matter), and we tend to get a really good turn out. Tonight about half of the audience stayed, and since we had a full house that means that one side of the theatre was full for the talk back.

Now I don't know if any of you have experience with theatre talk backs, but they tend to be pretty much the same every time. People mention how much they loved the show and then they ask the actors "How did you learn all those lines!" Sometimes they go further, but often you really have to prompt the audience to ask questions.

But tonight was different.

I don't know what it was about tonight, but the audience was extremely well educated about theatre and the questions just kept coming. I must have told them that I was only taking one more question four or five times. And the questions were smart:

Q: How did you guys integrate the music with the script? Did you just decided or did you figure it out as you went?

A: Artistic Director Ron Reed had the idea to add music to the script about three years ago and when director Sarah Rodgers signed on to do the show, Ron handed her the script and Sheree & Jeremy's CDs. She listened to them and read the script and sent them an e-mail with the songs she thought would work and where she thought they might go. On the first day of rehearsal at our first read Sheree & Jeremy played the songs in those places and most of them are in the same place (moved by a paragraph or so). But the process was organic - more songs were added (including a little Beatles!), tweaked, & one was even written especially for the show (though it moved around within the script three or four times).

Q: The title of the show is Jesus, My Boy, but you never refer to the child as Jesus or the mother as Mary: you just call them "the boy" and "the boy's mother." Do you know why that is?

A: I directed the audience member to take a look at a letter we received from the playwright, John Dowie, that was included at the back of the program which talks about the fact that the play has gone through a variety of names including "The Joseph Story" & most of the time goes by "The Gospel According to Joseph". And one of the reasons for that is by not naming "Mary" or "Jesus" it allows Joseph's story to be the story of one of a number of men at that time, who work as carpenters, & wonder whether or not those prophecies might have pointed to them. At the same time, as David pointed out, it brings even more wonder to the reality of the story of Jesus & this Joseph regardless of one's religious views.

Q:How do you find acting with the audience so close to you?

A (from David Adams): A play cannot happen without an audience, especially in a space like Pacific Theatre where the audience is so close. That's what makes theatre so special - every show is different based on how the audience responds. We are all breathing the same air together and it is a pleasure to do the show with a new audience each night.

But when an audience is that attuned to what is happening, it is a pleasure for me to bring the show to them each night!

Manifesto on Creating

2008-12-03T23:29:00.000-08:00

(Photo by Tristan Brand)

Context: In my first year of university after a one of my first crew calls, I had this real sense of calling to the arts, but I didn't know what that looked like. That night, I wrote in my journal, and what I wrote (with a few edits over the years) has become something of a personal manifesto for me: something that shapes the way I look at the world. At faith. At art. At my relationship to all of those things. And I still don't know where I'm headed, at least not in any concrete sort of way. But I'm certainly enjoying the journey.

I was born to create something. I don't know yet what I am going to be creating, but I know that God has something great planned for me. As a child I wanted to be so many things when I grew up. I wanted to be a nurse, a teacher, a candy store owner, a dancer, a musician, an actress and so many more things. Today I don't know what I will grow up to be, but I know what I will do. I will create. I don't know how I could not create. I think that if I were to stop creating, a part of me would die. To create is to imitate God: a high form of flattery as the saying goes. How could I not create? Creating is my worship. It may not be through music, or prayer, or any other conventional means of worship, but I am worshiping from a part of me that is unique. I am not singing someone else's song. I'm dancing to the beat of my own drummer and I am creating a beautiful dance between me and God.

Would you care to dance?

Hanging out with the Step-Father of the Son of God

2008-12-03T17:19:00.000-08:00

(From L-R: Sheree Plett, Jeremy Eisenhauer, Lois Dawson, David Adams & Julie Sutherland.)

(Photo by Damon Calderwood.)

When it comes right down to it I am pretty damn lucky. I get to spend my days in a place I love, doing a job I love, and, if I'm lucky (like I am this month!), working with people I love.

This afternoon we did our archival photo shoot for Jesus, My Boy. Photos from the shoot will go on the Pacific Theatre website, in our future season brochures, and will be used for grant applications. Mostly, I just like to have some of the group photos for my personal collection.

The thing about theatre is that it is so transient: Today there is this group of people on these stairs, wearing these clothes and saying these words, but in a month that will be gone. We will be starting again with a new group of people. It's nice to have these reminders of each group when a new group comes in and you miss the way a certain actor gave hugs, or the types of jokes that others cracked. Or if you, like me, sometimes ask yourself why on earth you ever thought that theatre was a good idea in the first place, the photos are a good reminder of why it is that we do what we do. (Of course, I also have a folder of e-mails from theatre patrons that I read at that point as well).

One of my favorite cast/crew photos was from this season's opener; Mourning Dove.

(From L-R: Angela Konrad, Anita Wittenberg, Ron Reed, Laura VanDyke, Kerry van der Griend, & Lois Dawson)

(Photo by Damon Calderwood)

Feed the Lake

2008-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

Back in early September, my friend Angela wrote a blog post following her attendance at Bard's production of The Tempest. In it she talks about learning that there is no point in jealousy becuase when one artist succeeds we all end up winning. She said:

The problem is, I have a degree in directing and I've been doing it for a long time but I don't know that I could create a work this accomplished. So for part of the performance I was torn between admiration and dejection - "wow this is really good/wow that's really depressing" -something like that... But when a truly gifted artist creates a work for others to share, we get the present. My life was enriched by the production I saw tonight and as a result, my work will be enriched.

