The CCTC Blog

Attendance is down. So what's up with that?

2012-03-02T16:56:00.001-07:00

Our Guest Blogger Heather Inglis poses questions about the reasons for low turnouts for independent theatre in Edmonton.

Ah audiences — the Holy Grail of independent theatre.    

"We have to do what we can in spite of the fact that failure is always possible" 

~ David Mamet 

I am fortunate enough to be able to produce, direct, and create theatre for a living. I’m all about doing all the crazy things it takes to make small theatre happen. It is long hours at lousy pay - if there is pay. It is great work, it’s complicated work, it’s hard work, and at times it is heartbreaking work. From working at the inception of projects with playwrights, to grant writing, dramaturgy, getting the rights, casting, CANADIAN ACTORS EQUITY, directing (all that it is), careful choice after careful choice, painstaking thought and sleepless nights, endlessly (and shamelessly) self-promoting, working with graphic artists and advertisers and the endless fundraising, fundraising, and (did I say?) fundraising – it is all to present work I think is of value to my community. In short I want people to come to see it and be engaged by it.   

I don’t generally produce comedies or musicals. It’s not that I don’t like or respect this work. I do. It is important to have the release these shows provide. It’s just that I also think theatre has an important role in allowing us to look at our lives and what is happening in our community through a more critical lens. My company, Theatre Yes, produces very new contemporary works from Canada and around the world that investigate, in the most engaging ways possible, the complexities of living in the modern world.    

And at times it is tough to get audiences.    

Really tough.    

Theatre Yes is blessed to have the funds to pay for promotions and we invest in promoting our productions to approximately the degree Edmonton’s mid-sized theatres do. We produce - with professional quality - works that have been lauded around the world. We are covered and promoted by the local media. We play at spaces that are known to the public in areas of town that attract people to hip restaurants and bars.    

Theatre Yes’s work is also challenging and far from safe. We are currently running the Canadian Premiere of David Mamet’s RACE at Catalyst Theatre, which is in the heart of Old Strathcona. The play had a successful run on Broadway closing in 2010. We’ve had great reviews, terrific word of mouth, we’ve networked with community groups that have a special interest in the issues of the play, people tell us they have seen our promotions everywhere and are well aware of the show, and… we have had unspeakably small houses.    

Now, I’ve said we don’t make safe choices at Theatre Yes. It’s our mandate not to. And maybe that is the problem here. Perhaps our content is too challenging for Edmonton. But that doesn’t sit right with me. Surely Edmonton is worldly enough to embrace David Mamet. I’m pretty sure that Dexter, Breaking Bad and The Wire have healthy Canadian and Edmonton audiences and that is the essence challenging material. So why is this happening?

David Mamet has long runs in New York where people flock to see his work. Are people in our city are not so interested in Mamet? Hard to believe when he’s a major force in contemporary theatre and surely one of the most famous, lauded and influential living playwrights. One would think there would be people interested in seeing the show just for that.   

I have questions and few answers. Are theatre audiences in Edmonton simply reticent to try attending the work of a newer company? Why? Will this change with time? What is really keeping people away? What can be done to change this? And I gotta say don’t know the answers. I really don’t. 

I choose to believe that my community is interested, does want to be engaged and will come to see our work if that can be convinced to give us a try. But how do we do that? How do we get theatre audiences to take a chance and try something new? Right now, I’ll be damned it I know. But I’m taking suggestions…   

In the mean time, we’ll persist. I believe in serious theatre and I believe what it does. Theatre Yes will continue to produce adventurous new works from around the world that engage, challenge and provoke. We’ll continue to promote them the best way we know how. And in spite of the fact that the grail still eludes us, we will do what we have always done -- the best we can.

Heather Inglis
Artistic Director
Theatre Yes

We invite you to comment on this article. And for more on the subject of theatre attendance, check out our latest e-newsletter, which includes an edition of Words, Words, Words in which Daniel MacIvor responds to a similar question. While you're there, you can also click a couple of choices on our "Why go to Theatre?" survey on the e-newsletter's red sidebar. If you don't already subscribe to it and would like to join our mailing list, just contact the CCTC Administrator at ileung@ualberta.ca and ask to be added. You will receive the most recent CCTC e-newsletter when you do.

Dramaturgy in Sackville

2011-11-28T11:20:00.001-07:00

CCTC director Kim McCaw travelled to Sackville, New Brunswick last month
to serve as dramatrug for a Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC) script development workshop of John Spurway's Help Desk.

The CCTC and PARC have dynamic history of collaboration. The above photo is actually from the 2010 PARC Playwright's Colony - the rugged ambiance is due to the event's setting in Hessler Hall, a rehearsal space/prop storage room on the Mount Allison campus. Kim is sitting with Saskatoon-based playwright Jennifer Wynne Webber, who was in Sackville as part of an exchange between PARC and the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre.

