Report #1 by Ava Robitaille
June 11, 2023

Over the last four weeks, I have had the privilege to work as the Brock intern at the Shaw Festival, with a focus on directing. I am working on The Clearing directed by Jessica Carmichael and The Amen Corner directed by Kimberley Rampersad. As the intern, I have gotten the chance to observe these two amazing directors at work sculpting these shows from the beginning of the rehearsal process and share my dramaturgical questions/thoughts with them and the rest of the ensemble. I also have been receiving advice on how to adapt and evolve my process, how to lead the room as a female director, and how to become a professional director. Throughout my theatrical career, I haven’t had the chance to work with female directors until now, so I am very excited and privileged to have this opportunity to work with two phenomenal and experienced female directors. Being able to see other female directors working allows me to see myself in this position more clearly and allows me to understand their perspective and practice through a similar lens.

My first day was a whirlwind, as it was the first read-through and rehearsal for The Clearing: every member of the creative team, cast, and production team was at this first read-through. There were design presentations from the set and costume designer. I hadn’t had the chance to read the script before I started my internship, so it was fascinating to see what the world of the play looked like before I even really knew what went on within that world. Jessica then did a short presentation explaining her dramaturgical vision and intention with this play through a series of images and poetry. The read-through was fascinating, as it was the first time I had the chance to engage with this script. I’ll be the first to admit that I am biased as I love a first read-through. There is something in the magic of listening to a script come to life for the first time with the company which will be bringing it to life every night once the show starts.

The next few weeks of Clearing rehearsals have been just as fascinating and magical as the first read-through. Every rehearsal Jessica sits down with the actors and does many different explorations and imprinting of each scene: ranging from explorations to music, using images/props from the show, to gesture/movement work. I see many intersections from Jessica’s process to the processes of some of the directors and instructors I worked with during my time at DART. Which has allowed me to connect the work I am observing to the processes I’ve experimented with within DART. This time I get to see how these work in practice in a room with actors who come from different theatrical education backgrounds so I can more clearly see exactly how they assist the work as I sit at my table diligently taking notes in my fastly filling notebook.

Last week I got the chance to sit down with Jessica and chat about directing and the show. The conversation was fantastic and allowed me to learn more about how I can start to emerge in the field as a professional director. It was such an enriching conversation and allowed me to understand how I can evolve my directing process. Jessica is such an enthusiastic and warm person, and to get to meet such an amazing person and work with her so to get the chance to sit down one-on-one with her and pick her brain about directing was such a treat.

The Amen Corner is the most joyful room I have ever been in. The whole company brings so much joy and laughter to the work and each other it is special. The sense of community is so strong in this room. Which makes it such a special experience. I hope to one day create rehearsal rooms as joyful and supportive as this one.

The show has a specific emphasis on music, specifically gospel music and Jazz music and the cast acts and performs as a gospel choir a few times during the play. I have never worked on a production that has live music involved in the way that Amen Corner does so this has been such an amazing experience to work on. Throughout elementary/middle school, I participated in my school choirs. Within the production, there are multiple gospel songs performed by the cast in a gospel choir setting. Music is something that I am very passionate about and hadn’t had the chance until this experience to see how directors work with live performed music to inform the storytelling of the show without the production being a musical. Before I started at DART, I did not realize that there could be these intersections between music and theatre outside of musical theatre. Music is an integral part of my artistry; it is what drove me to try out for my first play (because it was a musical). So, to see my two artistic worlds collide in the rehearsal room has been moving and unbelievably inspiring.

Last weekend I got to go on a trip with the cast/creatives in the Amen Corner to the scenic shop to see the set and run the first few scenes on the set itself. The set blew me away, even though it wasn’t painted and didn’t have all of the amazing set dressing that I had seen during the design presentation I witnessed a few weeks ago. Never in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned a set as spectacular and theatrical as this. It is so amazingly elaborate, you will just HAVE to come and see it for yourself! I found myself reflecting on the first show I ever directed, as we had no budget for anything. To see how far I had come with a dream I didn’t really know I had until I was digging around my high school looking for set pieces in front of me.

