I’ve watched the film, The Last Picture Show more times than I can remember, so it’s no surprise that it ranks among my favourites. The film boasts an extraordinary cast including Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, and Ben Johnson. The film was both a commercial and artistic success making 29 million at the box office in 1971 and winning an Oscar for Cloris Leachman as Best Supporting Actress and an Oscar for Ben Johnson as Best Supporting Actor. Nominated for Best Picture along with A Clockwork Orange, Fiddler on the Roof, and Nicholas and Alexandra it lost out to The French Connection.
The novel was adapted for the screen by Peter Bogdanovich and Larry McMurtry and also received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay but once again lost out to The French Connection. Even so not a bad film for first-time director Bogdanovich who was at that time working with Orson Welles on The Other Side of the Wind. A film left unfinished at the time of Welles’s death in 1985 and only completed in 2018 by Netflix almost fifty years after it began production with Bogdanovich keeping a promise to his friend and mentor Welles to finish the film. Bogdanovich died in 2022 at the age of 82 and Larry McMurtry died in 2021 at the age of 84.
McMurtry had an extraordinary career winning the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Lonesome Dove which spawned a series of books and highly successful television adaptations. Besides The Last Picture Show other successful novels of his that made their way to the big screen include Terms of Endearment and Hud based on his novel Horseman, Pass By. McMurtry received an Oscar along with Diana Ossana for their adaptation of Brokeback Mountain based on the short story of the same name by Annie Proulx. McMurtry has left behind an extraordinary collection of work including novels, screenplays, and nonfiction.
Let’s just say he was a prolific man of talent.
The Last Picture Show is the only novel I’ve read of his and I came to it because of the movie. I was curious to know how the novel compared to the movie and I’m glad to say that the movie is a faithful adaptation of the book. In fact, the book reads very much like a treatment for a movie. Much of the dialogue in the film is to be found in the book and the parts of the book not seen in the movie were good choices to cut in my opinion. The movie is a tighter story. It’s more focused. And yet both the book and the movie feel very much the same. This is a small town in Texas where our characters try to find meaning often through romantic entanglements in a bleak landscape. It is a landscape where Estragon and Vladimir from Beckett’s Waiting for Godot would feel right at home.
But of course, one of the interesting things that happens when you read the novel after you’ve seen the movie is that in my mind at least while reading the book I see the actors who portrayed those characters. And the movie has done an amazing job of casting. Jeff Bridges is Duane. Timothy Bottoms is Sonny. Cybill Shepherd is Jacy. Cloris Leachman is Ruth. Ben Johnson is Sam.
The story takes place in 1951, with the Korean War lurking in the background, and with best friends Sonny and Duane finishing up their last year of high school. Duane is dating Jacy the prettiest and richest girl in town and Sonny finds himself stumbling into a relationship with Ruth the wife of the High School Football and Basketball coach. The boys come from broken backgrounds and find some comfort and guidance from Sam who runs the local pool hall, diner, and movie theatre.
This is a bleak book and movie and yet like other bleak takes on life there is plenty here that resonates about life and about how people in spite of everything go on stumbling into the future and that happiness is both difficult to find and when found tends not to last. I’m not sure I’ll read the novel again, but I am sure I will watch the movie. It’s a movie I’m drawn to when I find myself in a melancholy mood and I find it a refreshing movie to watch these days because it is focused on story and character and life and not on special effects. And that seems to give it a human intensity that reaches me on a deeper and more satisfying level than a lot of contemporary films. Terrific book. Amazing film.
On September 16th, 2023, friends, family, and members of the Alberta arts community gathered in Medicine Hat to celebrate this year’s recipients of The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Awards. This year’s recipients include playwright and theatre artist Mieko Ouchi, film and theatre performer Michelle Thrush and film animators Wendy Tilby & Amanda Forbis.
Chair of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Arlene Strom said, “Albertans can be proud of the contributions of these Distinguished Artists who have pushed the boundaries of art to reflect Indigenous identity and expression, present a more inclusive and diverse view of Alberta’s history, and highlight the art of film animation in Alberta and worldwide. Each has contributed immeasurably to the development of the province’s artists, arts communities and expanding art disciplines.”
