News

• Become a STAGE NINJA – register for this Spring’s 2F04 Physical theatre intensive!

  Thursday, March 03, 2016 | By Brock University

  Become a STAGE NINJA – register for this Spring’s 2F04 Physical theatre intensive!

  Robin Patterson (Theatre Beyond Words) and Trevor Copp (Tottering Biped Theatre) are teaming up to offer an intensive on Physical Theatre. It’s 3 weeks in May 2-20th, Mon – Fri all day – for a full credit. The course will immerse you Physical Theatre techniques to prepare you for the next level in your stagecraft.

  for more information see:
  https://brocku.ca/springs…/courses/intro-to-physical-theatre/

  To receive permission to register please contact [email protected]

  Registration begins Monday, March 07, 2016!

  for more information contact:  [email protected]

  Tags: course opportunity, DART 2F04, physical theatre, spring session
  Categories: Current Students, Future students, News

• Register for this Spring’s DART 1F01 Acting for Non-Majors: It doesn’t get more intensive than this!

  Wednesday, March 02, 2016 | By Brock University

  Beginning May 02, DART will be offering an intensive introduction to the basics of performance for Stage And Screen.

  The content of DART 1F01 is designed specifically to be challenging but achievable for non-majors or for people working in a variety of professions. Class time is spent doing rigorous but enjoyable studio exercises that help participants develop their acting, creative, presentational, and interpersonal skills. Evaluation for the course involves daily short written assignments, in-studio evaluations of progress,  and collaborative presentations. There is no final exam for this course.

  The course takes place at the beautiful downtown campus of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

   

  for more information see:
  https://brocku.ca/springsummer/courses/acting-for-non-majors/

  Registration begins Monday, March 07! For more information contact:  [email protected]

  Tags: course opportunity, DART 1F01, downtown, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Performance for Stage And Screen, spring session
  Categories: Current Students, Future students, News

• The Department of Dramatic Arts presents: Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)

  Wednesday, January 27, 2016 | By mbalsom

  

  WRITTEN BY: Ann-Marie Macdonald
  DIRECTED BY: Danielle Wilson
  ASSISTED BY: Mark Harrigan
  SET DESIGN BY: Nigel Scott
  COSTUMES BY: Kelly Wolf
  SOUND DESIGN BY: Gavin Fearon
  LIGHTING DESIGN BY: Yasmine Kandil
  FIGHT DIRECTION BY: Jamie Treschak

  Show dates/times: Feb. 26 & 27 and March 4 & 5 at 7:30 p.m.
  Matinee performances: Feb. 28 at 2:00 p.m. & March 4 at 11:30 a.m.

  Performed in the Dramatic Arts Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines.

  purchase tickets here

  What would happen if Desdemona and Juliet didn’t die? Constance Ledbelly, an overlooked academic, is transported into Shakespeare’s Othello and Romeo and Juliet, becomes entangled in the plays, meets these iconic women and changes the plots entirely.

  Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) showcases the talents of students in the Department of Dramatic Arts undergraduate program, including the performers: Raylene Turner; Katelyn Lander; Elizabeth Amos; Alexandra Li Tomulescu; Michael Fusillo; Robert Herr; Josh Sanger; and Jeremy Knapton. See the media release below for a complete list of artists and collaborators.

  Check out A Shakespearean whirlwind: Behind the Scenes with Goodnight Desdemona @BrockuDART and see dartcritics.com to follow development of this production.

  Teachers and faculty should read this letter about group bookings and discounts.

  A Study Guide is available for review, prepared by Assistant Director Mark Harrigan: download to print a copy (PDF)

  See the media release below or via this downloadable PDF for more details about the production and to schedule your participation in the media day:

  ---

  Media Release:

  Ann-Marie MacDonald’s award-winning Canadian classic, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), on stage at the Dramatic Arts Theatre in downtown St. Catharines

  The Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) is proud to present Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), a clever, lively comedic tale of self-discovery, to be held in the Dramatic Arts Theatre at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, from February 26 – March 5, 2016.

  Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) was first performed in Toronto in 1988, and went on to be performed nationally and internationally. It has become one of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s most popular plays. Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Drama, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is a feminist re-envisioning of Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Set at Queen’s University in Kingston, overlooked and under-appreciated academic Constance Ledbelly has spent the last ten years ghost writing for a professor while trying to prove her theory that Othello and Romeo and Juliet were originally comedies written by an unknown author that Shakespeare plundered and made into tragedies. When she deciphers the ancient ‘Gustav Manuscript,’ Constance is propelled smack dab into the tragic turning points of each play, saving both Desdemona and Juliet from their tragic fates. The result is a topsy-turvy ride through the recesses of her own mind as Constance learns to appreciate her own self-worth, find confidence and discover who she really is.

  Heading up the creative team is Director Danielle Wilson who is also an actor and voice coach. In 2006, she moved to St. Catharines to take up her current position at Brock University where she teaches voice and performance. She is also active in the local theatre scene as a vocal coach and director, and is the co-artistic director of Stolen Theatre Collective. This is Professor Wilson’s fourth mainstage direction for Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts and her first production for the new DART theatre opened in September 2015.

  Assistant Director Mark Harrigan is a fourth year BA (Honours) Dramatic Arts student. Lighting design is by Professor Yasmine Kandil with sound design by Gavin Fearon (assisted by student Kelsey Burcher). DART is delighted to engage guest artists to complete their creative team: set design by Nigel Scott (assisted by student Charlotte Nazari), costume design by Kelly Wolf, and fight direction by Jamie Treschak. Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) showcases the talents of students in the Department of Dramatic Arts undergraduate program, including the performers: Raylene Turner; Katelyn Lander; Elizabeth Amos; Alexandra Li Tomulescu; Michael Fusillo; Robert Herr; Josh Sanger; and Jeremy Knapton. The student Stage Manager is Oriana Marrone, assisted by Kaitlyn Seguin and Elena Milenkowski. Second year students in Stagecraft build and operate the show under the direction of the Production Manager Brian Cumberland, Technical Director Gavin Fearon (assisted by student Jennifer Dewan) and Head of Wardrobe Roberta Doylend assisted by students Dana Morin (Properties Co-ordinator) and Paige Patterson (Wardrobe Assistant).

  Danielle Wilson states, “I wanted to do a play with strong female characters, which is surprisingly difficult to find in 2016. Ann-Marie MacDonald brilliantly revises Shakespeare’s Juliet and Desdemona by exploring the role of gender in romantic alliances and questioning their boundaries.”

  Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) runs February 26 and 27 at 7:30 pm; February 28 at 2 pm; March 4 at 11:30 am and 7:30 pm; and March 5 at 7:30 pm, and will be held in the Dramatic Arts Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines. Tickets are $18 Adults; $15 Students/Seniors; $12 Groups (10+); $5 eyeGo high school program, and are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office at 905.688.0722, online: firstontariopac.ca; or e-mail: [email protected]

  Such programs from the Department of Dramatic Arts (https://brocku.ca/miwsfpa/dramaticarts) are an integral part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ mandate in building connections between the community and the breadth of talent and creativity at Brock University.

  Limited paid parking is available on-site, however, there are more than 1,000 spots available in nearby parking garages, surface lots and on city streets within a five-minute walk to our address at 15 Artists’ Common. Visit stcatharines.ca/en/livein/ParkingLotsGarages.asp for a list of parking locations.

  Media Day: Thursday, February 18 at 5 pm, held at the Dramatic Arts Theatre, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON.

  For interviews please contact:

  Marie Balsom, Communications Coordinator, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
  T: 905-688-5550, ext. 4765 | E: [email protected] | W: brocku.ca/miwsfpa

  ---

  Video Teaser:

   

  Tags: Ann-Marie MacDonald, Canadian Theatre, Danielle Wilson, Goodnight Desdemona Good Morning Juliet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare
  Categories: Events, Media Releases, News, Plays

• The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

  Monday, November 09, 2015 | By mbalsom

  

  WRITTEN BY: Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill
  DIRECTED BY: Virginia Reh
  SCENOGRAPHY BY: David Vivian

  Show dates/times: Nov. 13, 14, 20 & 21 at 7:30 p.m.
  Matinee performances: Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., & Friday, Nov. 20 at 11:30 a.m.