Once the actors started to perform a few scenes, the magic of the show set in. The phenomenal SM team brought all the chairs and some of the props we use at the top of the show, so the world of the play came to life within the scene shop. The scenic carpenters who built the set were watching us walk around the set for the first time with awe and excitement, sharing the joy of seeing the set for the first time. They were so kind walking us through the safety precautions (as it isn’t 100% built yet) and allowing us to explore through their excellent work.

Last weekend was also the first opening weekend of the season. I was able to grab a ticket to go and see Gypsy, which was fantastic! A few of the actors from The Amen Corner were also in Gypsy, so it was so much fun to see them play onstage in a different show. I also got to go and see On The Razzle on Tuesday. It was my first time going to the Royal George Theatre. It is a beautiful theatre, and the set was amazing. The space was transformed into a series of extravagant storefronts and locations at the turn of the century in Vienna Austria. Another DART student and friend, Alex Anderson, is currently working as a dresser on both productions of Gypsy and On The Razzle. I’ve seen him every week I’ve been at the Shaw so far, which has been so nice to see a kind and familiar face. So during both shows, I was thinking of him and all his amazing work. Especially every time I saw an actor come onstage in a new costume!

Report #2 by Ava Robitaille
June 19, 2023

In my fifth week at Shaw, I felt I have fully hit my stride at the festival. This week was full of thinking and research – which has been so joyful for me as a director. While in rehearsal for The Clearing, the director Jessica approached me with two props toys. She explained to me that in the play, there is this toy that the main character Madeline carries with her. It is a significant image within the play, and Jessica was conflicted about what she wanted the toy to be. So, she handed me two suggestions that the props designer had proposed and asked me to give them a think. I placed the two props at the front edge of my space so that I could look at them while I watched rehearsal. I held both in my hands, playing with them and considering the dramaturgical meaning behind each toy. While sitting with the two toys, I was also very conflicted as both represent many key themes and ideas within the show. At the end of rehearsal, Jessica and I sat down and discussed our opinions on each toy, and she then chose which one she would use in the show. It felt amazing to be able to have had a chance to include my opinion and ideas on a significant decision.

This week I was also tasked to do some research for the Amen Corner. In the play, there is a scene where the elders of the church sit down and have tea together, and Kimberley asked me to researc

h the types of cookies that would be served with tea in 1950s America. I spent an hour this week scouring the internet and learning about all the different types of cookies popular during this era. It was fascinating and surprisingly difficult to find, as many of the sites I found focused on what was popular in England, which was not what I was looking for. Then there was a lot of dramaturgical thought that went into my research. The most popular and iconic cookie from 1950s America was called a Spritz cookie, but I found that they needed a cookie press to be made. Because of the cookie press, I had to do more
dramaturgical research into how much they would cost at the time (which was impossible to find) and then think about if the family in the Amen Corner could afford a cookie press. In the end, I made a lengthy list of what I found and sent it to Kimberly. But now I can say that the Fig Newtons that will be onstage during Act II of the Amen Corner were discovered and researched by me!

In week six, there were many exciting developments in both rehearsal rooms. This week, we had a run-through of Act II in The Amen Corner. It has been exciting to see this play come together. It is quite a complex and difficult play, and to see the tenacity of the actors and Kimberley as they work together to honour Baldwin’s play is inspiring. This Act II run-through was a great opportunity to layer in more details into the act. The details that Kimberley has been adding have been filling out the world of the play and making it feel alive. It is exciting for me to watch this play flourish and grow as each day passes.

The Clearing is also growing more detailed with each day that passes. This week, Jessica and I have been having discussions about some choices she’s considering making. She’s been asking me my opinions so she can make a more informed decision. Right now, the largest question is about a set piece; a piece of brick wall. The set designer made this wall capable of moving, the question at hand is whether or not it should be moved. This would be a very significant action, as it is a large piece. There is a lot of thought needed to justify how and why it should be moved, and how many times this should happen, which is why she’s been asking for my thoughts and perspectives on the moving of this wall. I honestly feel honoured that she has been asking me for my opinion over the last two weeks on significant prop/set decisions. Even though the decision is ultimately her’s, my participation in making that decision through these conversations allows me to feel some ownership of some of the choices made in the show. It is such a surreal feeling when working with such a well-known company!