CCTC Director Kim McCaw has been a guest dramaturg at the PARC Colony for the past four years. Two of the plays he's worked on there, The Woodcutter, and The Cave Painter, both by Don Hannah, have been produced by CCTC as part of our annual Working Title Festival. The Cave Painter featured PARC Artistic Director Jenny Munday.

TYA Playwrights Circle 2012

2011-11-23T12:39:00.001-07:00

The CCTC and Kompany Family Theatre are presenting a playwright's circle in the new year, open to those interested in writing theatre for young audiences:

2012 New Works for Young Audiences Playwright’s Circle

Appropriate playwrights:
This circle is for playwrights (emerging or established) who are interested in developing work suitable for young audiences and/or families. The play can be at any stage of development – a full draft, a few scenes or even just an idea. A small group of no more than six playwrights will be selected to participate in this workshop based upon the suitability of their proposed work, their goals around developing their work and their desire to share the development process with others.

Playwright Circle elements:
Over the course of the full circle playwrights can expect to develop their plays under the guidance of established playwright, educator, director and dramaturg, Kim McCaw, as well as through feedback from other participants, readings by professional actors and reaction and feedback from your intended audience.

Acceptance & participation in the Playwright’s Workshop will include:

Six ‘playwright’s circle style’ sessions lead by Kim McCaw (Canadian Centre for Theatre Creation) on Wednesdays from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. from January 18 to February 22, 2011 (Edmonton).
Workshop readings of your play (or scenes) in development by professional actors for a school and/or family audience. You will be given an honorarium for the use of your piece in this part of the process.
Consideration for future development and/or production by Kompany Family Theatre.

Application Process:
Interested playwrights are invited to respond to the Artistic Director of Kompany Family Theatre (kompany AT telus.net) by January 4th 2012 with a short description of your play/idea, what you would like to accomplish over the course of the workshop as well as relevant background information about yourself. Chosen participants will be required to pay a fee of $150.00 for the workshop process and will be eligible for an honorarium for the use of their work with a school and/or family audience.

Daniel MacIvor is What Happens Next

2011-11-16T11:38:00.001-07:00

Our Lunchbox Chat with Daniel MacIvor is tomorrow at 1pm! The location has changed slightly - it is still taking place in the Timms Centre for the Arts, but instead of the lobby, we'll be in the main theatre. Bring your lunch, bring your friends, and get ready for some great conversation. Remember, if you can't make it, you can use #LunchboxChat on Twitter to follow along.

Necessary Angel's production of MacIvor's new play, This is What Happens Next, opens this week at the Citadel Theatre. The trailer is below. If you're in Edmonton, be sure to catch the show while it's in town!

Tweet Your Lunchbox Chat Questions

2011-11-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

As you know, Daniel MacIvor, who's in town performing his latest solo show This is What Happens Next at the Citadel from November 12 to December 4, is our next Lunchbox Chat guest of the season. We look forward to sitting down with one of Canada's greatest theatre makers for an intimate conversation about his craft on Thursday, November 17 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event!

But we haven't forgotten about the MacIvor fans in the CCTC community who can't make the chat, be they non-Edmontonians or local folks who have to work. Those of you who won't be able to attend can participate virtually by following the hashtag #LunchboxChat on Twitter. We also welcome you to tweet your questions to @theCCTC, tagged with #LunchboxChat. We will pass a few of them along to Daniel and relay the responses to the Twittersphere.

Lunchbox Chat with Daniel MacIvor
November 17, 1pm-2pm (Mountain Time)
Timms Centre for the Arts

Don't forget to follow the CCTC on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook!

Nov 17: Lunchbox Chat with Daniel MacIvor

2011-11-02T10:47:00.001-06:00

The CCTC is excited to welcome Daniel MacIvor, one of the most celebrated theatre artists in Canada, as our next Lunchbox Chat guest of the season. MacIvor will be in town performing his latest solo show This is What Happens Next at the Citadel Theatre from November 12 to December 4.

A Cape Breton native, Daniel MacIvor is an actor, playwright, and director, whose work has been produced all over the world. Between 1986 and 2006, MacIvor’s company da da kamera premiered many of his works, including Monster, Here Lies Henry, The Lorca Play, The Soldier Dreams, Insomnia, In On It, and A Beautiful View. He also created the feature films Past Perfect, Wilby Wonderful, and Whole New Thing. MacIvor's new show This is What Happens Next, a "scary comic fairy tale", opens next week at the Citadel Theatre.

MacIvor has won a Governor General’s Award, two Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and the Siminovich Prize - the largest award in Canadian theatre.

CCTC director Kim McCaw will lead a public interview with MacIvor, after which audience members are encouraged to ask their own questions. Bring your lunch, bring your friends, and enjoy a great conversation about theatre!

Thursday, November 17th
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Timms Centre lobby

This event is free of charge and open to all.