  Performed in the Dramatic Arts Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines.

  Purchase tickets here

  Come to Mahagonny where all your dreams and nightmares come true. The Widow Begbick welcomes you to her fantasyland for grown-ups. Every day’s party day in Mahagonny. Music! Dance! Drama! Why would you ever want to leave?

  Tickets are $18 Adults; $15 Students/Seniors; $12 Groups (10+);  $5 eyeGo high school program, and are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office Centre
  at or online at [email protected]

  ---

  Brock University
  MEDIA RELEASE

  October 29, 2015
  Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
  905.688.5550, x4765

  The curtain rises on the first mainstage presentation of the inaugural season for the new Dramatic Arts Theatre: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

  Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts presents their rendition of German playwright Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill’s renowned opera/musical, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, to be held in the Dramatic Arts Theatre at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, from Nov. 13 – 21, 2015.

  The title refers to the colour ‘mahogany’, Brecht’s reference to the German ‘Brown Shirts.’ This production is set in 1957 on the Gulf Coast, close to Pensacola. In parallels to the original productions, America is recovering from the McCarthy era, and the coast is threatened by an impending hurricane – in our case, Audrey.

  An opera of Epic Theatre, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny follows the lives of its denizens as they are consumed by the power of money, which wins out against all other forces that motivate us: friendship, family, morality, philosophy.

  “In the whole human race, there is no greater criminal than a man without money.” ~Brecht/Weill, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

  Directed by Guest Artist Virginia Reh and designed by Associate Professor David Vivian, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny showcases the talents of students in the Department of Dramatic Arts undergraduate program, including the performers: Keri Bishop, Helena Ciuciura, Nikka Collison, Caroline Coon, Ben Fallis, Andrew Godin, Rob Grady, Lena Hall, Mark Harrigan, Shanza Hashmi, Cole Larson, Adrian Marchesano, Sean McClelland, Jonah McGrath, Elizabeth Pereira, Julia Scaringi, Demetri Tsioros, and with special guest alumni David MacKenzie and Steve Reistetter.

  Virginia Reh states, “The original productions were in the early 1930s and very much in Brecht’s style of theatre for the people. In recent years, Mahagonny has become popular with large opera companies. Our production aims to dial the piece back to something Brecht might actually recognize.”

  The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny will run Nov. 13, 14, 20 & 21 at 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.; and Nov. 20 at 11:30 a.m., and will be held in the Dramatic Arts Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines. Tickets are $18 Adults; $15 Students/Seniors; $12 Groups (10+); $5 eyeGo high school program, and are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office at 905.688.0722, online at http://firstontariopac.ca or via email: [email protected]

  Such programs from the Department of Dramatic Arts (https://brocku.ca/miwsfpa/dramaticarts) are an integral part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ mandate in building connections between the community and the breadth of talent and creativity at Brock University.

  Parking is not available on-site, however, there are more than 1,000 spots available in nearby parking garages, surface lots and on city streets within a five-minute walk to our address at 15 Artists’ Common. Visit this website for a list of parking locations.

  This production contains strong language and sexual content.

  Media Day: Tuesday, November 10 at 5 p.m., held at the Dramatic Arts Theatre, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON.

  For more information or to set up interviews contact:
  Marie Balsom, Communications
  Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
  T: 905.688.5550 x4765
  C: 905.964.7646
  E: [email protected]
  W: brocku.ca/miwsfpa/dramaticarts

  ---

  Media & Downloads:

  View the TVCogeco feature on The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny below:

   

  Download a copy of the poster and the promotional card by clicking on the images below:

  Poster:
  

  Promo Card:
  

  Tags: Bertolt Brecht, Brecht, Kurt Weill, Mahagonny, Mainstage, musical, opera, plays, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Weill
  Categories: Events, Media Releases, News, Plays

• 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

• Exhibition: DART@PQ2015

  Sunday, August 30, 2015 | By Nikki Prudden

  September 2015 – April 2016

  Opening: Alumni Homecoming and Grand Opening,
  September 18, 2015
  Location: DART Theatre Lobby, 2nd Level, 15 Artists’ Common

  Exhibit of DART’s participation in the Canadian PQ2015 (Prague Quadrennial) exhibit Elevations, including parts of national collective project Totem. Theme: MUSIC. WEATHER. POLITICS. Also including: Fault Lines: digital exhibit of Brock students’ work. 