L to R, Arlene Strom, Chair LG Arts Awards Foundation Board, Wendy Tilby, Amanda Forbes, Her Honour Salma Lakhani, Mieko Ouchi, Michelle Thrush, Photo credit Randy Feere
Her Honour, the Honourable Salma Lakhani, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta said, “The women receiving the Distinguished Artist Award this year have offered important contributions to the arts in Canada. We have all been granted the opportunity, through their work, to learn and grow in our understanding of the human condition. Artists such as these are essential to the lifeblood of our communities, and we are truly fortunate to have them as cultural leaders in their respective disciplines, in our province and our country as a whole.”
I contacted Mieko Ouchi as well as Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis to talk with them about their work and creative process. You can read those interviews by following the links above. I also spoke with Nehiyaw performing artist Michelle Thrush a multiple award-winning actor whose acting credits include Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, North of 60, Blackstone, Prey, and Bones of Crows. She is also a director, producer, community builder, and one of the founding members and current Artistic Director of the ground-breaking Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society. In our conversation we talked about her career, about her one-woman show Inner Elder, and what it means to be recognized for her work by receiving The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award.
JAMES HUTCHISON
Michelle, when you look back over the course of your career and the body of your work as an artist in what ways has it been an intentional journey and in what ways has it been more a road of discovery?
MICHELLE THRUSH
That’s an interesting question because back when I was a kid there were not Indigenous people on television or anywhere really. We weren’t a part of the shows I watched like Little House on the Prairie when I was a kid or if we were it was Italians playing us. It was something that wasn’t in our psyche and so in my little brown girl brain I never thought that I could be an actress or work in the arts.
But I grew up loving pretending and loving imagination and I was always trying to get my friends together and direct shows and put on plays. And then when I was sixteen or seventeen, I met a man named Gordon Tootoosis who along with Tantoo Cardinal, Gary Farmer, Grahame Greene, Augee Schellenberg, Margo Kane, and of course Chief Dan George were all doing little bit roles here and there on film and that was the beginning for Indigenous people. I’d see them and think whoa there’s a real native person and they’d have a line in a movie like Running Brave where Robbie Benson who is Jewish played the actual star of Running Brave who was a Lakota.
And Gordon who was just a beautiful indigenous actor really encouraged me to follow my dreams and he said, “Michelle it’s important that we tell our stories from a place of honesty.” My big goal in life at that time was to be a social worker. And I ended up throwing that aside and just going, “Okay, I’m going to move to Vancouver from Calgary at nineteen and I’m going to try and get an agent and I’m just going to hope and pray that auditions come up.”
So, I did all that. Moved to Vancouver. And it took a few years of working in restaurants before I started to get a few little auditions. And I often say in 1992 Dances With Wolves came out and that’s when things began to open up for us as actors, and I ended up getting into a TV series called North of Sixty, and that was the beginning. And things just kind of fell into place after that.
It’s interesting you mentioned you were looking at being a social worker and I wonder if there are connections between that career and acting. Because social work and sociology look at relationships between people and between people and society and I think an actor has to sensitive towards those kinds of things.
MICHELLE
I think the connection for me was I grew up with two chronic alcoholic parents. And I didn’t realize the trauma that my family had been through because as a kid – and it’s really hard for me to talk about this – but as a child I had so much shame when it came to being an Indigenous person because I related it to the pain and the trauma of my parents and of my grandparents and of my aunts and uncles and everybody else in my family who was alcoholic. And as a child that imagination part for me was about creating these other scenarios that didn’t include violence and all that stuff that comes along with trauma which is a big part of my one-woman show Inner Elder.
Michelle Thrush in her One-Woman Show Inner Elder, Photo Ben Laird
So, when I was a kid, I knew it wasn’t proper that my parents didn’t know how to be parents. I knew it wasn’t proper that they would drink for days and us kids would fend for ourselves. In my brain, I thought if I become a social worker I can create change in this world for children. I can do something that’s going to make sure other Indigenous children don’t have to go through what I went through.
And then I realized through meeting Gordon and getting involved in acting that the power we have as artists can change the world and we wouldn’t have to deal with all the red tape it would take to be a social worker. It was like fast-tracking the ability to create a shift in people’s thinking.