A Morning with PGC President Elyne Quan

2011-10-26T10:56:00.000-06:00

The CCTC is excited to help welcome celebrated Canadian theatremaker Elyne Quan back to Edmonton, her hometown. Elyne, president of Playwrights Guild Canada, is in the area for theupcoming Playworks Ink conference, and our friends at Theatre Alberta haveorganized a session where theatre enthusiasts can gather to hear Elyne readsome of her work and then ask questions. The event is free andopen to the general public.

A Morning with PGC President Elyne Quan

Thursday, October 27^th

10:30am-11:30am

Board Room, Timms Centre for the Arts

87th Ave & 112th St, Edmonton

A bit more about Elyne from Playwrights Guild of Canada:

Elyne is a writer, actor, director and dramaturg. Originallyfrom Edmonton, she now resides in Toronto. She holds a MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York Universityand a BA Honors degree in Drama from the University of Alberta. Writing creditsinclude the Sterling Award winning Lig & Bittle (with JaredMatsunaga-Turnbull), Stray, Look Both Ways, Souvenirs of Home, Trust, What(Part III of Rice, Concrete Theatre), One Block Radius and a radio play, DirectDial (CBC Radio). She was a KCACTF Region II New Play Winner and David MarkCohen award - runner-up for Souvenirs of Home. Her latest play, Retrospective,was commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Theatre Creation (CCTC) in Edmontonand received workshop assistance from the Playwrights Theatre Centre inVancouver. She is currently working on three new full-length plays, a TYA play,a TV series, and a graphic novel.

In addition to being a proud member of PGC, Elyne is also analumna of the Prime Time TV program at the Canadian Film Centre and a member ofCAEA.

Ronnie Burkett: from Fringe Freak to Marionette Master

2011-10-21T11:46:00.000-06:00

By Nikki Shaffeeullah

On Thursday,October 6, the CCTC sat down with RonnieBurkett for what proved to be a dynamic and engaging Lunchbox Chat. Kim McCaw publicly interviewed theinternationally renowned puppeteer and theatre maker, with attendees from theUniversity of Alberta Drama Department and the Edmonton community gatheringboth to listen to and ask their own questions of the Alberta-born creator.

The conversation spanned a range of topics, including therole of puppetry in the theatre, the role of marionettes in the puppet theatre,arts funding in Canada, life as an independent artist, and of course, Burkett’sunique brand of theatre creation.

This year is the 25^th anniversary of Burkett’s Theatre of Marionettes, which debutedright here in Edmonton at the 1986 Fringe Festival with his first full-lengthshow, Fool’s Gold. Of these earlydays, Burkett reflected: “When I was a kid, self-created work wasn’t somethingtheatre knew.” He remarked fondly that the Fringe served as a space where “allthe freaks” could do their shows.

As the “freaks” that practice performer-driven creation areslowly but surely becoming a norm on the Canadian stage, their process hasbecome a focal point of many contemporary theatrical discussions. With aveteran creator working in an unusual form as the featured guest, this Lunchbox Chat was noexception. On his writing process, Burkett disclosed that he begins thecreation of each piece by shaping three key elements: “A title, an openingimage, and a closing image.” As other elements are negotiated, these threepieces remain the pillars of his process.

Burkett also revealed his approaches to some of the uniquecreation challenges that present themselves to a puppeteer. For example, when building marionettes, he is not merely constructing props but rather he is creatingthe actors he will later direct andthe characters he will eventuallyplay. He noted that when building a puppet, he tries to identify thecharacter’s voice in his own. If he cannot, he will go back to theconstruction stage, rework the Plasticine, and search again for the sound untilat last the puppet’s body and voice harmonize.

It is this very experience of bringing the puppet creationsto life, giving them character, that kept Burkett working in this niche. Hedescribed how a brief stint in acting school led him to realize that as anactor, he would be destined to play only male characters within a few years ofhis own age. As a puppeteer, however, he could play any age, gender, or evenspecies that he wanted: “Why would I want to be just an actor? That’s solimiting!”

Burkett was in town for the world premiere of his new show, Penny Plain, which closed last weekendafter a successful run at the Citadel Theatre. It plays next in Calgary.

October 6: Lunchbox Chat with Ronnie Burkett

2011-10-03T12:55:00.000-06:00

The first CCTC Lunchbox Chat session is almost here! Internationally renowned theatre maker and master puppeteer Ronnie Burkett is in town for the Citadel's world premiere of his new show Penny Plain, and Edmonton is abuzz with his visit. Ronnie will take a break from performing his new apocalyptic gothic comedy to do a public interview with CCTC director Kim McCaw at noon on October 6. Don't forget to also add the highly anticipated November 17 Lunchbox Chat to your schedule, when we'll sit down with famed playwright/actor/director Daniel MacIvor.

For more information about Ronnie Burkett, check out his bio in the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia and his agency page.

The CCTC takes on the blogosphere!

2011-09-30T12:05:00.000-06:00

Welcome! The Canadian Centre for Theatre Creation is very excited to jump into the blogosphere. We will use this space to share news and foster dialogue on the themes of theatre creation, play development, and the Canadian theatre ecology.

Thanks for stopping by, and check back soon!