Articles tagged with: Stratford Festival

• IBPOC Critics Lab introduced to diversify criticism industry

  Monday, April 10, 2023 | By ckim2

  

  Jay Emmanuel as Shiva with the company of Why Not Theatre’s production of Mahabharata that played at the Shaw Festival in March. Photo by David Cooper.

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  From the spectacular recent staging of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata at the Shaw Festival, to upcoming productions of Indigenous playwright Frances Koncan’s Women of the Fur Trade at the Stratford Festival and the world premiere re-imagining of Scott Joplin’s lost opera Treemonisha in this summer’s Luminato Festival, work by artists of colour in the Canadian performing arts is thriving.

  Lacking on the scene, however, are critics from diverse backgrounds to respond to these and other productions.

  A new initiative co-organized by Dramatic Arts Adjunct Professor Karen Fricker intends to fill this gap. The IBPOC Critics Lab is an initiative of Intermission magazine, where Fricker is editorial advisor, and the Stratford Festival, in association with the Honduran theatre critic Jose Solís, who piloted this model of training in the US.

  The Critics Lab is a space for Indigenous, Black and People of Colour to explore and develop theatre criticism skills. Eight emerging critics will participate in the Lab, which includes six sessions on Zoom and a face-to-face residential session at the 2023 Stratford Festival. Solís is developing the curriculum and will teach alongside Canadian critics and editors of colour including Glenn Sumi and Joshua Chong.

  “Opening up criticism to those who might not have thought there was a place for them in the field is very important to me and others in the field. It’s very exciting to bring Jose Solís’s pioneering work in this area to Canada for the first time,” said Fricker, who is co-organizing the lab with the Stratford Festival’s publicity director Ann Swerdfager, a former journalist.

  The program is open to Canadian residents who have not yet written but wish to pursue theatre criticism or those who already have some experience in the field. Participants will have the opportunity to explore criticism through writing as well as less traditional methods such as social media, podcasts, and more.

  Tags: Ann swerdfager, bipoc, ibpoc critics lab, intermission magazine, jose solís, Karen Fricker, mahabharata, MIWSFPA, Stratford Festival
  Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, In the Media, Media Releases, News, Performance Season, Plays, Shaw Intern Blog, Uncategorised, Visiting Artists

• Distinguished Graduate a class act in Canadian theatre

  Friday, September 30, 2022 | By ckim2

  

  Originally published in The Brock News | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 | by Charles Kim

  Though the spotlight may seem daunting to many people, it’s where Jordin Hall (BA ’10) feels most at home.

  The Brock Dramatic Arts graduate has found much success in his acting career and credits the groundwork he developed at Brock for helping to set his course.

  “Brock set the foundation for me early in my career. I learned how to respect the room, be diligent and work my craft,” says Hall, who was honoured during Brock’s Homecoming weekend as the Faculty of Humanities Distinguished Graduate Award recipient. “Those skills were all transferable and it immediately impacted my career following graduation.”

  Hall received his Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Arts with a performance concentration from Brock in 2010. Following graduation, he found success as an actor in Toronto, working with many independent theatre companies and performing in leading roles for several Shakespearean productions, including Love’s Labour’s Lost and The Winter’s Tale (Dauntless City Theatre), Titus Andronicus (Seven Siblings Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Humber River Shakespeare Company), and the title role of Othello for Driftwood Theatre.

  

  Carol Merriam, Dean of Brock’s Faculty of Humanities, presents Jordin Hall with the Faculty’s Distinguished Graduate Award at the Alumni Recognition Reception on Saturday, Sept. 24.

  Although he is now confident and eager to perform the works of Shakespeare, this wasn’t always the case.

  “From what I learned in high school, I thought I hated Shakespeare. In hindsight, this wasn’t the case at all; it was just how it was taught to us,” Hall says. “After breaking down the words and understanding how it was supposed to be read, I felt excited. I understood it and I was hungry for more.”

  Brock Dramatic Arts Professor Danielle Wilson says Hall was “always dedicated and driven.”

  “He was extremely passionate about performing even from a young age,” she says. “It was clear to me after a scene from Othello completed in one of my classes, he had an ability with language. He already knew how to use the words and had the voice to support them.”

  Following his success in Toronto, Hall found a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study classical theatre with the Stratford Festival’s Birmingham Conservatory.

  “It is a prestigious organization to be with and it’s every young theatre person’s dream to be part of the conservatory,” he says. “I remember I had my callback, and I didn’t really know how it went. When I got a call offering me a spot, it was surreal, and I was so excited. I was truly grateful for that opportunity.”

  After achieving his dream of working with the Birmingham Conservatory, Hall joined the Stratford acting ensemble in 2018. Since then, he has been part of seven Stratford productions, including his acclaimed leading role of Bertram in this year’s production of All’s Well That Ends Well.

  Dramatic Arts Professor David Fancy praised Hall’s impact as a professional in Canadian theatre.

  “Jordin was very engaged with critical issues of representation and made strong intelligent contributions as a student,” he says. “There have been barriers to inclusion historically for racialized individuals in Canadian theatre. The fact that he is now working at one of the most recognized cultural institutions in the country is a huge sign of success.”

  As for what’s next, Hall says he wants to continue pursuing his craft.

  “In many ways, I am still finding my way as a performer, and I can’t say for sure what the future holds, but I can see myself with the Stratford Festival for a while,” he says. “I enjoy it and hope that we can continue to produce more great work together.”

  Tags: classical theatre, DART, Department of Dramatic Arts, Distinguished Alumni, Dramatic Arts, graduate, Jordin hall, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, Performing Arts, Shakespeare, Stratford Festival
  Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News

• Much work to be done on live theatre’s road to recovery, says Brock prof

  Friday, August 27, 2021 | By gminaker

  

  Brock Dramatic Arts graduate Amanda McDonnell (BA ’15), who is part of the front of house team at the Shaw Festival, welcomed audiences back this summer. Photo credit: Michelle Mohammed. 

  THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 2021 | by Gillian Minaker

  After 17 months, the live theatrical experience is slowly making its return — but not without challenges ahead, says Brock theatre expert Karen Fricker.

  “Amidst the adversity that live performing arts have been faced with through the pandemic, a wonderful thing has happened this summer: the return of live theatrical performance, because it has been able to be outside,” says the Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Officer in Dramatic Arts (DART), who is an expert in theatre criticism, theatre theory and contemporary theatre.

  The Shaw and Stratford Festivals, two of Ontario’s most celebrated repertory companies, have been staging performances outdoors under canopies (tents with no walls) with mandatory masks for audiences in addition to capacity limits in accordance with provincial guidance. Both festivals are taking audience, artist and staff safety seriously, with COVID-19 protocols in place, says Fricker, who is also a theatre critic for the Toronto Star, writing about performances in the city as well as the Shaw and Stratford Festivals each summer.

  Although these outdoor performances do not come close to hosting the usual number of spectators, Fricker says this is a “big step in the right direction.”

  “Artists are being paid and creativity is happening,” she says, adding that while “innovative digital work has been heroic during the pandemic, experiencing live performances in a shared space is a joyous return.”

  Brock’s Dramatic Arts Department engages with the Shaw Festival in numerous ways, including the annual DART/Shaw internship and course-based experiences with Shaw artists and arts workers. A number of DART students and graduates work at the festival in front of house, producing and administration, and creative capacities.

  Seeing some of those familiar faces at Shaw this summer has been a particular highlight, Fricker says.

  While outdoor performances are a step in the right direction, Fricker says there is still more work to do. There will be limited live, in-person programming in the performing arts sector this fall, mainly due to unclear guidance from the provincial government around reopening, she says.

  In the early summer, the performing arts industry lobbied the government to address live performances in the official stages of reopening. Now that the performing arts have been included, companies have been able to plan. However, “you can’t just lift a theatre production off in a few weeks; you need a runway,” Fricker says.

  Colleen Smith, Executive Director of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) adjacent to Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, says the team at the PAC has experienced these challenges first-hand.

  “Never did any of us whose lives revolve around bringing together artists and audiences believe that we would witness the end of the age-old adage, ‘the show must go on,’” she says. “In fact, the show stopped for months at a time. It’s been an unbelievable period of disruption, heartache and loss of purpose for so many artists and arts workers.”

  Smith says that “buoyed by our partners at the City of St. Catharines and Brock University, as well as the support from our Board of Directors, we have used the first half of 2021 to develop a three-year recovery strategy that will place the PAC firmly within our community as a centre for creative and artistic experiences and learning.”

  The PAC is planning a gradual return, starting with the annual Celebration of Nations gathering, which will be in a hybrid format in September.

  Among the local theatre organizations taking important steps to make innovative work and engage the public in Niagara safely is the young people’s theatre company Carousel Players, which is focusing on new play development in August and September.

  “We are experimenting with a range of forms, including clown, puppetry and mask,” says Artistic Director and Brock graduate Monica Dufault (MA ’11). “We want to offer new pieces that are dynamic and theatrically alive when we meet our audiences again.”

  The company will present an outdoor performance, The Giant Puppet Party, for Culture Days in October, a new digital play for ages 12 to 17 called Meet Chloe starting in November, and a school touring production of The Velveteen Rabbit for ages four to seven in March 2022.

  Suitcase in Point, another St. Catharines-based theatre company, recently announced the launch of a reimagined In the Soil Arts Festival running Friday, Aug. 27 to Saturday, Sept. 25. The festival includes opportunities to see live, original theatre, new music, comedy acts, installations and participatory workshops. All-inclusive festival passes are available for purchase online.

