Articles tagged with: Danielle Wilson

  • Brock Dramatic Arts alumni nominated for St. Catharines Arts Awards

    Tuesday, April 18, 2017 | By

    The Department of Dramatic Arts is proud to announce that several DART graduates and one of our DART professors have been nominated for the Emerging Artist award at this year’s St. Catharines Arts Awards!

    More information can be found at this news entry on the main MIWSFPA website. Congratulations, and good luck!

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

  • The Ash Mouth Man leaves audience with a bitter reality in comedic form

    Tuesday, September 20, 2016 | By

    Stolen Theatre Collective’s Ash Mouth Man – stolentheatrecollective.ca

    (Source: The Brock Press, Tuesday, September 20, 2016 | by Kat Powell)

    The Ash Mouth Man, a brand new original play written by Brock Dramatic Arts (DART) faculty and Stolen Theatre Collective’s (STC) Gillian Raby and Danielle Wilson, opened Thursday September 15 at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in partnership with the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. Prior to any acting, those attending are participants in the experience of the show; the Ash Mouth Man brings audiences into an interactive and “up close and personal” space; audience members are asked to contribute names, landmarks, and interact with objects from the start. The show, inspired by the short story Dead Sea Fruits by Australian author Kaaron Warren, takes audiences back to the 1950s where we find Lorna (played by Danielle Wilson), a progressive female dentist who works almost exclusively on Pretty Girl Street ‘where the girls don’t eat’.

    Throughout the show, we see Lorna undergo somewhat of a transformation. Her equal-parts blissful and frustrating marriage to Harry (played by STC co-founder and co-artistic director Fede Holten) acts as somewhat of a catalyst to her vulnerability. We observe as Lorna struggles with self-doubt, trust and her worth. We watch as Lorna changes from someone who takes pity on the ‘Pretty Girls’ (played by Colin B. Anthes and Sean Aileen McLelland) whose teeth are falling out from malnourishment and have delusional dreams of a mythical (or so we think) figure called the Ash Mouth Man, to one who puts herself on the same level as them.

    One can definitely appreciate the production’s set design and interactive and captivating style, and applaud the fairly seamless application of the dark comedic style to somewhat of a heavy underlying topic. This show without a doubt leaves audiences with something to think about. Nearing the end of the show, audiences are left with a ‘story’ to bring home to their families and their friends. The Ash Mouth Man is not just a show, but a conversation starter.

    The Ash Mouth Man is currently playing at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts until September 25. Tickets are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office online, in person, or by phone at (905) 688-0722.

     

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    Categories: Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News

  • Stolen Theatre back on the scene

    Thursday, September 15, 2016 | By

    (Source: Niagara Falls Review, Wednesday, September 14, 2016 | by John Law. Photo caption: Danielle Wilson co-wrote and stars in Stolen Theatre Collective’s The Ash Mouth Man, opening Sept. 15. PHOTO: John Law /Postmedia network)

    It took four years for Niagara’s Stolen Theatre Collective to return to the scene last year. Co-founder Danielle Wilson wasn’t going to let another four years slip by before doing another show.

    The small, immersive company is back Sept. 15 with a brand new play written by Wilson and director Gyllian Raby, the “film noir comedy” The Ash Mouth Man. Nine shows are scheduled for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts, and as always, things will get intimate. At just 48 seats per performance, it’ll feel like an up close and personal play.

    It’s a style Wilson loves – the company’s previous show, Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter, was limited to just 28 seats.

    “We really enjoy playing with the atmosphere of a piece, and giving the audience a different experience,” she says. “It’s hard to disengage when you’re that (close). It gives you a much more visceral experience when you’re that close.”

    Wilson, a teacher with Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts, and husband Fede Holten – a playwright and Niagara winemaker – formed Stolen Theatre Collective in 2007 as a way to do original and unique material in different ways. They managed three shows in four years before tight schedules forced the four-year layoff.

    “We were super happy to be back,” says Wilson. “We had great attendance for the show (and) got a lot of good press. A lot of people didn’t know who we were, and I felt we put (ourselves) back in people’s minds.
    “We’re all so busy, we all have other jobs and things to do.”

    The Ash Mouth Man is a blending of two short stories Wilson and Raby wrote separately. Once combined, it formed an odd, comical tale about a female dentist named Lorna in the ’50s – Canada’s 31st female dentist, to be precise – who works in a ward for people with disorders. The patients share an urban legend about a figure named the ‘Ash Mouth Man,’ whose kiss will make everything taste like ashes afterwards.

    “It took us awhile to figure out, what is the genre? We’re dabbling in aspects of film noir but there’s also a lightness to it.”

    The show stars Walker, Holten, Colin Bruce Anthes and Sean McClelland.

