Articles by author: dvivian

  • Dramatic Arts alumni and instructors shine at the 2025 Dora Awards

    Monday, July 21, 2025 | By

    On June 30, 2025 the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts recognized the Nominees and Recipients of the 45th Anniversary Dora Awards and DART was there!

    The annual Dora Mavor Moore awards (or Doras) celebrate excellence on Toronto stages and are the oldest and largest professional theatre, dance and opera awards program in Canada. The Dora Awards evolve constantly, adjusting and adapting to changes in the broader performing arts industry and the needs of the TAPA membership. There are currently 43 award categories across 7 distinct “divisions.”

    DART alumni took home awards for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble, and DART guest artists and instructors were well represented among the many nominated and winning artists. DART students saw some of these outstanding performances when attending course related-fieldtrips during the 2024-25 academic year.

    Kaitlin Race, centre with colleague  Anne van Leeuwen, directed by Cass Van Wyck.

    DART alumni honoured with Dora Awards

    In the Theatre for Young Audiences Division, DART alumnus and playwright Evan Bawtinheimer was awarded Outstanding New Play for Patty Picker (One Four One Collective in association with The Assembly Theatre), directed by alumna Cass Van Wyck ( Artistic Director of One Four One Collective, Co-Artistic Director and Managing Director of Assembly Theatre) and performed by alumna Kaitlin Race with colleague Anne van Leeuwen. This new play was also nominated for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble.

    The play tells the story of Patty, a 16 year old girl who eats pizza for breakfast, loves to play chess, and has a secret. Patty’s life is turned upside-down when her secret shame becomes juicy gossip: Patty picks her nose! Patty struggles to return her life to normal, while dealing with her picky girlfriend Phoebe, problematic father Paul, and plotting revenge on that piece of crap Preston who caused the whole mess. The Canadian Play Outlet describes this as a charming coming-of-age story about bullying, tolerance, and acceptance. Subjects and themes of the play include High School, Divorce, LGBTQ Relationship, Bullying, Disability, and Mental Health. Toronto critic Paula Citron has written an enthusiastic review on ludwigvanTORONTO.com.

    Evan graduated from Brock’s DART Performance Concentration in 2014. Over the last decade he has continued to advance his craft in playwriting, attended many workshops and classes and he reads and writes almost every day. Even though he’s no longer at Brock, the learning continues!

    Evan with his DORA Award.

    Evan recently shared his insight that “Brock taught me not to take things at face value. DART 4F90 [a fourth year capstone course] taught me that a sign or symbol could express more than one idea. In my Dora Award-Winning play Patty Picker, our protagonist Patty picks her nose. But the nose-picking is more than that. It’s an expression of anxiety, identity, depression, joy. When it came to nose-picking, Brock taught me to dig deeper (pun intended).”

    He added that receiving this Dora Award has confirmed and validated the path he has taken over the years: “I developed Patty Picker with fellow DART alumni Cass Van Wyck and Kaitlin Race. DART professor Danielle Wilson also provided me with some much-appreciated feedback on an early draft of the play. I never would have imagined staying in touch with DART alumni over ten years later. I learned so much from them. I’m privileged that I’m on the same side as my DART friends.”

     

    Jasmine Case in FLEX at Crows Theatre/Obsidian Theatre. image: Elana Emer.

    In the General Theatre Division, DART alumna Jasmine Case was awarded Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble including Jewell Bowry,  Asha James, Trinity Lloyd, Shauna Thompson, and Sophia Walker for their work in FLEX  (Crow’s Theatre and Obsidian Theatre Company). This production was also awarded for Outstanding Lighting Design and nominated for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Scenic / Projection Design, Outstanding Sound Design / Composition.

    Headshot of Jasmine Case

    Jasmine Case

    In July 2024 we featured Jasmine in an article about her success at the 2024 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, winning the award for Outstanding Performance by an Individual in the Theatre for Young Audience Division. Read more about this rising star on our news page. Jasmine was also recently featured on our Instagram channel

    Instructors and guest artists recognized for their theatre-making success

    DART instructors and visiting artists were well represented in the Dora nominations. From among the company of the new creation Last Landscape (Bad New Days in partnership with Common Boots Theatre) are Kari Pedersen, a performer/creator who has taught with DART for two years, and Director and performer Adam Paolozza who has taught with DART on multiple occasions. Their show Last Landscape was awarded for Outstanding Scenic/Projection Design and Outstanding Sound Design/Composition. The new creation was also nominated for Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble, Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Lighting Design.

    Erased (Open Heart Surgery Theatre in partnership with Theatre Passe Muraille) was nominated for Outstanding Scenic/Projection Design, Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Lighting Design. The choreographer of the production, Alix Sideris taught for us in 2024-25 and playwright Coleen MacPherson has done workshops with DART.

    Last Landscape and Erased were just two of the nominated and awarded productions that DART students saw for course-related fieldtrips. Other productions we saw included:

    Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit for Outstanding Production, Outstanding New Play (Why Not Theatre presented by Canadian Stage), Miriam Fernandes awarded Outstanding Performance by an Individual and Ravi Jain awarded for Outstanding Direction, also awarded for Outstanding Sound Design/Composition; and nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble, Outstanding Scenic / Projection Design, Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Lighting Design. Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain have both visited and presented at DART.

    Rosmersholm was nominated for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Performance by an Individual and Outstanding lighting Design, There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death or, The Born-Again Crow was nominated for Outstanding New Play, and Fat Ham was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Individual.

    Not a DART fieldtrip for the year, special acknowledgement must be given for Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White received the award for Outstanding New Musical / New Opera. The librettist for this new production, HAUI, was a guest artist for our 2021 online industry panel with remarkable BIPOC Canadian Theatre Artists.

    Congratulations to all of the alumni, instructors and guest artists honoured by the Dora Awards. DART extends its congratulations to everybody who was recognized for their excellence in theatre! They are the light that shines upon our path to becoming remarkable theatre makers and audiences.

    See the article in the Brock News, published Aug 12, 2025:
    Brock grads’ play a top ‘pick’ at prestigious theatre awards

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, In the Media, Media Releases, News, Uncategorised, Visiting Artists

  • Another remarkable year for our DART Intern at the Shaw Festival

    Monday, July 14, 2025 | By

    Vikki (centre) with some of the cast members at the end of a rehearsal for which she was asked to step in and read for the leading lady of the show, Angel, played by Virgilia Griffith.

    Dramatic Arts senior student Victoria Marshall was the DART Intern at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake for 2025. The Department has partnered with the Shaw Festival to provide internships to graduating students since 2011. Internships focus on diverse aspects of production at the Festival including performance, design, technical production, directing, arts management and education. Throughout the program, individuals will receive integrated exposure to the scope of the Shaw experience. This year the five-week paid internship began a full-time intensive schedule in early May, 2025

    Victoria Marshall, 2025 Shaw Festival Intern.

    Vikki shadowed Associate Artistic Director Kimberley Rampersad as she directed Blues for an Alabama Sky for the Shaw Festival’s 2025 season. During the rehearsals Vikki was called upon to read for the leading lady as well as the leading lady’s love interest on separate occasions when the actors were not available. This allowed her to stretch her acting muscles with professionals. The director invited Vikki to share her thoughts and observations with her and the cast during rehearsals. Some of the notes were shared and those suggestions were transformed and integrated into the final blocking for certain scenes and characters.

    “I became more confident in my ideas and I learned how to value my voice even more because of the director seeking input from me.”

    Vikki also sat in on a production meeting for this show where she met many new faces and also had the pleasure of being reunited with some familiar ones, like Emma Dirks who created the wigs for Blues for an Alabama Sky and taught the makeup course in the winter semester for DART this year (“which was an awesome class”) and Chris Malkowski who was the lighting designer for this show and has been the lighting designer for all of the mainstages she has done at Brock.

    She also participated in the Thursday morning ensemble classes taught by Tim Carroll (Artistic Director for the Shaw Festival) and attended by all members of the Shaw Festival. She toured the scene and set shops and worked one-on-one with actors to help them with line memorization and discussing the world of the play or their character arcs.

    “Through this internship I learned a lot about myself, the kind of artist I am, and the kind of working artist I can become in the future. I went in as an actor, but over those 6 weeks, I studied as a director and actor.”

    Vikki (in white) with company members in the Shaw Festival scene shop.

    From the first table read of Blues for an Alabama Sky to meticulously blocking out the whole play, Vikki witnessed the brilliant work by the incredible cast and crew of this production. “Kimberley took me under her wing and made me feel right at home both at the main Festival Theatre and in the rehearsal hall as I became a member of the Blues family. I learned so much about the individual creative process and just how different every actor is when they work in the space and take on their character arc. The company of Blues for an Alabama Sky was a beautiful synergy of diverse representation and creativity with an all-Black cast and a majority female production team which Kimberley affectionately called “team lady leadership.”

    “Working in a room full of folks like me, doing what I hope I will be doing after my time in the DART program at Brock was truly enriching. They did not shy away from including me from the jump and making me a part of the company.”

    Vikki highly recommends that future students of DART seek out the opportunity to participate in the DART Shaw Festival Internship. Graduating students and students entering 4th year are all eligible to apply. Part participants have completed their terms at Shaw in the diverse fields of Stage Management, Lighting Design, Props Building, Directing, Dramaturgy, Production and Design and Audience and Community Engagement. “This internship opened my eyes to so much and gave me unforgettable moments and lasting relationships. This has been such an enriching experience and I am looking forward to what the future holds for me. It is sad to see it come to an end, but I know that this is not the last the Shaw Festival will see of me!”

     

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    Categories: Current Students, Future students, In the Media, News, Shaw Intern Blog, Uncategorised

  • Performing arts production professionals bring ‘real world’ experience to MIWSFPA students

    Monday, February 07, 2022 | By

    The MIWSFPA welcomes leaders in live performance production and company operations for two presentations about challenges and opportunities in the field, bringing ‘real world’ experience to STAC/DART 3P93 students.

    All are welcome to a maximum of 17 guests. Bring your questions!
    Please contact [email protected] if you wish to reserve a seat (walk-in’s welcome as capacity allows).

    EVENT INFORMATION:

     

    Site Selection and Development for a Performance Event
    Kathleen Ross, Director of Operations, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
    Tuesday, February 8, 2022
    9:30-10:30 a.m., MWS 156

     

     

    Kathleen will be discussing the topic of Site Selection and Development for a Performance Event, addressing such topics as: selecting a site; space requirements – production (staging layouts, technical requirements, load in/load out requirements, broadcasting, or other capabilities); audience capacity (seating capacity and layout, accessibility, parking, transit); front of house requirements (staffing, box office, food and beverage options and costs); legal and safety issues.

    Kathleen Ross is an experienced operations professional with a focus on the most valuable asset…our human capital. She has an extensive history of working in government administration and entertainment industries, and is skilled in Emergency Procedures, Human Resources Management, Disability Management, Special Events and Entertainment.

    The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) is a 95,000 square foot academic and  cultural complex, located in downtown St. Catharines, comprised of four performance venues:  Partridge Hall  (770 seats), Recital Hall (304 seats), Robertson Theatre (flexible black box space) and The Film House (199 seats). Located adjacent to the MIWSFPA, Brock University students attend courses and perform at the PAC.

     

     

    Production Priorities
    Kate Leathers, General Manager, Carousel Players.
    Tuesday, February 15, 2022
    9:30-10:30 a.m., MWS 156

     

     

     

    Kate will be discussing Production Priorities, including such topics such as: The roles and responsibilities associated with various productions; co-ordination of creative and production priorities and requirements; production planning, contracting, legal, safety and human resources issues; consideration of planning a safe event in re-opening theatres (Covid-19).

    Kate Leathers has worked in the cultural sector for more than 20 years. She has held a variety of roles ranging from administrator to production technician and worked at dozens of theatres including the Shaw Festival and more across Canada. She has an MBA in Strategic Marketing. Currently Kate is planning Carousel Players’ 50th Anniversary Festival that will take place regionally over three days.

    Carousel Players present inspiring and creative plays for children ages five to 15 in schools, community venues, and performing arts centres across Southern Ontario. The company has also toured nationally to theatres and festivals in Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Saskatoon, and Vancouver, and as far away as England and Japan.

    About STAC/DART 3P93 – Producing a Performance Event

    STAC/DART 3P93 introduces students to the commitment, hard work, and collaboration required to plan and execute a performance event. Students have the opportunity to bring their practical and leadership skills to work with their peers as a team to replicate a professional experience, including financial, organizational, communication and technical roles. In 2022 this course is taught by Jill Planche, PhD. Jill has a professional background in marketing and fundraising for theatre, opera, film and visual arts, including the Shaw Festival, TIFF and the McMichael Gallery.

    Please note: All Brock University COVID-19 protocols and vaccination policies apply. For more information, please visit Brock’s Coronavirus webpage.

     

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, News, Uncategorised, Visiting Artists

  • BIPOC theatre leaders to discuss new industry approaches at Brock event

    Wednesday, November 10, 2021 | By

    Theatre leaders participating in the upcoming Brock discussion panel include (top row, from left) Haui, Carmen Alatorre, (centre, from left) Shanna Miller, Samantha McCue, Wladimiro A. Woyno R., (bottom row, from left) Giselle Clarke-Trenaman and Kat Chin.

    Originally published in The Brock News Wednesday, | NOVEMBER 10, 2021 | by 

    Prominent Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) Canadian theatre production and design professionals will come together to discuss recent experiences in their fields and new strategies in production at an upcoming Brock University digital panel.

    This is the second event presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts (DART)  in a new series as part of the 2021-22 Walker Cultural Leader Series (WCL Series), “Transformation and Adaptation in Theatre Pedagogy and Training.” The series is organized by DART Professors Karen Fricker and David Vivian with longtime instructor Carolyn Mackenzie.

    “Industry Panel with BIPOC Canadian Theatre Artists” will take place Monday, Nov. 15 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Zoom. The Brock and wider community are invited to attend and asked to register ahead of time on the Zoom registration page.

    Moderating the panel is Giselle Clarke-Trenaman, Production Co-ordinator at Presentation House Theatre in North Vancouver and creator of Black History Matters, an educational program addressing gaps in Black history in elementary schools.

    Panelists include Haui, a mixed media director and designer working in theatre, opera and film; Samantha McCue, an Anishinaabekwe and Ned’u’ten theatre professional based in Ottawa; Carmen Alatorre, a Latinx artist and theatre designer based in Vancouver; Kat Chin, a Toronto-based stage manager who has worked across Canada, off-Broadway and at the Palace of Versailles; Shanna Miller, the Technical Director at Young Peoples Theatre; and Wladimiro A. Woyno R., a live performance designer and Assistant Professor of Theatre Production and Design at School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University.

    The panel will cover a range of topics, from how to bring more BIPOC artists to the theatre industry and cultivate new audiences, to the use of technology and how the pandemic has affected the performing arts industry.

    “We’ve invited these important artists from diverse fields of Canadian theatre design and production to share their journeys of the past 20 months and to encourage our students with the vision and passion that informs their professional practice,” said Vivian.

    “Whether through the lens of anti-racism, decolonization, accessibility or the drive for professional and economic sustainability, this evening promises a vivid invitation to join progressive voices for change in live performance and theatre production in Canada.”

    The third and final event in the DART WCL series is a daylong Casting and Audition workshop on Sunday, Nov. 28 for DART students, staff and faculty. This closing event will be led by Kimberley Rampersad, actor, choreographer, director and Associate Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival; and Marcel Stewart, actor, writer, director and arts educator.

    To learn more, please visit the WCL Series website.

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, In the Media, Media Releases, News, Uncategorised, Visiting Artists

  • Brock community mourns the loss of theatre artist and MIWSFPA staff member, dawn e crysler

    Friday, March 26, 2021 | By

    dawn e crysler

    dawn e crysler, celebrated MIWSFPA staff member and Theatre Technician, will be remembered for her creativity and dedication to her work.

    originally posted in The Brock News on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021 | by 

    The Brock and local arts community is mourning the death of dawn e crysler, a theatre maker and artist who will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Faculty, staff and students at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) were deeply saddened to learn of crysler’s passing earlier this week.

    crysler (BA ’00), who preferred her name referred to in all lowercase, had been a Theatre Technician at Brock’s MIWSFPA since 2018. Working in the Department of Dramatic Arts (DART), the multi-talented artist played a pivotal role working with students and faculty to bring performances to life through her work as technician and scenic painter.

    “The entire DART community is shocked and saddened at the departure of this sensitive, observant and generous soul. As a former student of the program, dawn brought her many talents and insights to a wide range of theatrical activity at Brock and beyond,” says David Fancy, Professor and Chair of DART.

    crysler also worked as a theatre technician at the Shaw Festival and Carousel Players, and in Toronto on various film, TV and theatre projects. Most recently, she had been painting the Klingon ship on the set of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (a spinoff series currently being filmed in Toronto).

    A Brock graduate, crysler conferred on June 9, 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Literature and Theatre.

    Peter Feldman, retired Associate Professor and former Chair of DART taught crysler during her studies.

    “dawn was one of the most highly motivated students I had in my 20 years at Brock, working with distinction in almost every aspect of our program,” he says.

    Feldman also fondly recalls joining crysler and other former students in starting a St. Catharines-based fringe theatre group known as Stray Theatre in 2003. In addition to building and painting sets, crysler was a gifted actor, he says.

    “dawn played an astonishingly wide range of roles in drama and comedy, all beautifully, movingly and totally believably.”

    White Crow, drawn by Jana Bergsma, in honour of dawn e crysler. photo: Gavin Fearon.

    “All of us with whom she worked will remember dawn’s sunny personality, her always positive view of life, her gift for friendship, the enthusiasm she brought to everything she worked on, and her sense of wonder. ‘Awesome!’ must have been her favourite word,” Feldman says. “Altogether, dawn was one of the most remarkable young women I’ve known in the theatre.”

    David Vivian, Associate Professor, Scenographer and Director of the MIWSFPA, says hiring crysler felt like a puzzle piece falling into place.

    “When we hired dawn in 2018, it was as if she was coming home to the MIWSFPA. She was a celebrated member of the arts community and Brock graduate contributing to local arts and culture — it was so very right to have dawn join us here at the School,” he says.

    In addition to being a valued staff member and friend of Brock, crysler was a dedicated theatre artist with a strong presence in the Niagara arts scene. Born and raised on a farm in Pelham, crysler explored her roots though her artistry. She was a published playwright. Her play White Crow, which ran in November of 2012 mounted by Essential Collective Theatre, chronicled a family facing adversity on a Pelham farm.

    In 2013, crysler was nominated for the Emerging Artist Award for the eighth annual St. Catharines Arts Awards. She brought creativity and energy to cultural initiatives, such as In the Soil Arts Festival, where she held an interactive workshop entitled “Play!” that involved massive checker pieces, a giant Jenga set and oversized “pick-up sticks.”

    The flags in front of Brock’s Schmon Tower were lowered to half-mast on Friday, March 26 to commemorate crysler’s passing.

    MIWSFPA colleagues remember crysler for her energetic attitude and sense of play.

    Gyllian Raby, Associate Professor of Dramatic Arts, reflects on crysler’s bright personality and her professional talent and work ethic. Raby, along with other DART faculty and staff, were working closely with crysler on the spring Mainstage production.

    “Across the community she was known and loved for her infectious energy,” Raby says of crysler. “She was a beam of light, a roller-derby queen, a published playwright, cabaret performer, theatre-technician and maker-builder extraordinaire. She believed in art and was endlessly creative.”

    A space on the MIWSFPA website memorializing crysler will be created in the coming weeks, where colleagues, friends and family will be invited to share their memories.

     

    The obituary for dawn is available in the St. Catharines Standard.

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News, Uncategorised

  • Dramatic Arts students to interview Canadian theatre leaders during online event

    Friday, March 26, 2021 | By

    An online panel discussion Monday, March 29 will see Brock University Dramatic Arts students interview Canadian theatre leaders (clockwise from top left) Jani Lauzon from Stratford Festival and National Theatre School; Kaitlyn Riordan from Shakespeare in the Ruff; Nikki Shaffeeulah, a theatre and community artist; and Kate Hennig from the Shaw Festival.

    An upcoming online panel discussion will explore life and careers in the arts, with Brock Dramatic Arts students interviewing celebrated Canadian theatre makers.

    Open to the Brock community as well as the public, The Act of Creation: A Panel Discussion will take place Monday, March 29 from 7 to 8:45 p.m. on the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) YouTube channel.

    Hosted by Danielle Wilson, Associate Professor of Theatre, the event will include prominent theatre artists Kate Hennig from the Shaw Festival, theatre and community artist Nikki Shaffeeula, Kaitlyn Riordan from Shakespeare in the Ruff and Jani Lauzon from Stratford Festival and the National Theatre School.

    The special guests will be interviewed by DART students Joanna Tran, Holly Hebert, Heidi Nickel and Genevieve Batista. Conversations will explore what it is like to be a multi-faceted theatre artist, and how to sustain a career in the arts.

    The online event is free to attend and no registration is required. Watch by clicking here.

    The event is presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts and supported by the MIWSFPA and Faculty of Humanities.

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, In the Media, News, Uncategorised, Visiting Artists

  • Theatre in the age of climate change the focus of virtual events

    Tuesday, February 02, 2021 | By

    Originally published in The Brock News THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021 | by 

    Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) and the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) are continuing their partnership in 2021, offering online performances and virtual discussions exploring the intersection of performing arts and climate change in the Walker Cultural Leaders Series.

    Taking place from Friday, Feb. 12 to Sunday, Feb. 14, the event is convened by DART Professors David Fancy and Karen Fricker and is a continuation of a series of events presented in November 2020.

    “Following the success of our first round of collaborative events with the PAC last fall, we are looking forward to this continued focus on the relationship between performance and climate crisis,” said Fricker.

    The second part of the series includes:

    • Three commissioned performances meant to inspire conversation and critical thought
    • A live-streamed sharing by Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director Santee Smith of the company’s new work in development called Skén:nen
    • A panel discussion entitled Honouring Balance in Times of Crisis and Change: Strength in Indigenous Women’s Perspectives

    Artists participating in the panel discussion include Audra Maloney, Diane Simon and Santee Smith, and Lyn Trudeau will moderate.

    “We are enthusiastic about the intersections between the Indigenous women’s panel, responses to the climate crisis, and the moves towards Indigenization and decolonization at Brock,” said Fancy.

    As part of the Walker Cultural Leaders Series, Brock commissioned 10 regional theatre artists to create short online presentations exploring the climate crisis in relation to any area of their interest.

    In this part of the series, commissioned artists explored a multitude of themes in relation to climate change including capitalism, consumerism, mental health and more. Excerpts of these works in progress will be shown, followed by a discussion.

    “Between the commissioned performances from local artists, nearly all of whom are DART graduates, and the focus on Indigenous women’s perspectives and creativity, this is going to be a memorable weekend,” Fricker said.

    “Renowned Indigenous scientist, professor and author Robin Wall Kimmerer recently said ‘People cannot see the world as a gift unless someone shows them how.’ Throughout history, artists have often been beacons to new ways of being,” said Annie Wilson, PAC’s Programming Supervisor. “We’re grateful for this opportunity to continue our collaboration with Brock’s Dramatic Arts Department to share emerging and established artistic works that centralize the climate crisis and imagine new ways forward.”

    All digital events are free and accessible for viewing on the PAC and MIWSFPA Facebook and YouTube pages until Sunday, Feb. 28.

    The full weekend program schedule includes:

    Friday, Feb. 12:
    Walker Cultural Leaders Series commissioned artists – 5 p.m.
    Kristina Ojaperv presenting “Travelling Roots”
    Trevor Copp presenting “Water, water, everywhere”
    Meryl Ochoa and Kaylyn Valdez Scott of Tethered the Ghost presenting “Bakunawa”
    Excerpts will be followed by a discussion chaired by Michelle Mohammed.

    Saturday, Feb. 13:
    Skén:nen – Prequel: On the edge of collapse – 2 p.m.
    A sharing by Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director Santee Smith on the company’s new work in development, Skén:nen.
    Presented by the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre with support from the Ontario Arts Council and Ontario Presents.

    Sunday, Feb. 14:
    Honouring Balance in Times of Crisis and Change: Strength in Indigenous Women’s Perspectives: A discussion panel – 2 p.m.
    Featuring Audra Maloney, Diane Simon and Santee Smith.
    Lyn Trudeau is moderating this panel with the generous support of the Well Earth Collaborative (WEC).

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, In the Media, News, Performance Season, Uncategorised, Visiting Artists

  • Scenes from an Execution: Dramatic Arts in the era of Covid-19! opens Oct.30

    Saturday, October 24, 2020 | By

    scenes from an Execution
    by HOWard Barker

    Scenes from an Execution is a genre-bending feeding frenzy of high impact theatre, art film, and social media. This production features the story of a 16th century punk feminist painter named Galactia. She outsmarts and out-arts all the other hangers-on with her ability to wield a paintbrush and her prowess with a video camera. She stores her lover in a plexiglass box, and, well, everything takes off from there… Taking place in an in-between pandemonium of dozens of separate performance spaces around the region and the world, Scenes From and Execution integrates the live and the recorded, and blood and paint, in festival of good-times-for-all that won’t be easily ignored!
    Directed by David Fancy.

    Live streamed on:
    October 30 at 7:30 PM
    October 31 at 7:30 PM
    November 01 at 2:00 PM
    November 06 at 7:30 PM
    November 07 at 7:30 PM

    Where: created at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines with content from the performance spaces of students and artists in Canada and Mexico, streamed to the MIWSFPA YouTube Channel.

    Reservations to view the Scenes from an Execution performance of your choice can now be made at brocku.universitytickets.com
    There is no charge for reservations, but numbers are limited. Please book your ticket soon.

    Behind the Screen: See this student video showing how we made Scenes from an Execution,

    Program including statements of purpose from the student artists for Scenes from an Execution is available on the website or for download here

    click to open program

    CREATIVE TEAM:

    Director: David Fancy
    Associate Director: Molly Lacey*
    Set/Costume Designer: Kelly Wolf
    Assistant Designer: Wyatt Hoskins*
    Dramaturg: Asenia Hall*
    Choreographer: Trevor Copp
    Dance Captain: Marley Mahon*
    Audio Design: James Dengate*
    Stage Manager: Peter Herbert*
    Asst Stage Manager Alyssa Ruddock*

    CAST:

    Galactia – Holly Hebert*
    Carpeta – Neo Moore*
    Urgentino – Jesse Caines*
    Suffici – Jackson Wagner*
    Rivera – Heidi Nickel*
    Ostensible – Diego Blanco*
    Prodo/Third Sailor – Jarrod Vandenbogaerd*
    Sketchbook/Pastaccio – Celine Zamidar*
    Supporta – Sammie Marett*
    Dementia – Chloe Petrou*
    Sorda/Sailor – Maiya Irwin*
    Official/Gaoler – Isaiah Alton*
    Lasagna/Sailor – Marley Mahon*
    Sailor/Workman/Woman in the next cell – Thea Van Loon*

    PRODUCTION:

    Production Manager: Brian Cumberland
    Technical Director: Gavin Fearon
    Assistant TD: Sid Malcolm*
    Sound Operator: Alex Sykes*
    Head of Wardrobe: Roberta Doylend
    Wardrobe Assistant: Julian Corlett*
    Construction Head: Ed Harris
    SM Supervisor: Carolyn MacKenzie

    ( * DART student)

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, Media Releases, News, Performance Season, Plays, Uncategorised

  • Welcome to Dramatic Arts: Orientation for 2020!

    Monday, September 07, 2020 | By

    (a screen shot from the welcome by Dr. David Fancy. Watch the video below.)

    Brock University is launching the first-ever Virtual Welcome Week.
    During this year of the pandemic the Orientation activities are all online.
    Watch the welcome below and visit the official Orientation page for all the details!

    THE DEPARTMENT OF DRAMATIC ARTS (DART)

    Dr. David Fancy, Professor of Theatre Praxis, is the Chair of the Department:

    “I wish you a warm welcome to this new academic term, one that DART staff, faculty, and instructors have been carefully preparing for over the spring and summer. And now, with all of its adjustments and changes in delivery, this term is upon us.
    Please know that we are here to support you, to encourage you, and, perhaps most importantly: to collaborate with you to create contexts where much creativity, inquiry, and service will take place.
    Can’t wait to see you, virtually, and perhaps eventually otherwise, soon!
    Vive le théâtre!”

    Join Dramatic Arts Faculty on Tuesday, September 8th from 12 noon to 1pm for a drop-in session about Dramatic Arts. Non-Majors are especially welcome. Dramatic Arts Chair, David Fancy and David Vivian, Director of the Marilyn I Walker School and DART Faculty, will talk informally about the Department. David Fancy will answer your questions about how to take courses as a non-Major and should you how to achieve a Minor in Dramatic Arts. Find us on Lifesize. (click here)

    All Major students are invited to JOIN US at the Annual DART Orientation!
    Tuesday, September 15, 6:00 – 7:15 PM

    Online at :  https://brocku-ca.zoom.us/j/83578938305

    Meeting ID: 835 7893 8305
    (also available via telephone and mobile! contact [email protected] for details)

    The DART community is cordially invited to our 2020 online departmental orientation. This invitation is especially extended to DART first year students: We look forward to seeing you at the Orientation so that you can meet faculty, staff, and fellow students, and learn about the many opportunities for engagement – from auditions to performances to clubs – at DART.

    First-year students who visit at least three of the DART Orientation Zoom breakout rooms will be entered into a draw to win a $50 Brock Campus Store gift card!

    Be it online or face-to-face, DART is a vibrant and welcoming community, and we can’t wait to see you on Tuesday, September 15.

    The Department of Dramatic Arts, Music, Visual Arts, and the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture are all part of the Faculty of Humanities.

    The Associate Dean, Dr. Neta Gordon, Professor of English, welcomes you to Brock University! She’s prepared an 11 minute video to introduce to you to the Faculty of Humanities:

    Michael Gicante is your Academic Advisor for studies at the MIWSFPA.
    He prepared this video for the April open House:

    Koreen McCullough is the Experiential Education Coordinator for the Faculty of Humanities.
    Watch her 3 minute presentation about Experiential Education opportunities at Brock University:

    The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts

    Located at 15 Artists’ Common in downtown St. Catharines, the MIWSFPA is home to four academic programs. We are right next door to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre on the main street of St. Catharines, St. Paul.

    Each program at the MIWSFPA is offering a special welcome to their students.  For example, if you are a beginning your studies as a major in Dramatic Arts, check out what that Department has scheduled for you and plan to join in the fun.  You are also welcome to join the activities of each program at the School even if you are only taking one course or beginning a minor program.  The activities and welcome messages from each program are listed below.

    Professor David Vivian, of the Department of Dramatic Arts (he teaches design and production for theatre), is the Director of the School:

    David will be hosting office hours on September 8, 2020, from 12-3:00 pm,on Teams.
    Drop in and say hi! (click here)

    We all wish you a very successful year at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

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  • Our commitment to you

    Saturday, September 05, 2020 | By

    Beginning in June, in part prompted by feedback from students and alumni, as well as in observation of momentum of Black Lives Matter, DART faculty and staff began meeting regularly with Brock’s Office of Human Rights and Equity (HRE).

    With the support of HRE staff, our goal is to examine and identify the department’s contributions to white supremacy and all oppressive structures and practices, whether inside or out of the classroom, in the curriculum, in our productions, in our community engagement, and in our relationships with other offices we collaborate with or who represent us.

    Read about the Department’s commitment to you.

    See also: scholarstrikecanada.ca

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, In the Media, News, Uncategorised

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