It was a sentiment she echoed after she and I attended Unity: 1918 a couple of weeks back.

But further in the post she talks about an image that appears in Madeline L'Engle's Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith & Art (which is, by the way, one of my top arts reads, regardless of faith orientation. L'Engle was the talented writer behind A Wrinkle in Time.). She discusses an analogy drawn by Jean Rhys in which art is a lake and the artists of the world are various sizes of rivers, streams, & trickles.

She quotes Rhys as saying

"I don't matter. The lake matters. You must keep feeding the lake."

I love that image. The idea that all of art is this giant lake (actually I'd like to jump in and bathe in it - let it soak into my soul!), and that regardless of the size of our contribute we must continue to feed the lake.

Often, as a Stage Manager, I forget that I am also responsible for feeding the lake. I want to leave that role to the directors, actors & designers whose work is so clearly art. But creating a space in which it is possible for those artists to produce (and even better: to thrive!) is an art all its own, and I need to remember that when I get down about my role in the process.

Feed. The. Lake.

(Edited by SMLois, Dec. 3, 11:15pm)

15 Questions with Lois

2008-12-02T00:19:00.000-08:00

Date & place of birth:

May 2, 1986; Vernon, BC

Lives now in:

Vancouver, BC

Education:

BA from Trinity Western University with a double major in Theatre & Communications, and a certificate in Media Studies.

If you hadn’t become a stage manager, what might you have done professionally?

I've changed my mind about my career goals many times: the first plan was to do PR in the music industry, but I think that if I were not stage managing, I'd probably go back to school and get my masters in television studies and end up as a professor.

Favourite plays:

Metamorphoses (Mary Zimmerman), Esspresso (Lucia Frangione), Proof (David Auburn), Jake's Gift (Julia Mackey), The Mistakes Madeline Made (Elizabeth Meriwether)

Favourite TV shows (currently airing):

Pushing Daisies (ABC), Dexter (Showtime), How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

Favourite TV shows (no longer airing):

Veronica Mars (UPN/CW), Arrested Development (Fox), Wonderfalls (Fox), Six Feet Under (HBO), Slings & Arrows (Movie Channel/The Movie Network), Joan of Arcadia (CBS) & Dead Like Me (Showtime)

What was the last thing you saw on stage that had a big impact on you?

The last thing I saw on stage that had a big impact on me was UBC's production of Unity: 1918 a couple of week's ago. It is an award winning script (and with good reason!), but this production was so visibly stunning. The image of a spinning lantern dangling from the ceiling, a wounded soldier returning on a train (done with the actor standing on a chair on a revolve while a train track was flown in from the ceiling), a giant bonfire and revival meeting behind a cyc, a room full of dead bodies, a scene done entirely in the dark. Each image had the potential to fail hugely, but rather than fail, they inspired.

And the first?

The first play I ever saw was a local production of Annie when I was about six which sort of set up for me the fact that theatre was out there, but the first play that really had an impact on me was the Art's Club's 2001 presentation of Axis Theatre's Flying Blind. My high school was very arts focused and each semester the theatre teacher would take approximately 60 kids on a trip to either Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton to see mulitple productions and learn about the education opportunities in each city. The 2001 Vancouver trip was my first of three, and it was a very eye opening five days in regards to what theatre is capable of. We saw Elizabeth Rex at the Stanley, The Edible Woman at the Playhouse, some terrible musical review at the Gateway, & Flying Blind. What stuck out for me about Flying Blind was it's use of design to help shape the world. I've never been an actor - though I can recognize and appreciate good acting - but I've always been impressed by strong visual elements. I remember after the play going out for pizza with the rest of the people on the trip and discussing the show. I was one of only two students who enjoyed it (along with the two escorts). Everyone else "didn't get it" or thought that it was too abstract. I didn't care whether or not I "got" it - I just wanted to do that - create a world similar to our own, yet not our own that causes people to converse.

Favourite books:

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeline L'Engle, the PostSecret books by Frank Warren, & Life After God by Douglas Coupland

Favourite after-show haunts:

Anywhere near Pacific Theatre that still has it's kitchen open when the show gets out: lately that's been either Earls, Cactus Club, or Cafe Barney. We used to always go to Ouisi's but the service there has gotten atrocious and the kitchen has been closing much earlier (besides, who really wants to eat alligator all the time?)

What do you expect to be doing in five years?

I've told myself that if in five years I am bored or burnt out from Stage Managing I will go back to school and do my masters in television studies after all.

What are the personal things that you do in your life simply because they make you happy?

Spend a whole day on the couch watching old TV episodes on DVD even though I've seen them 10+ times, try to laugh as much as possible, take photographs whenever I'm having fun so that I can look at them later and smile.

What would you advice would you give the government to secure the future of Canadian theatre?

I would advise the government that first and foremost, "Ordinary Canadians" really do care about the arts, I would advise reversing the millions of dollars in cuts to arts funding, I would advise the leaders to go take in some of the local theatre - independent, ground-breaking work so that they get a glimpse of the magic being created in their own backyards.

Last but certainly not least, what are you working on, now?

Jesus, My Boy is running at Pacific Theatre until Dec. 27 and I've already begun prep for Holy Mo, which begins rehearsals mid-January.