    Opening a regular show is hard enough – for Wilson, staging and starring in her own play is next level stress.

    “It definitely feels like a bigger risk,” she says. “We’re putting our own work out there that nobody’s seen before, and we don’t know how it’s going to be received.”

    jlaw@postmedia.com

    • WHAT: The Ash Mouth Man
    • WHO: Stolen Theatre Collective
    • WHERE: Marilyn I. Walker Theatre; 15 Artists’ Common; St. Catharines
    • WHEN: Sept. 15 to 25
    • TICKETS: $20; student/seniors/arts worker $15  www.firstontariopac.ca

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    Categories: Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News

  • Stolen Theatre Collective and Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts present The Ash Mouth Man

    Saturday, August 20, 2016 | By

    16r10_the_ash_mouth_manFor those who enjoy comedy with a dark undertow, plan to join us for the world premiere of The Ash Mouth Man, an original theatre work to be held in the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre at 15 Artists’ Common.

    Meet Lorna, who in the ‘50’s, is the 31st lady dentist in Canada. A bit of a social misfit, Lorna works on Pretty Girl Street, treating people with all kinds of disorders. Gradually, she discovers the dark forces lurking beneath the too perfect fantasy of her life – where even the Royal Mail Canada Man might carry a threat. She survives a sex scandal, discovers unusual and groundbreaking therapies, and with some help from her friends in the audience, confronts the timeless mythic figure of the Ash Mouth Man…Betty Crocker’s smile has never been so frightening.

    Inspired by Australian short story writer Kaaron Warren, director Gyllian Raby, and actor Danielle Wilson created the script, with the assistance of Wilson’s and Federico Holten-Andersen’s Stolen Theatre Collective company. The acting ensemble, led by Wilson, features Federico Holten-Andersen, Colin Bruce Anthes and Sean McClelland. Original music is by Max Holten-Andersen, set and lighting design is by Nigel Scott, costume design is by Genevieve Habib and stage management is by Dramatic Arts student Kaitlyn Séguin.

    The Marilyn I. Walker Theatre will be transformed into an intimate theatre space, which allows seating for 48 people per performance, running approximately 70 minutes in length.

    Danielle Wilson and Gyllian Raby are grateful for the community support for Stolen Theatre Collective’s endeavor. The City of St. Catharines Cultural Investment, the Walker Cultural Leader Foundation, The Match of Minds program and the Humanities Research Institute match the investment of the company members in creating original work out of our city. Wilson states, “Gyllian and I are very excited to be collaborating on an original Canadian piece after our production of Twelfth Night which we co-directed in 2013.”

    Presented by Stolen Theatre Collective and Brock University Department of Dramatic Arts
    September 15-18 & 23-25, 2016
    Evening shows (Thurs., Fri. and Sat.) at 8 p.m. (no Thurs., Sept. 22nd show); Sat. & Sun. matinees at 2 p.m.
    Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines
    Limited seating, only 48 seats available per performance with a total of nine performances
    Tickets: $20† adult/senior; $15† student/art worker; $5 eyeGo program
    †Applicable fees and taxes are extra.
    Order tickets from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office: 905.688.0722 or Toll Free: 1.855.515.0722; online: firstontariopac.ca

    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 www.stcatharines.ca/en/livein/ParkingLotsGarages.asp for a list of parking locations.

    For interviews please contact: 
Marie Balsom, Communications Coordinator, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
 T: 905-688-5550, ext. 4765 | E: mbalsom@brocku.ca  | W: www.brocku.ca/miwsfpa

    For all other inquiries, please contact: Danielle Wilson 

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    Categories: Events, Media Releases, News, Plays

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

    Wednesday, January 27, 2016 | By

    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: boxoffice@firstontariopac.ca

    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: mbalsom@brocku.ca | W: brocku.ca/miwsfpa

    Video Teaser:

     

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    Categories: Events, Media Releases, News, Plays

  • Lion in the Streets

    Thursday, January 12, 2012 | By

    Written by Judith Thompson

    Directed by Danielle Wilson
    Designed by David Vivian

    Lion in the Streets is a beautiful nightmare.
    – Danielle Wilson, director

    February 16, 2012 – 7:30 pm
    February 17, 2012 – matinee 11:30 am AND 7:30 pm
    February 18, 2012 – 7:30 pm

    Adult $15 : Students/Seniors $12 : eyeGO $5 : Group Rates $10
    Buy tickets at arts.brocku.ca

    All DART Students receive ONE free ticket.

