Articles tagged with: Katie Coseni

  • Awkward and Uncomfortable

    Monday, March 16, 2015 | By

    Three interlocking stories explore how to survive the turbulence that washes over us when we question fundamental aspects of our identities. Is it better to find the answers to our secrets or to leave them locked away? And where is that elusive happy ending?

    More details:

    The Department of Dramatic Arts’ fourth-year production brings “Awkward and Uncomfortable” to a whole new level!

    An original performance by the fourth-year Devised Theatre class (DART 4F56) will be held on April 16, 17, and 18, 2015 at 7:30 pm, in the Studio Theatre (ST107) at Brock University.

    It is awkward and uncomfortable, but you’ll always have to deal with the two per cent of negative extremists.  If you’re an artist or you buck the trend of mainstream culture you’ll always be shouting out from the margins! How does one keep going when the struggle always comes looking for us? Answers are explored through spoken word, choreography and scenes that explore trust, relationships, and self-acceptance. Do we continue relationships when trust is unclear? Do we follow our future when those around us do not believe in it?

    Tracy is a construction worker who’s just been accepted by the guys, but it all falls apart. Diane and her partner have struggled to be accepted as a lesbian couple, and won, but suddenly her relationship seems empty. Carl has successfully completed his gender transition but his past comes back to bite him in a lawsuit that has unexpected consequences. This production by graduating students of Dramatic Arts’ devising class offers superhero guidance for the survival of the quirkiest at the Droopy Vine bar where all are welcome.

    Set designer Alanna Stewart has created a playful space inspired by Brazilian Favelas that displays the distressed urban world though graffiti and bright colours, a giant community piecing together against all odds. Costume designer Gina Greco, positions the characters as parts of the urban hierarchy through a clash of modern Toronto Queen West and Church Wellesley style, in order to present a beautiful slum, haute, and fantasy world.

    Professor and director Gyllian Raby guided the creative process drawing on her experience of creating new plays with One Yellow Rabbit and the RSVP process. Ensemble members include: Amanda McDonnell; Nick Leno; Kendra Neaves; Hayley Malouin;  Misha Harding; Michael Caccamo; Chloe Coyle;  Bri Lidstone; Nicola Franco; Rachel Romanoski; Katie Coseni;  Sean Rintoul; Marie Barros;  Emily Ferrier;  Maggi Robertson and Kate Croome.

    The DART 4F56 class is one where students work together collectively. Students use the knowledge they have accumulated throughout their four years of the Dramatic Arts program to create, build, and produce a collaborative piece that embraces the physical expressivity of Grotowski and LeCoq, action study from Stanislavsky, the performance clarity of Brechtian theories, and the work in voice, speech and spontaneity that grounds research and critical theory in human relations. A good theatre process takes awkward and uncomfortable to a whole new level!

    FOR TICKET RESERVATIONS: awkwardanduncomfortable@gmail.com
    Location: Room ST107 (Studio Theatre), Schmon Tower, Brock Campus.
    Admission: Donations accepted

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    Categories: Events, Plays

  • Brock actress scores top honour at Spanish international film festival

    Friday, October 05, 2012 | By

    katie-coseni-1024x682_dv

    Katie Coseni with her Silver Shell Award for best actress from the San Sebastián Film Festival in Spain

    (Source: The Brock News, Friday, October 5, 2012)

    It was a callback Katie Coseni won’t soon forget.

    The second-year dramatic arts student had just returned from six days at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain, where the film in which she plays one of the lead roles, Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang, was given the red carpet treatment.

    It was her second stop on the international film festival circuit, after the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September.

    She was alone in her room when she got the call.

    “I looked at the number and it was from France,” says Coseni. “I was like that’s really weird, why is someone from France calling me?”

    It was one of the producers from the film on the other end of the line notifying her that the festival wanted her to come back so that she could accept her award.

    foxfire6-267x299_dvI was like, what award?” Coseni remembers.

    The award in question was the Silver Shell for Best Actress.

    “I made her repeat it six times because I thought she was joking,” says Coseni. “It was really incredible.”

    Coseni was given the honour along with Spanish actor Marcarena García for her turn in Blancanieves, a silent black-and-white reinterpretation of Snow White set in 1920s Spain.

    “It’s kind of like ‘did that actually happen?’” says Coseni about receiving the award. “I still can’t believe it.”

    “I see the box that the award came in on my desk and I forget what it is for a second, and then I remember ‘Oh yeah, I got this really awesome prestigious award,’” she says. “It’s just incredible.”

    Created in 1953, this year is the 60th anniversary of the San Sebastián International Film Festival, one of the most important cinema festivals in the world.

    “San Sebastien was just a whole otherworldly experience,” says Coseni. “It was all just a huge whirlwind.”

    “I would wake up in the morning and then I would go to hair and make-up and then I’d go to a photo shoot and then a press conference and then interviews and then I’d have an hour for lunch, and then I’d have to go get ready for the red carpet, and then I’d have to do this and this and this,” she says. “But it was really fun.”

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    above, Katie Coseni in the film Foxfire

    When asked about her future in acting in light of her recent accolades, the first-time film actor is looking to take advantage of her recent success.

    “I’m taking steps now towards getting agents,” she says. “Hopefully that will lead to more auditions because I really do want to do this for as long as I can because I love it.”

    After a busy few months of publicizing Foxfire, Coseni is ready to switch gears and get back to her studies.

    “For right now, it’s just school and trying to get back to normal,” she says.

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    A film still from the movie Foxfire featuring Brock-student Katie Coseni (right)

    But that all depends on what you consider normal. Coseni received her callback on a Friday morning, hopped on a plane later that night, arrived in Spain Saturday night one hour before she was to receive the Silver Shell at the awards gala, woke up Sunday morning to fly back home, arrived home Sunday night and was back in class Monday morning.

    “It feels like it happened so long ago, it’s really weird,” she says laughing. “It took like a day or so getting back to my regular sleeping pattern. It feels like I just got back from summer vacation.”

    Foxfire is slated for theatrical release in France in January 2013 and plans are in the works for a Canadian release in Spring 2013.

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    Categories: Current Students, News

  • Brock student hits the international red carpet 

    Wednesday, September 26, 2012 | By

    Katie Coseni

    Coseni on the red carpet at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

    DART student Katie Coseni was recently featured in an article in The Brock News:

    “Katie Coseni’s first experience at the Toronto International Film Festival was not typical.

    Rather than chasing celebrities for autographs and crowding the edges of red carpets in hopes of catching a glimpse of movie stars, the second-year dramatic arts student found herself on the red carpet soaking up the limelight.

    Coseni plays one of the lead roles in the film Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang, which premiered at this year’s festival on Sept. 10.”

    The article continues: “. . . . Coseni’s long journey to the red carpet in Toronto all started when she responded to an open casting call in 2010.

    “A friend and I went to a drama camp when I was in middle school,” she says. “I guess we stayed on their mailing list and they sent out a flyer about this audition.”

    . . . Coseni credits her fellow students and professors in the dramatic arts program at Brock for being extremely supportive of her foray into film. Students would share their notes with her when she missed classes and professors were accommodating when it came to handing in assignments.

    “Because I was going to school for drama and I was missing school because of a movie, they understood,” she said. “It’s a very supportive and friendly environment.””

    From the article by Jeffrey Sinibaldi in the Brock News.  Read more of the article here.

    congratulations to Katie!

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    Categories: Current Students, News