Back then, of course, we didn’t have Truth and Reconciliation. We didn’t realize our families were suffering from this huge history. I just thought that my parents were messed up and I felt a lot of shame because I swore to God that every white kid at my school went home, and their moms would hand them cookies as they walked through the front door, and they had these perfect homes and alcohol didn’t touch white people. That’s how I thought when I was a kid. I thought it was something that was part of who we were as Indigenous people. But then you know obviously I learned that alcoholism touches everybody.
So, that connection between acting and social work was a very strong connection because there was the ability to really affect people’s lives using the arts as opposed to going in and trying to work with the family of Indigenous children. And almost all my work still leans in that direction, you know, trying to create healing. And I always say, “We aren’t in it for Shakespeare. We don’t do what we do to recite Shakespeare. We do what we do to create healing and to contribute to the goodness of our communities and our children.”
Eric Schweig, Darla Contois and Michelle Thrush in the Canadian Drama Television Series Little Bird
JAMES
You mentioned healing and change and you’re one of the founding members and the current Artistic Director of Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society and on your website, it says – “Making Treaty 7 is dedicated to Indigenous artistic expression and the transfer of Indigenous knowledge through story.” So, what are some of the things you feel you’ve accomplished so far and what are some of the plans, goals, and hopes for the future?
MICHELLE
Making Treaty 7 has had this really long history and I’ll just explain a bit of the history about how we began. Michael Greene who was one of the founding members of One Yellow Rabbit and is a beautiful Icon in theatre here in Calgary was a good friend of mine for many years and a huge supporter of the work I did in theatre with Indigenous story. And he was always trying to figure out ways to bring more Indigenous presence into the High Performance Rodeo and whatever else was going on in Calgary.
So, back in 2012 he became the curator of something called Calgary 2012 which was when Calgary became the artistic capital of Canada for a year. He ran that and we put together a committee of about ten of us – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – so we could have an Indigenous presence and we ended up forming a template for what we wanted to do. Part of that was exploring the land and the history here in Southern Alberta and how the land connects us to story. And not a lot of people including us – I’m Cree – my family is from Maple Creek Saskatchewan Treaty 4 but I grew up here in Treaty 7 and I have family who are married into the Blackfoot Confederacy, but we didn’t know much about the treaty.
The Making Treaty 7 production of O’kosi with Garret C. Smith, Mary Rose Cohen, Michelle Thrush, Janine Owlchild, and Dustin Frank. PHOTO: Hidden Story Productions.
So, I didn’t know anything about the treaty and the Blackfoot artists that we brought in didn’t know a lot about the treaty which was signed in September 1877 in Siksika. So, it was a huge learning journey for us, and Micheal ended up writing these big grants and bringing together over a hundred elders from Southern Alberta. And we asked what do you know about Treaty 7? And a lot of their parents and their grandparents were at the Treaty signing and so they opened up this huge vessel for us. And as artists we spent the whole weekend just listening to all these elders talk about the Treaty and the true intention of Treaty 7. And they talked about what life was like leading up to the signing, what life was like on those ten days, and what life was like after the Treaty was signed. What were the repercussions? What happened with the Indian Act. All these things.
And they just filled us up with all this incredible knowledge and we went out to Banff Centre for two weeks. And Micheal asked myself and Blake Brooker to be the directors of the show and I was an actor and a writer on it as well. And we came up with the very first Making Treaty 7 and we had to perform it for the Elders first and get their permission which we did. And it became this huge spectacle of incredible entertainment which brought in all the voices that call Southern Alberta home but was an Indigenously led process.
And since then we’ve been expanding on that and as the Artistic Director my goal is to wake up the stories that belong here. That are a part of this land. And to decolonize theatre and create a safe space for Indigenous people to tell stories of the land and I’m very proud because Making Treaty 7 is doing some really beautiful work.
Bernard Starlight and Quelemia Sparrow in The Making Treaty 7 production of Tara Began’s The Ministry of Grace. Photo Alanna Bluebird
JAMES
You mentioned your own show. You touched on it and I wanted to ask you a little bit about that. It’s called Inner Elder. I saw it when you did it at Lunchbox Theatre and really enjoyed it and thought it was an amazing piece of theatre. And in it you transform into an Elder in the play and it’s moving. It’s funny. What was the genesis of the story and what are some of the highlights of performing that piece?