  DART graduate Deanna Jones (BA ’02), the Artistic Director of Suitcase in Point and In the Soil, says the limits of the last 17 months have been a “unique test on our arts organization and the arts community at large.”

  “We knew this 13th edition of our annual In the Soil Arts Festival would be different, and we were determined to find inspired ways to get off of our screens and offer artists and audiences safe ways to connect — in person.”

  During In the Soil, artists from Essential Collective Theatre will be set up on James and St. Paul Street interviewing community members about their pandemic experiences. Working on this initiative are DART graduates Jordine de Guzman (BA ’20), Kristina Ojaperv (BA ’19) and Ren Reid (BA ’20). The project will culminate in the Pandemic Stories Project, a new play to be read at St. Catharines’ Culture Days in early October.

  Tags: Carousel Players, Colleen Smith, community engagement, DART, Deanna Jones, Department of Dramatic Arts, Dramatic Arts, Expert Advisory, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, humanities, In the Soil, Jordine de Guzman, Karen Fricker, Kristina Ojaperv, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, MIWSFPA, PAC, Ren Reid, Rhiannon Flemming, Stratford Festival, Suitcase in Point, The Shaw Festival
  Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, In the Media, Media Releases, News, Performance Season, Plays, Shaw Intern Blog, Uncategorised

• DART students attend Stratford Shakespeare Academy

  Wednesday, September 28, 2011 | By Brock University

  

  Stratford Shakespeare Academy.
  DART Students Josh Davidson and Emma Bulpin engage in valued ‘Art Talk’ between classes!

  Every summer students of the Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) attend the annual Stratford Shakespeare Academy for a three week intensive two-course experience. The courses present an opportunity to study Shakespeare through the lenses of both performance and structured analytical criticism with some of Ontario’s leading university professors and Stratford professional coaches. During the typical 7.5 hour day students observe and enquire of the talent of working actors, trainers and directors while experiencing first-hand the programming of one of Canada’s most triumphant theatre Festivals.

  Josh Davidson, a fourth year performing arts student at DART, describes this opportunity as “…an experience unlike any other. During my traditional school experience, I never had the opportunity to embody Shakespeare, or any stylized theatrical form, quite like this course offered. My fellow students and I are always asked to focus on a multiplicity of various forms, in relationship to different classes during the school year. The Stratford Shakespeare Academy offers you the opportunity to study Shakespeare, and only Shakespeare, for a three week period. The benefit of this intensive class structure was invaluable.”

  The course encouraged students to formulate opinions and discussions in response to the four Shakespearean plays presented during the 2011 Stratford season. Davidson says “having the ability to witness professional Shakespeare productions, while in the midst of studying Shakespeare, was helpful and inspirational.” Acting students train to develop a personal artistic palette, molded and shaped with specific skill sets, knowledge and vocabulary. He continues, “Observing Shakespearean acting professionals “live” allowed me to reflect upon what my artistic palette already consists of and helped identify the areas needing more time and improvement.”

  Complementing the coursework is the opportunity for theatre students from the sponsoring universities – Guelph, Windsor, Queens and Waterloo – to meet and share their learning experiences. Josh asserts “the other side of this adventure was found in the social environment. We were able to share experiences, class work, opinions, and beliefs with other students who have been trained in different forms, theories and techniques from our own. This made for some great art-talk! I brought what Brock had to offer, and they brought what their own school offered. This intermingling between schools sparked new friendships, new artistic discoveries and made the course experience very rewarding as a student and actor.”

  Josh concluded, “I would encourage any high-school student with performance interests to attend Brock University for these types of remarkable course experiences. The benefit of this intensive class structure is invaluable… I don’t think anyone could walk away from this experience without finding something to enrich their studies, while also helping to form the work they create in the future.”

  In September these fourth year students return to DART, fresh with the legacy of these formative course experiences.  Working together with their newly tuned artistic palettes, they will create provocative and innovative theatrical performance for the Brock community.

  Students interested in more information about the Stratford Shakespeare Academy should contact the Department at dramatic.arts@brocku.ca

  Tags: course opportunity, Emma Bulpin, Josh Davidson, Shakespeare, Stratford, Stratford Festival, Stratford Shakespeare Academy
  Categories: Alumni, Current Students, News

• Canadian Actor Brent Carver Visits DART

  Wednesday, March 03, 2010 | By Brock University

  Star of the the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Broadway, Soulpepper Theatre Company, and cinema (among his many successes), Canadian actor Brent Carver visited the students of the Department of Dramatic Arts to talk about his upcoming return to the Stratford Festival and his experiences training and maintaining a career in theatre. Carver attended the second last performance of Big Love, produced by the Department of Dramatic Arts in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre of Brock University.

  Tags: Big Love, Brent Carver, Broadway, Canadian actor, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Stratford Festival, visiting artists
  Categories: Current Students, News, Visiting Artists