News

Engaging Possibilities / Joining The Fires

Saturday, October 17, 2015 | By Nikki Prudden
When:
- Part #1: November 17 – 19, 2015
- Part #2: April 12 – May 10, 2016 12 – 5 pm, May 17, 9 am – 5 pm
Location:
- Part #1: Studio A (MW 251), 15 Artists’ Common
- Part #2: Studio B (MW 247), 15 Artists’ Common
Workshops for Community Members who use Alternative, Augmented Communication (AAC) and Open Studio on May 17.

Presentation of transdisciplinary workshops including the Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) community and DART scenography students.
Workshops will be in the afternoons (exact timing TBA). Workshops open to students and the DART community; possible final public outcome (TBA).

Workshops open to particpants ONLY.

Contact David at dvivian@brocku.ca for more information.
Tags: AAC, Alternative Augmentative Communication, Engaging Possibilities / Joining the Fires, workshop
Categories: Events
DART 4F56 presents: Mnemonic

Thursday, October 15, 2015 | By mbalsom

DART 4F56: Performances by graduating students
by Theatre Complicite

Stories of journeys fragment, reflect, repeat and revolve like the act of memory itself as Mnemonic questions our understanding of time, our capacity to distort history and our attempts to retell the past. In order to rehearse and present the play, the students in DART 4F56 must disassemble the assemblage devised by the original creators, and put it back together twenty years in the future.

Tweets by @dartmnemonic

Showtimes: October 23 and 24, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: the Dramatic Arts Theatre at 15 Artists’ Common

Tickets: $5.00, and are available for purchase through the box office of the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines. Online purchases may be made at www.firstontariopac.ca

MNEMONIC examines globalization and the on-going refugee crises and diasporas of our world today

Mnemonic is a dramatic performance presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts (DART 4F56), held in the Dramatic Arts Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, on October 23 & 24, 2015 at 7 pm.

The script was originally devised by the Théâtre de Complicité, a company celebrated internationally for its insights into the human implications of globalization. The DART 4F56 ensemble re-devises Mnemonic by exhuming the past in order to examine it in the present. A show that was personal and immediate to the Balkan crises of the 1990’s, it demands a personal and cultural reflection into the on-going refugee crises and diasporas of today’s world.

Mnemonic takes us on an odyssey to find a father, and new possible meanings for the word “home.” Stories and characters are intertwined and bound in a quest that takes the audience across Europe and back in time 5000 years to explore the fate of an Ice Man. Mnemonic shows that, like the veins on a leaf, our identity and culture are connected through a web of associations embedded in our memories. What makes us who we are? What triggers our awareness of others and ourselves in the difficult process of relationship?

Guided by professor Gyllian Raby, ensemble members include: Elizabeth Amos, Eliza Anthony, Kelsey Burcher, Mary Askwith, Marie Evers, Alex Franks, Mark Harrigan, Robert Herr, Daryl Hunter, Jeremy Knapton, Katelyn Lander, Kevin Langendyk, Cole Larson, Oriana Marrone, Melinda Mohammed, Josh Sanger, and Raylene Turner.

Such programs from the Department of Dramatic Arts 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. For more information about the Department of Dramatic Arts brocku.ca/dramaticarts The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is located at its new, state-of-the-art teaching, production and performance facility in the heart of the City of St. Catharines, at 15 Artists’ Common.

Mnemonic runs October 23 & 24, at 7 pm, and will be held in the Dramatic Arts Theatre (second floor), at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, in downtown St. Catharines. For more information, visit the Mnemonic Facebook Event Page.

Tickets are just $5 and are available at the door, or through the FirstOntario Box Office at 905.688.0722; long distance toll free: 1.855.515.0722 or online at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre website.

Parking is available in the downtown parking lots shown below:

Tags: DART 4F56, Mnemonic
Categories: Events, 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
City Treaty

Wednesday, September 02, 2015 | By Nikki Prudden

Performance Dates:
Saturday, September 19, 2015, 5 – 9 pm
Sunday, September 20, 2015, 12:30 – 9:30 pm
Location: In and around the DART Theatre and lobby, 15 Artists’ Common, Other Downtown Locations

Click here to reserve your seat for a performance or register for a workshop.

Saturday:
5:00 PM Opening Ceremony
5:30 PM Dance, Drumming & Vendor Fair
6:30 PM Historical Talk with Rick Hill
7:00 PM City Treaty Presentation

Sunday:
12:30 PM Perpetual Peace Project Concert
2:00 PM City Treaty Presentation
3:00 PM Workshops
5:00 PM Closing Ceremony
5:30 PM Celebration at Rise Above,
120 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines

Featuring a stage adaptation of Marvin Francis’ epic poem City Treaty, a historical talk with Rick Hill, workshops, dance demonstrations, music, food and more. The event wishes to honour the land the new theatre is built upon and open its doors to all peoples.

Click here to download the City Treaty Newsletter (PDF)

Visit the City Treaty website for more information

Thanks to our partners and sponsors :
Carousel Players, Native Friendship Centre, Rise Above Vegan Restaurant and Bakery, Brock University: Aboriginal Student Services, BSIG Research program, Department of Dramatic Arts and the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Office of Research Services Student Venture Program, Social Justice Research Institute, Tecumseh Centre for Aboriginal Research and Education.

Jessica Carmichael has gathered a St. Catharines Indigenous Theatre Projects Collective and is adapting the poem for performance with Falen Johnson, Steve Baranyai ,Cole Alvis and Shelley Niro. Jessica is an artistic associate at Native Earth who has just started as the new Artistic Director at Carousel Players in St. Catharines, Falen is a respected Six Nations playwright, Cole is the executive director of the Indigenous Performers’ Alliance, Steve is a musician performer with Perpetual Peace Projects, and Shelley is a respected multi-disciplinary visual artist.

Marvin Francis (N. Alberta’s Heart Lake Nation d. 2005) received the John Hirsch Award for City Treaty in 2002. John K. Sampson described it in the Globe and Mail as: “Everything a great poem should be–nasty, rude, sneaky, cranky, smart, truthful and intelligent”.

Tags: Brock University: Aboriginal Student Services, BSIG Research program, Carousel Players, City Treaty, Cole Alvis, dance, drumming, Falen Johnson, food, history, Indigenous Performers’ Alliance, Indigenous theatre, Jessica Carmichael, Marvin Francis, Music, Native Earth, Native Friendship Centre, Office of Research Services Student Venture Program, peace, Perpetual Peace Projects, poetry, Rick Hill, Rise Above, Rise Above Vegan Restaurant and Bakery, Shelley Niro, Six Nations, Social Justice Research Institute, St. Catharines Indigenous Theatre Projects Collective, Steve Baranyai, Tecumseh Centre for Aboriginal Research and Education, theatre, vendor fair, workshop
Categories: Events
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 dramatic.arts@brocku.ca 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
Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, 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