Report #3 by Ava Robitaille
July 5, 2023

In my last two weeks of Shaw, I had a few events happening outside of my regular rehearsal schedule that was very exciting. First, there was an online event where the director and design team that worked on The Apple Cartexplained their process and how they brought the show to life. This was fascinating to listen to, as The Clearingrehearses in the same rehearsal hall that the Apple Cart did before they moved to the theatre. For the first few weeks of my time at Shaw, I was surrounded by the costume sketches, the floor plan, and the rehearsal props and costumes. So I had a good idea of what the show was going to visually look like. To listen to Eda (the director) and her design team explain why they made those choices was even more fascinating than usual because I already knew what the designs looked like!

Then a week later, I went and watched The Apple Cart! It was a fantastic show. I felt like I had been following The Apple Cart along the way, not only from being in the same rehearsal hall and the directors/designer’s event but also because many actors from The Clearing were also in The Apple Cart. The characters that each of the actors who I know play in this show, are so different than their characters in The Clearing. It was amazing to watch them play in such a different world. The Apple Cart is also in the Jackie Maxwell Theatre which is where The Clearing is going to be performed. So being able to be in that space and watch a show use that space, I couldn’t help but compare it to how The Clearing is going to be using that space.

The day after I saw the show, Kevin, the lighting designer for The Clearing, was in the theatre doing a flash-through of the lights with the set onstage to see how the lights interact with the set and the theatre. Jessica invited me to go and take a look at the set while they were doing the flash-through when we took our rehearsal break. Not only was I blown away by the set, but I felt at home sitting in a dark theatre while the lighting designer was experimenting with his craft. That was the second time that I’ve been able to be in that position, but the immediate familiarity and comfort that I found in that environment demonstrated to me how much I love this craft of directing.

I had to miss a week of rehearsals because of a cold, but on my last day, I was really lucky to be present for a run-through of The Amen Corner. There had been a few run-throughs that they did while I was away, and I was sad to have been missing them. I was overjoyed that on my last day, I was going to be able to watch a run-through. The show is phenomenal, and to see how much the show had grown more detailed and alive over the week I had gone away was exciting. I love this play much, and Kimberley is such an amazing director that it has been such a privilege to get to be in this room and watch this play come to life. This was further reinforced by how blown away I was by the run-through and how much the play had grown in the week I had been away from the rehearsal room.

My time at the Shaw Festival has now come to a close, and while I am sad it’s over, I am inspired. I have learned so many things from my short eight weeks that I am confident will make me a better director. I’ve compiled it into a short list:

1. Treat your script as a musical score. A wise piece of advice I received from Kimberley during one of our meetings. I set out on this internship to learn how to incorporate my voice into my directing, and I strongly believe this piece of advice will help me achieve that.
2. Details make the space feel alive. I have always been a very detail-oriented director, but seeing how the small details Kimberley and Jessica add to their shows demonstrated to me why those details are important. Especially since they make the worlds feel real and not manufactured/staged.
3. Text analysis makes the world go round. Jessica’s main advice to me was to make sure that both the directors and the actors have a deep understanding of the text. I saw firsthand in both rehearsal rooms how a deep understanding of the text assists in creating a phenomenal show, and the way to achieve that is through text analysis.
4. Influences from other art forms are important. Theatre does not need to only be inspired by other theatre allow your love for music, movies, visual arts, and dance to inspire your work. Both shows I worked on had heavy influences from other art forms, and it allowed the creative team and actors to be inspired and better informed.
5. Female directors rock!!

Thank you to everyone at Brock and Shaw who supported me along this journey. I am so lucky to have had this enriching artistic
experience. I am very excited to return in August for the opening night of both The Clearing and The Amen Corner. If you have the means to do so, please go and see these two shows. They are amazing!