Articles from:October 2021

• Brock’s fall mainstage returns in person to explore fate of Judas Iscariot

  Monday, October 18, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 18 October 2021 – R0109

  Brock University’s fall mainstage production will make its much-anticipated return next week for the first live, in-person performance on the stage of the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in more than a year and a half.

  Although the Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) did not let the COVID-19 pandemic stifle its creativity, hosting virtual mainstage productions when public health restrictions prevented in-person performances, the cast and crew of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is eager to welcome their first live audience Friday, Oct. 29.  

  Written by award-winning American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis, the play is an exploration of sin and unconditional love and speaks to all about guilt, regret and redemption.

  Set in a satirical version of a contemporary American courtroom, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot sees a host of saints and villains (including Mother Theresa and Satan) convene to determine the fate of Judas Iscariot after he has been stuck in purgatory for a few thousand years.

  Emerging Ontario director Leighton Alexander Williams is the Brock production’s Guest Director, with assistant direction by DART student Michael Cicchini.

  Based in Toronto, Williams is a stage and screen actor, writer, director and producer and is co-founder of Big Dreamers Brotherhood Productions Inc., a company of seven black male artists committed to telling provocative stories. With an academic background in drama and English and an interest in education, Williams is thrilled to be guest directing the production.

  “It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has made a lot of us experience feelings of isolation and being ‘stuck’ — two things Judas experiences throughout this story,” Williams said. “I felt it was important to set this play in the here and now.”

  Williams added that because of a recent boost in the popularity of the science fiction genre, the production’s version of purgatory is set in a cosmic void.

  “The intersectionality of religion and science makes for a fresh take on a classic tale,” he said.

  The show runs Oct. 29, 30 and Nov. 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. There will be a matinee performance on Nov. 5 at 11:30 a.m. for DART students and faculty.

  The MIW Theatre, in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) in downtown St. Catharines, is operating at a reduced capacity, with 100 seats available for each performance in the interest of student and audience member safety.

  Tickets are $20 for the general public and $16 for youth and seniors. Tickets may be purchased through Brock University Tickets. All provincial and Brock University COVID-19 protocols are in effect for the performances, including mandatory vaccination and masks for all audience members visiting the MIWSFPA.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Gillian Minaker, Marketing & Communications Officer, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University [email protected] 905-688-5550 x4765 or 289-696-0805

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected] or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Honorary degree recipient tells Brock’s Class of 2021 to learn from the past to build the future

  Monday, October 18, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 15 October 2021 – R0108

  When former Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Chief Ava Hill was presented with an honorary doctorate from Chancellor Hilary Pearson during Brock University’s Fall Convocation Friday, Oct. 15, it represented the completion of an important goal she set out to achieve many years earlier.

  Hill was born on the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve and attended elementary school there before heading to high school in Brantford and Hagersville.

  “When I graduated, I wasn’t encouraged to continue my education,” she said. “Nobody even told me it was a possibility I could consider. I had often thought about going back to school to get a degree, but with various job demands and looking after a household, I never found the time. So now to receive this honorary doctorate fills that gap that I had always regretted was left in my life.”

  Hill received the honorary degree Friday during a livestream of Brock’s 110th Convocation ceremony. Due to public health restrictions, a traditional Convocation event couldn’t be held, so the students were invited to watch the livestreamed ceremony with their families and friends and then visit a personalized Convocation Portal.

  In her address to the Class of 2021, Hill said that, as an Indigenous woman and leader, she felt privileged that the degree was coming at a time when “more and more people are becoming aware of a dark part of the history of this country.”

  “I believe and feel this is a clear demonstration of the commitment of Brock University to move forward with reconciliation and I’m happy to accept this degree on behalf of all Indigenous people.”

  Hill served 15 years on the Six Nations Elected Council including two terms as Elected Chief. She encouraged the Brock graduates to take the time to learn about Indigenous Peoples and all cultures.

  “If we all move forward in the spirit of reconciliation and learn more about each other’s culture, then perhaps we can begin to eliminate the racism and stereotyping that exists around the world today. To build for the future, we must learn from the past,” she said.

  Addressing the Class of 2021 watching from around the world, Brock University Interim President Lynn Wells spoke about the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the opportunity the unique situation has presented.

  The past 18 months have created the chance to “reshape our society into something more equitable, more sustainable, more caring and more just,” she said to the virtual audience. “You are graduating at a significant moment in our country’s history, and we’ll be looking to you — our leaders of the not-so-distant-future — to help us do this.”

  Wells assured the graduates that although complex issues are on the horizon — including those related to climate change, affordable housing and finding truth and reconciliation with Indigenous communities — they are not insurmountable.

  “No matter what you studied, your time at Brock has prepared you for anything the world may throw your way,” she said. “The critical thinking and analytical skills honed during your time here will serve you particularly well in the coming years, and I urge you to use them with the goal of becoming a more aware, more engaged and more connected global citizen.”

  Brock University Chancellor Hilary Pearson reminded the graduates of the obstacles they faced head-on in order to reach Convocation.

  “You have had to participate in and perform through unprecedented remote learning. You have been asked to do things that you could not have imagined. And you have been missed on campus in ways that you could not have predicted or wanted,” she said. “Yet, you admirably rose to meet these challenges, and you have arrived successfully at this graduation day.

  A full recording of Brock’s Fall Convocation ceremony can be found on YouTube here.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected] or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases