Alumni

Brock students on the Royal Botanical Garden stage

Monday, August 15, 2016 | By Nikki Prudden

(Source: The Brock News, MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 | by Alison Innes. Photo: “Performers in Midsummer Night’s Dream playing at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton. Back left: John Wamsley, Zach Parsons, Jesse Horvath, Sean McLelland, Caitlin Popek, Nicole James and Dana Morin. Front left: Trevor Copp, Sean Rintoul, Claudia Spadafora, Michael Hannigan and Alma Sarai.”)

A troupe of Brock University students is putting their dramatic arts talents to work this summer.

Tottering Biped Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” – on now at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton – features a number of familiar Brock faces.

The production, held at the newly opened David Braley and Nancy Gordon Rock Garden, has been three years in the making. Director and Brock drama instructor Todd Copp says his goal is to offer local opportunities to recent theatre grads.

“We’ve noticed the difficulty emerging artists have here in getting off the ground and we lose artistic talent to Toronto and further cities every year as a result,” he says on the production’s Facebook page. “In casting this piece, we searched this area’s post secondary theatre programs for the most talented senior students/recent graduates – and offered them paid theatre work. It’s unprecedented in our area.”

The production links young actors with more experienced ones, teaching the next generation of actors that they don’t need to move away to pursue their passion.

A number of recent and current Brock drama students are involved on the stage and behind the scenes including Sean McClelland, Sean Rintoul, Caitlin Popek, Nicole James and Dana Morin.

Nicole James, who is pursuing her BA in dramatic arts with a concentration in production and design, is the production’s stage manager and embraces the challenge of managing a nine-person cast. She works with assistant stage manager and fellow Brock student, Dana Morin.

James credits Carolyn Mackenzie’s stage management course for giving her the skills she needs for the job.

“I have the privilege to work professionally in the theatre,” she says. “It’s so obvious that the instructors at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts Dramatic Arts department actually care and are invested in the education of every single student.”

Copp was an instructor with Brock’s Dramatic Arts program in 2016 and is the artistic director of Burlington’s Tottering Biped Theatre. Founded in 2009, the company is inspired by social justice. They have toured regionally and internationally.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” runs August 10-14 and 17-21 at RBG Rock Garden 1185 York Blvd, Hamilton. Performances start at 7 p.m.; tickets are available at http://tickets.rbg.ca/PEO/default.asp.

Tags: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Alma Sarai, Caitlin Popek, Carolyn Mackenzie, Claudia Spadafora, Dana Morin, Hamilton, Jesse Horvath, John Wamsley, Michael Hannigan, Nicole James, Royal Botanical Gardens, Sean McLelland, Sean Rintoul, Shakespeare, The Brock News, Tottering Biped Theatre, Trevor Copp, Zach Parsons
Categories: Alumni, Current Students, In the Media, News
Brock research team studies the evolution of circus performers

Monday, July 18, 2016 | By Brock University

(Source: The Brock News, Tuesday, July 12, 2016 | by Cathy Majtenyi)

Flying trapeze artists, elephants standing on one foot while balancing a ball, jugglers, sword swallowers, bearded ladies: these are among the images of the traditional travelling circus.

The circus is still going strong today and has gone mainstream. Think Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal-based entertainment company that has become a worldwide phenomenon.

“This positive news for circus companies, artists and audiences with a taste for thrilling entertainment also raises questions about circuses’ historic status as site for the celebration and exploitation of differences, from stagings of exceptional performing bodies to the display of ‘freakery,’” says Assistant Professor of Dramatic Arts Karen Fricker.

Fricker is part of an international team of academics, artists and producers researching the relationship of contemporary circus to the widespread practice in traditional circus of featuring people with unusual physical features, such as Siamese twins, women who grow beards, and in extreme cases, people living with a disease or condition that exaggerates certain body parts.

The team is interested in the ways in which today’s circus artists relate to this “freak show” tradition. Fricker is one of three leaders of the project, called “Circus and its Others,” along with Charles Batson of Union College, in New York and L. Patrick Leroux of Concordia University.

This month, they are co-organizing a conference about this subject as part of the Montreal Complètement Cirque Festival, with the assistance of two Brock graduate students, Hayley Rose Malouin and Taylor Zajdlik.

“There’s a large history of profound racism, sexism and ableism that I don’t think is present in contemporary circus in the same way, mostly because contemporary ideologies are very transformed,” says Malouin. “However, it’s interesting to see how some of those elements of sideshow ‘freakishness’ and how we view those born bodies finds its way into contemporary circus.”

Fricker explains that circuses are, in essence, “variety shows” that feature highly-trained people with extraordinary skills performing daring, risky and spectacular feats.

These acts are very physical; as a result, a lot of attention is focused on performers’ bodies. In traditional circuses, this focus extended to viewing bodies that were born unusual or made different from diseases or other factors beyond someone’s control.

But societies eventually became more aware of the struggles and rights of people living with physical challenges, and also increasingly became more sensitive to animal exploitation. For example, after 145 years of featuring elephants in its circus acts, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey announced that it has plans to retire its elephant herd by 2018.

The creation of Cirque du Soleil was a turning point in circus history. In the early 1980s, a troupe “juggled, danced, breathed fire and played music” for audiences in Baie-Saint-Paul near Quebec City, says the group’s website.

One of the performers, Guy Laliberté, took the show on the road in 1984 to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier’s discovery of Canada.

“The show was a striking, dramatic mix of circus arts (without animals) and street performance that featured wild, outrageous costumes, magical lighting, and original music,” according to the website. Notably, one of the key features that distinguishes Cirque du Soleil from traditional circus is that it does not include animal acts, and rarely puts born difference on display in its shows.

Zajdlik says contemporary circuses such as Soleil largely feature “achieved bodies,” bodies “transformed into these powerful vessels that become circus performers” through intensive physical training.

“Are we gazing upon these spectacular bodies because they represent something that we nostalgically long for in what the freak once gave us?” says Zajdlik. “From aerial feats to contortions, these bodies are doing extraordinary things that you would not normally get to see. In a way, that kind-of represents what the ‘freak’ once represented for circus.”

The researchers note that there are circuses that feature unusual bodies, but in a very different way than in the past.

The keynote speaker at this month’s conference is Jennifer Miller, who founded Circus Amok in New York City and is also a professor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

Miller has had a beard since her early 20s. She is known as the “Bearded Lady,” who uses her performances to “ask people who look at her to think critically about what they understand as normatively female or male, masculine or feminine,” says Fricker.

“She challenges those boundaries,” says Fricker. “We’re in the age of gender fluidity. I think she speaks from, and to that, culture in an interesting way.”

The Circus and its Others conference was held in Montreal July 15 to 17, 2016.

Tags: circus, Hayley Rose Malouin, Karen Fricker, Taylor Zajdlik, The Brock News, The Circus and its Others
Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News
Dramatic Arts alumna feature documentary to be broadcast July 09

Thursday, June 16, 2016 | By Brock University

(Source: The Brock News, Wednesday, June 15, 2016 | by Erica Bajer)

It was the people and their stories that captivated Nicolina Lanni. What they lost. What they found. How they connected.

In her first feature documentary film Lost & Found, the Brock University grad shares the stories of Japanese people who survived a devastating tsunami and the beachcombers half a world away who helped pick up the pieces.

“It’s about people and very personal, human stories,” says Lanni (BA ’05). “It was so clearly such a beautiful story and once it was in front of us, there was no way we were not going to tell it.”

An estimated 25-million tonnes of wreckage from Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami is drifting across the Pacific Ocean, often washing up on North America’s shores. Filming took Lanni and her creative partner John Choi to Alaska, Washington, British Columbia and Japan.

Lanni says the debris is more than just trash, it’s remnants of the lives of the 20,000 people lost to the waves and the loved ones they left behind.

The film follows the stories of beachcombers, scientists and government officials coming together to collect all that was lost, and reunite the items with their rightful owners in Japan.

“We didn’t really focus on the disaster or the aftermath,” Lanni says. “Our film really focuses on the specific stories of friendship and these really unlikely relationships forged in the aftermath.”

One of the friendships the film explores is between Alaskans David and Yumi Baxter and a woman they met in Japan after finding a yellow buoy wash up in Alaska. Sakiko Miura lost everything in the tsunami including the restaurant she ran with her late husband Keigo.

The Baxters reunited Miura with a buoy with the character for Kei (short for Keigo) painted on it, which used to hang outside of her restaurant in a coastal town called Minamisanriku.

“The fact that the Kei buoy came back makes me think that my husband’s soul is in it,” Miura says in the documentary.

The meaning of objects and our connection to them is explored throughout Lost & Found.

The filmmakers made links that will last a lifetime, Choi says.

“The people in our film are all incredibly close to us still. It’s a family,” he says. “Lost & Found is really about taking that leap of faith and the unlikeliness of people coming together from around the world and connecting.”

Lanni says the work she did while making the film is drawn from her experiences at Brock, where she studied theatre and women’s studies.

It was at Brock that she started interviewing people and storytelling as part of a form of verbatim theatre called Collective Creation – when a group comes together, writes, collaborates and performs. She did it in Africa after graduation.

“We would go into a town, talk to people and create a show and perform it for the community,” she says.

After working in journalism for a time, Lanni switched to filmmaking and works as a director and producer in film and broadcast television including programming for The History Channel, Discovery Channel and Shaw Media.

Lost & Found was commissioned by Shaw Communications alongside NHK Enterprises in Japan and SBS in Australia.

Lanni says they also received the Hot Docs Shaw Completion Fund and the film had its theatrical premier at the Hot Docs Bloor Cinema in March for the fifth anniversary of the tsunami.

For more information on the film and where to see it visit www.lostandfoundthefilm.ca. Global is showing the movie July 9 at 9 p.m.

Lanni and Choi, who have a company called Frank Films, are currently working on a documentary about sinkholes.

Tags: alumni, Japanese Tsunami 2011, Lost & Found, Nicolina Lanni, The Brock News
Categories: Alumni, In the Media, News
Dramatic Arts graduating student writes about her experiences at Brock University

Saturday, May 21, 2016 | By Brock University

Hello future DART students (and those still deciding):

My name is Elizabeth and I am a graduating student from the Dramatic Arts program at Brock University. I know you are all facing the important decision of where to go for school next year and wanted to write you all and let you know a bit about why I chose Brock, and the amazing opportunities I’ve had as a result.

After my invitational experience at Brock I knew it was the place for me. I left the invitational convinced that this would be a program in which I would be valued and appreciated for what I had to offer as an individual. I also got the feeling that this would be a program focused on building community rather than competition. I was right; DART is filled with some of the most supportive people I have ever worked with — professors and peers alike.

The ability to get a truly well-rounded theatrical education was one of the most important factors in my decision. Although I was in the performance concentration and therefore had plenty of studio classes and performance opportunities, I benefitted the most from being exposed to all aspects of theatrical production and study. Crew courses gave me an appreciation for those who work backstage, as well as valuable skills that performers may need when starting their own small companies; critical theory and theatre history courses gave me a strong foundation of theatrical knowledge that I continuously draw on; directing and devising courses allowed my to develop who I want to be as an artist; and a theatre criticism course with Prof. Karen Fricker — who is also the Toronto Star’s new theatre critic — allowed me to discover a passion I was able to further as a writer and editor for dartcritcs.com. That passion for theatre criticism began my interests in writing and dramaturgy, interests that I am now pursuing in graduate studies at Harvard University and the American Repertory Theater Institute — indicative, I believe, of the quality of education and scope of opportunities DART offers its students.

If you have a theatre-related interest you want to explore, Brock is the place to do it. In my time here I have acted in numerous MainStage and student-run productions, directed a one act play and assistant directed last year’s Fall MainStage, coordinated five seasons of the GimmeTwo short scene festival, attended classes at the Stratford and Shaw festivals, learned technical skills ranging from designing lighting plots to building sets, been employed by the university as a stage hand and as a theatre critic, and am currently working as a summer intern at the Shaw Festival. (I write a blog for DART students about this experience which you can find at shawandtell.wordpress.com). I believe that this program offers students the support and resources to achieve and experience anything they desire.

DART is a program that allows you to pursue your interests with instructors who not only are some of the best in the business, but who respect and build lasting friendships with their students. This is a program to explore and gain confidence in new interests in a safe and encouraging environment. Even better, that environment is now gorgeous and better equipped than ever thanks to the recent move to the brand new arts building.

I hope that you seriously consider the Dramatic Arts program at Brock. This program made all the difference in allowing me to become a confident and competent artist, and I know that my future is brighter because of the decision I made when I was in your place. Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have about the program, I will be so happy to hear from you and will help in any way I can. Hope to see you on (or behind) the DART stage in the coming years!

Best of luck,

Elizabeth Amos
DART Class of 2016

Tags: alumni, current students, DART grads, Elizabeth Amos, future students, graduating student, student experience, testimonials
Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Future students, News
Brock grad attending prestigious Soulpepper Academy

Wednesday, May 18, 2016 | By Brock University

(Source: The Brock News, Wednesday, May 18, 2016 | by Erica Bajer)

When Marcel Stewart studied drama at Brock University, he learned more than how to portray a character on stage.

He learned to write, direct and produce. He learned confidence in his craft.

“Brock taught me a lot about just being an artist in general,” said the 30-year-old Toronto man. By his third year in the dramatic arts program, Stewart (BA ’07) was completely immersed in all aspects of the theatre.

“I’m most grateful for the understanding that arts is a community,” he said, noting he appreciated the spirit of collaboration and support at Brock.

Stewart was recently accepted as one of 17 artists in the prestigious and competitive Soulpepper Academy, a paid two-year training program for theatre artists. More than 1,100 people applied in the nationwide audition.

Stewart said the six-month audition process was intense but taught him a lot about himself.

“To be selected as a member of the Soulpepper Academy can be a career-changing appointment,” said Professor David Vivian, chair of Brock’s Department of Dramatic Arts. “We teach our theatre artists to excel across a wide spectrum of skills.”

Soulpepper Academy has specialized training streams in acting, playwriting, directing, designing and producing.

Stewart, who for a number of years has been exploring the relationship between Shakespearean language and hip-hop music, is developing a hip-hop adaptation of Macbeth.

He has also been successful on the stage in the Toronto area and said taking a break from his burgeoning acting career is daunting. But to him, it’s worth the risk.

“What I’m looking forward to is better preparing myself to become a man on stage,” he said, noting he’s looking to transition from roles for young men into a broader range. “I’m most excited about challenging myself.”

Vivian said Stewart’s teachers at Brock are proud of his accomplishments since graduating.

“This is a significant achievement for one of our graduates and it couldn’t have happened to a more generous spirit and talented artist,” said Danielle Wilson, Brock lecturer and director of Mainstage Productions in the Department of Dramatic Arts. “As a student, he was extremely motivated to do quality work that pushed the boundaries of his abilities. I have followed his career over the years and am very impressed by the quality of the projects he has been involved in as a young and developing artist.” Stewart starts at Soulpepper Academy in August.

Tags: alumni, Marcel Stewart, Soulpepper Academy, The Brock News
Categories: Alumni, In the Media, News
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts Alumni Homecoming

Tuesday, September 15, 2015 | By Nikki Prudden

Event date: September 18, 2015, 5 pm – 11 pm

***PLEASE SEE THIS NEWS UPDATE ABOUT PARKING ON SEPTEMBER 18TH***

Alumni of the Arts and Culture, Dramatic Arts, Music and Visual Arts programs and our friends and guests from the Niagara Region and GTA are cordially invited to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts Alumni Homecoming and Grand Opening!

Please join us for an evening of captivating artwork, exciting performances and beautiful music. Grab a glass of wine, take yourself on a tour of the incredible new MIWSFPA facility and spend some time reconnecting with classmates, professors and friends from the Departments of Dramatic Arts, Music, and Visual Arts, and our Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture.

Official opening ceremonies begin at 3:00; Open house begins at 5:00 pm; VISA Art Gallery Alumni exhibition opens at 5:00 pm; VISA Alumni Dinner, 6:30 – 8 pm at Gord’s Place, 84 James Street; MUSI programming across the evening in multiple venues at 15 Artists’ Common; Cabaret in the DART Theatre at 7:30 pm.

Affiliated events also include:

Tale of a Town St. Catharines
Addressing the Void

and

Confluence Field Trip #1, a fifteen minute walk from Rodman Hall to MWSFPA along the Merritt Trail and McGuire St.. for more information see: confluencefieldtrips.ca

Hope to see you there!

See the Facebook event by clicking here.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE to reserve a seat at the VISA Alumni dinner!

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE for the DART theatre CABARET!

For more information about the Homecoming Weekend program at Brock University, to register for events and to learn about shuttle bus service to the region be sure to visit
https://brocku.ca/alumni/celebrate-homecoming-2
***Please note this event will take place at our new address at 15 Artists’ Common, also known as the former Canada Haircloth Building, in downtown St. Catharines. ***not at 500 Glenridge Avenue ***

Here is a link to a Google street view from June, when our address was known to be IceDogs Way, and here is a Google map for directions to the facilities.

Please see the Brock University Campus Map here: https://brocku.ca/blogs/campus-map/miwsfpa/

We are adjacent to the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre and the Meridian Centre.

***PLEASE SEE THIS NEWS UPDATE ABOUT PARKING ON SEPTEMBER 18TH***

*****

Hear ye! Hear ye! the excellent program for our event on September 18th!

VISA Painting Studio
location: MW 416
4:00-9:00 pm
Open house Exhibition
and
Musical performances in the VISA Painting Studio by:
Brock Jazz Band
Carly Manley
Danny Lamb Trio
Grace Notes String Ensemble
Brock Beatles Band

VISA Drawing Studio
location: MW 406
4:00 – 9:00 pm
Open house Exhibition
and
Musical performances in the VISA Drawing Studio by:
Sabrina Xin Liu, piano
Leanne Vida, piano/vocal
Andrea Nolan, piano/vocal
Neva Tesolin, piano/vocal
Leland, piano/vocal
Melissa-Marie Shriner, piano/vocal
H. Campbell, piano/vocal

VISA Gallery
First floor at the Main Entrance, 15 Artists’ Common
MW 159
5:00-7:00 pm
Opening Reception for the Alumni exhibition
and
Musical performances in the VISA Gallery by:
Grace Snippe, cello
Brody Smith, guitar
Allison Scholtens, violin
Tyler Merza, guitar

Classical Recital in the MUSI Vocal Studio
location: MW 104
6:00 – 9:00 pm
Christina Lerose, piano
Leanne Vida, soprano
Jorgo Kalo, piano
Victoria Hoshowsky, soprano
Negin Rezaei Asl, piano
Caroline Nicole Corkum, soprano and Alexandre Soulodre, piano
Serena Atallah, piano
Erika Versluis, soprano and Tyler Versluis, piano
Sabrina Xin Liu, piano
Leanne Vida, soprano and Jorgo Kalo, piano

DART Theatre Cabaret!
Location: DART Theatre
MW 262
7:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Hosted by Cass Van Wyck and Rox Chwaluk
Guests are welcome to come and go.
In order of performance:

Arms Up Comedy: Caitlin English, Jacqueline Costa, Eric Frank, Chris Boyle
Attic Window Theatre, In Real Life: Collin Glavac, Colin B. Anthes, Eduardo DiMartino, Nicola Franco, Hayley Rose Malouin
Piano and Vocal: Lee Stewart
Brock Improv Alumni: Richard Varty, Rox Chwaluk, Brandon Pachan, Alana Perri.
Piano and Vocal: Melissa-Marie Shriner and Grace Snippe
One Four One Collective, Stuck in Horse- Send Help! : Evan Mulrooney and Kevin Chew
Piano and Vocal: Neva Tesolin
MOVE! : Alex Kazam, Adrien Hurst, Jerry Prom, Mitchell Peebles, Caleb Fast, Mikey Henley
Music by Alejandro Del Pino
The Labour of Forrest Nympho: A Drag Birthing: Geoffrey Heaney
Piano and Vocal: Andrea Nolan
Empty Box Theatre, Waiting for Alonzo: Hayley Rose Malouin, Victoria Cutler, Sean Rintoul
Piano and Vocal: Holly Campbell
Garden City Improv: Collin Glavac, Ross Mosher, Jamie Roboz, David Bernard, Hayley Malouin, Jonas McLean
Guitar and Vocal: Aaron Berger
Open Mic!
FOX TRAIL: Iain Lidstone, Marcus Schwan, Brent Cairns, Adam Wood, Alannah Garrett
~the end~

Special events not to be missed!:

New Work in Progress: Addressing the Void
by Maggie Hunter and performed by Abby Rollo, Gemma Bordonaro and Jacqui Noel. (DART)
location: Studio D MW 256.
6:00 pm, 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm

Special Installation of Tale of a Town St. Catharines. Listening Booths by FIXT POINT and Suitcase in Point Theatre Company.
Various locations in the MIWSFPA.

Confluence Field Trip #1, a fifteen minute walk from Rodman Hall to the MIWSFPA along the Merritt Trail and McGuire St.
Artist: Elizabeth Chitty. Participants are invited to participate in this self-guided tour of a section of the Twelve Mile Creek valley. For more information see: http://confluencefieldtrips.ca/

Tags: 15 Artists' Common, alumni, Alumni Homecoming, Homecoming, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, News
Class blog takes centre stage with theatre criticism

Friday, July 03, 2015 | By Brock University

(Source: The Brock News, Friday, July 3, 2015 | by Tiffany Mayer. Photo: DARTcritics started as a class blog but has grown to fill the void of local arts criticism.)

They call themselves critics with class.

But more than being clever, the student writers behind the DARTcritics website are providing theatrephiles with thoughtful arts criticism about performances in Niagara and beyond.

That wasn’t always its purpose, however. The two-year-old theatre review website, which was recently relaunched with a new look, started as a forum for Dramatic Arts Prof. Karen Fricker to post standout assignments by students in her theatre criticism class. But it soon became apparent the site served a larger purpose.

DARTcritics picked up where slashed and shrunken newsrooms left off with their arts coverage. Other than a handful of metro and national dailies, few newsrooms boast a dedicated arts and entertainment reporter anymore, leaving a void to be filled.

“What we discovered was that in some instances, the reviews that we published were among the only, if not the only, review response that productions would receive, because there is so little arts criticism in Niagara,” Fricker said. “This was a startling and empowering realization for the students — that they were in dialogue with art and artists in a privileged way.”

Of course, seeing their names in print was nothing short of thrilling, too. Hayley Malouin was hooked the moment she got her first byline for her review of London Road, a musical about an English town coping with the murders of five of its women.

“I thought ‘OK, we’ll see some shows,’” said Malouin, who signed up for Fricker’s class in her third year. “I wrote the first review and got it up on the blog and was ‘This is like crack.’”

Being published was an incentive, but writing reviews for posting was ultimately a way for Malouin to use what she had learned from Fricker about articulating her opinions of a production beyond saying whether or not she like it.

“I hated (London Road) and finding out why I hated it was so fun,” she explained. “It really changed my view of what happens in theatre. There’s this critical side to it – this analytical side to it…. I think you can be analytical and creative and that’s a really special thing.”

Fricker, a former critic with The Guardian in the U.K., capitalized on the opportunity to turn DARTCritics into a bona fide source of arts criticism last April when Malouin and fellow student Nick Leno landed funding from BUSU to cover St. Catharines’ In the Soil Arts Festival.

She also coached the duo to be editors and social media curators. This summer, they’re running the site like a newsroom with two staff writers, fourth-year DART students Elizabeth Amos and Alex Jackson. Together, they cover theatre in Hamilton, Niagara, Toronto and Stratford, thanks to support from the Match of Minds program run by the Office of Research Services and BUSU.

The relaunch of the DARTcritics site coincides with this summer’s move of Dramatic Arts to the new home of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines, Fricker noted.

“It’s such an exciting moment for the arts at Brock and in St. Catharines more broadly, with the new First Ontario Performing Arts Centre opening in the autumn, as well as our own building,” she said. “This seemed the perfect occasion for us to take DARTcritics to a new level with a new look, and more reviews.”

Fricker will resume the editor’s post when classes resume in the fall, but for summer, the site is “Nick and Hayley’s baby.”

“It’s a great experience of entrepreneurialism and leadership for them.”

It has also carved out a potential career path for Malouin. Theatre criticism has become something she would like to pursue further, either as a freelance writer or by developing her own theatre review site.

Still, there has been one downside to being a DARTcritic: it’s tough to shut off and watch a show for pleasure.

“I see theatre and can’t not be critical now,” Malouin said. “People see that as a negative but it’s not. I’m always on now when I see a show. I do wish I could go see a Mirvish show and say ‘That’s great!’”

Visit DARTcritics

Tags: Alex Jackson, arts criticism, DARTcritics, Elizabeth Amos, Hamilton, Hayley Malouin, Karen Fricker, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Niagara, Nick Leno, St. Catharines, Stratford, The Brock News, theatre criticism, Toronto
Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News
Students and Alumni representing Dramatic Arts at Fringe Festivals around Ontario

Friday, June 05, 2015 | By Brock University

NOTE: this article does not refer to the Fringe Festivals of 2015.

Promotional poster for Super

Students and alumni of the Department of Dramatic Arts are engaged in creating, performing and producing new and innovative theatrical productions In three out of the four Fringe Festivals in Ontario. Canada enjoys more Fringe festivals than any other country in the world with 16 individual festivals. Originating with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in 1947, these shows create an opportunity for affordable and accessible theatre where artists and audiences can take risks in an unjuried, uncensored, lottery programmed festival of the performing arts. The festivals are united under the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals.

The London Fringe Festival closed on June 16th and featured two shows developed and performed by DART students and graduates.

Promotional poster for Trailers, Credits, Prologues & Epitaphs

James Lowe (class of 2013) wrote and directed the production Super. A comedic farce on the Superhero genre, Super showcased the trials and tribulations of seven mismatched and dysfunctional Superheroes with unfortunately awful powers. Performing in the show were 8 students/grads of the program, Brent Cairns, Rachelle Lauzon, Kendra Kneaves, Brianne Lidstone, Cassandra Van Wyck, Matt Da Costa, Nicholas Leno, and Emma Strong. All of these performers have been featured in main stage productions at Brock. In a review published in theatreinlondon.ca Erika Faust said “The eight members of the cast work well together as they help each person tell the story of how they discovered their powers. Super is definitely about the journey, not the destination.”

Current DART student Evan Bawtinheimer wrote the edgy piece Trailers, Credits, Prologues & Epitaphs also produced at London Fringe this year. In theis new play a runaway teen, a husband with severe memory loss, and a nurse with a guilty conscience are victims of a movie theatre shooting. Each of them seeks redemption and recognition in this memory play exploring family, honour, and love.

The cast of A Young Lady’s Guide to Vivisection posing with portraits of their historical counterparts

Toronto Fringe, running July 3rd to 14th, has many DART students and graduates among the participating creators and theatre makers.

Empty Box Theatre is producing the new show A Young Lady’s Guide to Vivisection. This “gruesome dramedy” follows the Queen’s University medical class of 1884 as they adjust to the arrival of the first female students, new scientific ideas, and the marvellously mad world of Victorian medicine. Artistic director and DART student Keavy Lynch has cast performers from both the Brock and Queens theatre communities including DART grad Jonathan Philips (class of 2012).

In her review in Toronto Now Magazine, Kathleen Smith wrote “In a series of well written vignettes by director Keavy Lynch and the company, the struggles of women and men wanting to become doctors in mid-nineteenth century Ontario are explored, with both silly and macabre humour.”

Promotional poster for Spoon

Spencer Smith (class of 2011) is presenting his show Spoon in the Toronto Fringe Festival. This play premiered at Brock University as a part of his Honours thesis project. Spencer recently spoke to gathered future students at the May DART Invitational and imparted some words of wisdom about studying theatre.

Mooney on Theatre, a Toronto-based theatre website run by Megan Mooney, reviewed Spoon saying “The mention of a play in this year’s Fringe that explores queer theory through the lives of a gay couple trying to make sense of gender stereotypes caught my interest. Happily, this play more than delivers on its promise.” The full review can be found here.

Christian Baines wrote in The Charlebois Post: “Spoon swings happily from the disturbingly violent to the perversely erotic. But more than just titillating, writer and actor Spencer Charles Smith has created a work that attacks our preconceived notions of gender within the scope of a budding relationship […] It’s great to find a work that’s willing to go there with such vulnerability and intelligence.”

Another DART grad, Trevor Ketcheson (class of 2012) is also performing in the Toronto Fringe in The Retirement Plan, a comedic cautionary tale that examines one family’s priorities and the trade-offs they make in attempts to control their future. Mooney on Theatre also reviewed this production calling it “a charming play” and “while the play was a satire I left thinking about my own plans for the future.” The Retirement Plan was chosen as one of the Patron’s Picks. Selection is based on a combination of cash ticket sales after the first four shows coupled with media reception and overall ‘buzz’ of the production. The chosen shows receive an additional performance slot on the final day of the Festival.

promotional poster for Here playing in the Toronto Fringe Festival

Graduate Evan Mulrooney (class of 2013), general manager of the company Fulcrum Theatre, is producing the show Here. This multimedia dance-theatre piece examines the notions of being stuck and learning when to say goodbye to something you love. Another grad, Erica Charles (class of 2013), performs the role of Ester in the production Here. Erica was recently awarded the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Master’s) for her work “The voice in phenomenology and semiotic theory” as part of her Honours Thesis. Here is also being produced for the Hamilton Fringe Festival running July 18th-28th.

Mooney On Theatre also reviewed the production saying “Here has all the ingredients of a great play. It has the drama, the dance, the romance, the betrayal, the flashbacks and so much more.”

Production poster for Nobody’s Idol

Alexandra Lean (class of 2007) is producing her show, Nobody’s Idol, also in the Toronto Fringe. This is an edgy musical parody where misfits and wannabes dual with their voices for a grand prize of a “lifetime supply of fame” at the world’s most popular televised competition.

In her graduating year Alexandra was awarded the F. Janet Dolman Prize for Playwritting. We asked her about her experience during the six years since graduating from the Department of Dramatic Arts. Alexandra commented “This award, which came out of the experience I gathered at Brock, really gave me the confidence to go out into the world and say I’m a playwright. I found my experience in courses like Directing (DART 3P53) and Advanced Studies in Theatre (DART 4F56) gave me the hands on experience I needed to take on the task of putting on my first professional production. Even though my Fringe show is a musical I have taken all that academic talk about theatricality and such into this experience” Alexandra continued. She also spoke of her experience running the Brock Improv club. “This was my first real leadership role and it has informed my work as both a writer and producer.”

Also playing in the Hamilton Fringe Festival (July 18th-28th) is Nocturne, where you will see Michael Pearson (BA 2011, BEd 2012) as a young aspiring (albeit incompetent) magician thrown into the depths of the second world war. See their Facebook page here.

The Department of Dramatic Arts is proud to have such talented, creative students and alumni in some of the largest Fringe Festivals in North America. Break a leg!

Tags: A Young Lady's Guide to Vivisection, Alexandra Lean, alumni, Brent Cairns, Brianne Lidstone, Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals, Cassandra Van Wyck, current students, Emma Strong, Empty Box Theatre, Erica Charles, Evan Bawtinheimer, Evan Mulrooney, Fringe Festival, Fulcrum Theatre, Hamilton Fringe Festival, Here, James Lowe, Jonathan Philips, Keavy Lynch, Kendra Kneaves, London Fringe Festival, Matt Da Costa, Michael Pearson, Nicholas Leno, Nobody's Idol, Nocturne, Rachelle Lauzon, Spencer Charles Smith, Spoon, Super, The Retirement Plan, Toronto Fringe Festival, Trailers Credits Prologues & Epitaphs, Trevor Ketcheson
Categories: Alumni, Current Students, News
COMMOTION wins Gold and Silver!

Monday, April 06, 2015 | By Brock University

Professor Gyllian Raby of Dramatic Arts (DART) and DART Alumna Caitlin English were recently honoured by the news that their film COMMOTION was awarded a Gold medal in the education category and a Silver medal in the research category by Prestige Film Awards, an international juried competition that connects filmmakers with distributors.

Commotion is a tri-generational program that trains emerging Brock Graduates to create theatre and work with high school students in the surrounding community. The program is run by Gyllian Raby, a Brock professor and Pablo Felices Luna, the past artistic director for Carousel Players youth theatre in St Catharines.

In reaching out to the local youth, this program is a vital resource to identifying and teaching the relationship between the creative process and group dynamics for Brock’s emerging artists.

For more information about the project see this news item from November 2011. See also Prestige Film Awards.

The COMMOTION project was made possible by SSHRC: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Department of Dramatic Arts of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University, Carousel Players, TALK Niagara and with support from the District School Board of Niagara.

Congratulations Gyllian and Caitlin!

Tags: Caitlin English, Carousel Players, Commotion, District School Board of Niagara, Gyllian Raby, Pablo Felices Luna, Prestige Film Awards, TALK Niagara
Categories: Alumni, Faculty & Instructors, News
Story, Drama, & Video in Personal and Social Contexts – A Research Celebration!

Monday, March 16, 2015 | By Brock University

Mary Code (left), graduate of the Department of Dramatic Arts, is pursuing her MEd at the Faculty of Education at Brock University. Gillian Fournier OCT (right) also a graduate of the Department of Dramatic Arts, MEd from the Faculty of Education at Brock University, is currently teaching at Ridley College in St. Catharines, ON.

On February 28^th, 2015 approximately 30 people participated in the Drama in Education and Applied Theatre symposium “Story, Drama, & Video in Personal and Social Contexts” at Rodman Hall of Brock University. The symposium included presentations by former and present graduate students, faculty members, instructors, and a performance by current Drama in Education /Applied Theatre (DIE/AT) students of the Department of Dramatic Arts.

Professors Yasmine Kandil and Joe Norris, assisted by Kat Gottli (BA Dramatic Arts, MEd Teaching, Learning and Development) organized the event to “create a space for dialogue between students, faculty, instructors, and community members about how we conduct our research and the challenges and rewards of using story, drama, or video to mobilize our work with different target groups.” The symposium was an opportunity for instructors and students of the Department of Dramatic Arts to share their research and participate in dialogue about the theories and practices of students, colleagues, and mentors in this ever-growing field.

The day began with a performance by third year DIE/AT students about youth at risk in the alternative education programs and was followed by a rich talkback about the themes explored in the piece.
(A Better Tomorrow. Jenna Klomp, Victoria Van Sickle, Spencer Walker, Michelle Lemme, Melissa Butera, Maddy DeLuca.)

In the field of Drama in Education there were presentations that explored the use of drama to engage and better understand cyberbullying (Exploring Cyberbullying Through Drama for Social Intervention. Gillian Fournier, OCT, MEd), identity formation in relation to social media (Do they “like” me? An exploration of the 21^st century student’s new socialization experience and its implication for pedagogical practice. Mary Code, MEd student, Faculty of Education), body image and self-loathing amongst school children (I’m perfect/Imperfect: Dramatic Explorations of body image with elementary and post-secondary students. Dr. Kari-Lynn Winters, Faculty of Education), Romeo and Juliet as Educational Theatre through Facebook (Facebook Romeo and Juliet as Educational Theatre: An Improbable Fiction? Helen Zdriluk, MEd, Department of Dramatic Arts), and the important roles that artists can play within the classroom environment and curriculum delivery (Playlinks: Investigating an Artist-in-the-Classroom Approach to Enhanced Student Learning. Dr. Debra McLauchlan, Faculty of Education).

Applied Theatre presentations included topics such as the pitfalls of charity work in the field of international development and the importance of creating change that is sustainable (Keep your coins: We want change. Rox Chwalulk, OCT, MEd), as well as an examination of the ethical considerations in the use of personal stories for raising awareness and celebrating experiences of immigration and settling (Personal Stories in Applied Theatre: Redefining the Blurred Lines. Dr. Yasmine Kandil, Department of Dramatic Arts).

On the topic of Research Dissemination one presentation explored the use of web-based videos to share and mobilize research initiatives (Disseminating Performative Research Through Web-based Videos. Dr. Joe Norris, Department of Dramatic Arts). From the area of Social Justice and Equity Studies a presentation examined anti-oppressive literature in elementary school classrooms (“They’re trying to trick us!” Making sense of anti-oppressive children’s literature in the elementary school classroom. Kate Paterson, MA student, Social Justice and Equity Studies).

Professor Kandil came from Victoria, British Columbia to join the Department of Dramatic Arts in 2014. Her research investigates the effective methods of Theatre for Development practice by understanding the conditions that provide autonomy and empowerment for marginalized communities. Her dissertation (University of Victoria) showcases two long-term projects: one carried out with a community of garbage pickers living in the slums of Cairo, and the other with immigrant and refugee youth in Victoria, B.C. Professor Kandil’s current research investigates the relationship between not-for-profit organizations’ arts-based projects and participant autonomy and privacy in projects that depict participants’ real-life experiences. The outcome will be to produce a guidebook, for use of organizations and artists, which would outline the parameters and ethical considerations when working with people’s real-life stories in community-based theatre projects.

Please see the following links for more information and to contact Professor Kandil.

Tags: Applied Theatre, drama in education, Gillian Fournier, Joe Norris, Kat Gottli, Mary Code, Rodman Hall, Rox Chwaluk, Yasmine Kandil
Categories: Alumni, Current Students, News