   

  Tags: Art is in the City, DART@PQ, DART@PQ 2015, exhibition, Imagining the City, PQ, Prague Quadrennial, Prague Quadrennial 2015, production and design
  Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors

• Looking for a Humanities Context Credit? DART 1F95

  Tuesday, July 28, 2015 | By Brock University

  Drama in Education & Applied Theatre I
  Releasing your Creative Side

  Through collective creation and collaboration with classmates students learn how drama can be used for social change, team building, and as a learning tool. Students can experience the meaning of social commitment through dramatic creations that provoke, inform, celebrate, and respond to local and global events.

  DART 1F95
  9:00-­‐10:00 (Seminar)
  +
  10:00-­‐1:00 (Studio/Lab)
  (W or R)
  (See calendar for details)

  contact [email protected] for more information

  Tags: Applied Theatre, DART 1F95, drama in education, humanities credit
  Categories: Announcements, Current Students, 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

• Dramatic Arts welcomes the new Foster Festival to St. Catharines

  Tuesday, June 16, 2015 | By Brock University

  The Department of Dramatic Arts is excited to be part of the new Foster Festival and their inaugural 2016 season at the new FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario.  Celebrated Canadian playwright Norm Foster recently joined festival executive director Emily Oriold and artistic director Patricia Vanstone (see photo, at left) for the launch of the festival – which is the first in Canada to celebrate the work of a living playwright.

  Mike Zettel recently wrote about the festival launch in Niagara This Week:

  Vanstone said one of the first partnerships they formed was with Brock’s dramatic arts department, which will be housed in the Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts right behind the performing arts centre. The Foster Festival will have access to a state-of-the-art production facility and will offer summer employment and educational opportunities to the department’s brightest and best current and graduating students, giving them their first crucial work experience in a professional environment.

  “It’s a tremendous partnership,” Vanstone said, adding it’s an example of welcoming atmosphere across the city and the willingness of groups to band together for a common cause. “This is a community that understands a great work ethic and the ability to pull together.”

  Professors Gyllian Raby and David Vivian (Chair) were present for the launch along with Alesia Dane (Coop Programs) and Jana Boniferro (Development and Communications Officer for the Faculty of Humanities) from Brock University and Sara Palmieri and Steve Solski of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, among others.  To read about the launch see the articles in Niagara This Week and the St. Catharines Standard and visit the Festival website.

  Tags: David Vivian, Emily Oriold, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Foster Festival, Gyllian Raby, Mike Zettel, Niagara This Week, Norm Foster, Patricia Vanstone
  Categories: Announcements, News

• DART, MUSI and MARS present in Toronto at PLS (Poculi Ludique Societas) Festival of Medieval Theatre

  Wednesday, June 10, 2015 | By Brock University

  COLLEAGUES, STUDENTS, FRIENDS & FAMILY, If you were in Toronto in early June you were fortunate to see a performance of:

  Visitatio Sepulchri
  (the Visit to the Sepulchre)

  A 12th-CENTURY EASTER MUSIC DRAMA
  acting version transcribed and translated
  by W. L. Smoldon from the ‘Fleury Playbook’

  A collaboration between:
  Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
  Department of Dramatic Arts, Department of Music

  Part of the PLS (Poculi Ludique Societas) Festival of Medieval Theatre.

  When: Saturday, June 6, 7 p.m.
  Sunday, June 7, 2:30 p.m.
  Where: Trinity College Chapel University of Toronto,  6 Hoskin Avenue

  Music Director: Dr. Brian Power, Department of Music
  Stage Director: Professor Virginia Reh, Department of Dramatic Arts

  

  The company of Visitatio Sepulchri in the Trinity College Chapel. Photograph by Mrs. Chin Tso.

  Tags: Easter, musical theatre, PLS Festival of Musical Theatre, Poculi Ludique Societas, Toronto, Trinity College Chapel, University of Toronto, Virginia Reh, Visitatio Sepulchri
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