    Lion in the Streets is a play in which the obsessions of the characters erupt forth in heightened, surreal and imagistic language. The young protagonist, a Portuguese immigrant to Toronto named Isobel, is a ghost in a purgatorial condition. She deftly moves in and out of critical, extreme moments in each of the characters lives while searching for the man who killed her seventeen years prior. Twentieth century music underscores the critical moments in these characters’ lives animated with contemporary movement inspired by dance company La La La Human Steps. This unique mixture complements and elucidates surreal moments while revealing Thompson’s brilliant, sparkling humor. The production embodies our contemporary quest for faith, truth, and a ‘state of grace’ while contending with the absurdity of daily life.

    Lion in the Streets is written by award-winning Canadian Playwright Judith Thompson.  Premiered at the Tarragon Theatre in 1990 the play won the Chalmers Outstanding New Play Award in 1991. Thompson’s plays embrace subconscious elements of human experience not often seen on stage, capturing audience’s attention across the country. Canadian theatre companies regularly perform her work, such as Soulpepper’s 2011 production of White Biting Dog at the Young Center in Toronto.Lion in the Streets continues to be one of Thompson’s most known and most popular plays. High School students will be confronted with daring subject matter which could provide context and relevance to their lives. The play explores themes of repressed violence and sexuality, the search for identity and the powerful nature of love and forgiveness.  While the subject matter is dark, Thompson has crafted this exquisitely surreal play with moments of humor, hope and redemption or what she calls “moments of grace”.

    Contemporary movement will be choreographed by Gerald Trentham, Artistic Director of Toronto’s Pounds Per Square Inch Performance company. Our production will showcase 8 second to fourth year Brock students, playing a total of 29 roles, with additional assistance from students studying the areas of production, stagecraft, design and directing.

    With this production both Director Danielle Wilson and scenographer David Vivian look forward to honoring the wit and intelligence of our departed colleague, Dr Marlene Moser, a leading scholar of the oeuvre of Judith Thompson. Moser’s published thesis entitled “Postmodern Feminist Readings of Identity in selected works of Judith Thompson, Margaret Hollingsworth and Patricia Gruben” (Ph.D. Thesis, 1998. Graduate Center for Study of Drama University of Toronto) and the article “Identities of Ambivalence: Judith Thompson’s Perfect Pie” (Theatre Research in Canada, Volume 27 Number 1/ Spring 2006), explore themes of gender, narrative, identification of the subject and patriarchal abuse, dwelling upon their relationship to the stage, the language and how the audience will perceive them.

    High School Teachers and Educators: please read this letter for detailed information about the production, curriculum ties, and student matinee booking.

     

    Lion in the Streets: A Study Guide, is an introduction to our production, prepared by our Dramaturge and Third Year DART student, Erica Charles. Included are: 1) Collaboration, 2) Play Synopsis, 3) The Playwright: Judith Thompson, 4) Director’s Notes, 5) Designer’s Notes, 6) Isobel and her Lion, 7) Symbolism, 8) Images, 9) An Interview with Judith Thompson by Eleanor Wachtel, 10) Additional References, 11) List of Figures, 12) Endnotes and Bibliography.

    Download your PDF copy of Lion in the Streets: A Study Guide
    (PDF, 8.7 MB, remotely hosted)

    Download a copy of the poster (PDF, 1 MB)
    Download a copy of the poster (PDF, 1 MB)

    Buy tickets at arts.brocku.ca

    Press:

    “Dramatic Arts play explores the death of a young girl” – see the article in The Brock News

    Photos:

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  • Blood Relations

    Tuesday, October 12, 2010 | By

    Written by Sharon Pollock

    Directed by Danielle Wilson
    Designed by Kelly Wolf

    November 11, 12, 13, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
    Student Matinee: Friday, November 12, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.

    “Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks…” In June of 1893, Lizzie Borden stood trial for the brutal murders of her father and stepmother, thus inspiring the popular children’s rhyme. Borden was acquitted but the crime was never solved. So did she, or didn’t she?

    Held at the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, call the Centre for the Arts Box Office, 905-688-5550, ext. 3257 for tickets.
    Adult $15 / Seniors $12 / Students $12 / Groups $10 / eyeGo $5
    Presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts.

    Please see the MEDIA RELEASE

    High School teachers and Educators: A description of the play and the performance is available for download (3 mb, PDF). Subjects include: The Play, Artistic Direction, Curriculum Ties, Student Matinee Booking, Study Guide/School Outreach.

    Blood Relations: A Primer, is an introduction to our production, written by our Dramaturge and Fourth Year DART student, Spencer Smith. Included are: 1. Production Synopsis; 2. Lizzie Borden: The Legend; 3. Veins of Blood Relations; 4. Director’s Notes; 5. Sharon Pollock: The Playwright; 6. Collaboration; 7. List of Figures; 8. Bibliography.

    Download your PDF copy of Blood Relations: A Primer (PDF, 10.3 MB, remotely hosted)

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