MICHELLE
So, more than thirty years ago this character started coming through me and she was an old woman and she loved comedy. Her name is Kookum Martha and she was very much a clown in a lot of ways. And so I started to do comedy and she started to be known as an MC of various Indigenous conferences and concerts in Canada. And I hosted the Inspire Awards on CBC a few years back and we did some things with Kookum on there. And in 2018 Ann Connors was the curator of the High Performance Rodeo and she had seen my Kookum character and Anne’s like, “Why don’t you create a big show and we’ll fund you and we’ll present you for the Rodeo.”
Michelle Thrush as Kookum Martha in Inner Elder at the High Performance Rodeo Photo Elyse Bouvier
And so, I was like how can I do a show in a way that honours the clown of Kookum as well as telling my own story in a way that doesn’t make me a victim. That allows me to sort of flip the script on what it means to grow up in an alcoholic environment and then winning the Gemini for playing a chronic alcoholic on Blackstone which is a show I starred on for many years. And I created a show about learning how to take what’s given to us in life and then turning it into something that works for us.
And when I get into the zone with Kookum she can get wild on stage and I’m like, “Oh my God, did I just hear her say that?” And I tell people when they hire me to do my comedy with Kookum I am not responsible for any marriages that break up because she goes after the white guys all the time. She picks on them and they fall in love with her. It’s a fun character. And I’m a true believer that as artists we channel our energy through us and it’s not about us – it’s about being vulnerable enough to bring that energy through us.
JAMES
That’s part of the magic of theatre I suppose that moment that you’re so fully in the story and the performance that it’s almost not really you.
MICHELLE
Yeah, it’s magic. And it happens in film too. I swear to God on that episode of Blackstone I did where I won the Gemini I stood there on my mark before I heard action and I prayed and called in my grandmothers, and they took over my body and I felt like I was allowing them to work me through that scene. And low and behold I won a Gemini and a whole bunch of other awards but it’s that trust to be able to really zone in taking the focus off of yourself and putting it on the story and then just allowing that energy to come through you. It’s about being vulnerable to the moment of creation.
Tantoo Cardinal as Wilma Stoney and Michelle Thrush as Gail Stoney in Blackstone
JAMES
You know one of the things art can do is help us understand our place in the universe but I’m sort of curious as an artist do you think art provides actual answers or do you think art operates more to provoke us to come up with answers and ask questions.
MICHELLE
I think both. I often say as Indigenous artists that we’re frontline workers. We shine light into places that are dark. And the work that we do is not just about a love story or whatever. The work we do whether it’s in film or in theatre is tough and it sometimes creates huge amounts of triggers for people because what we focus on is bringing to light things that people don’t want to talk about.
And the work that I’ve done through the years and all of us as Indigenous Artists have done through the years is really truly groundbreaking work I think because that’s how you bring healing. I often say if you have a wound and you just continue to cover it all the time with Band-Aids it will never heal. You have to be able to bring the light to allow that wound to heal and I feel that’s what we do as artists – we bring light.
Bones of Crows, Day 2
Ayasew Ooskana Pictures
JAMES
And I think you need multiple stories right? You need many stories. Like you mentioned initially Indigenous actors were getting little bit parts and now we’re seeing shows like Bones of Crows. That’s an epic story. I watched that and I thought it really is an outline for a five-season series. Because it’s massive. Each episode could be ten episodes. But having that story now expands what you can tell in the future, I think.
MICHELLE
Exactly because again, it brought light to something that previously wasn’t lit up. Like that whole history most Canadians don’t understand any of it. Our own people are just beginning to understand what happened in reality and when you do bring light you bring life and then you’re right it just spreads out and it creates more conversations and it gives people permission to be able to discuss those things that were taboo twenty years ago. It’s about expanding consciousness really you know as artists.
I was proud of Bones of Crows. Marie Clements is a dear, dear, friend of mine from years ago. I’ve worked on many of her things and it took her five years to get Bones of Crows to camera. It took a huge team to convince CBC and to get all the funding and it’s a fully Indigenously created, directed, written, acted, performance.
JAMES
So, Artificial Intelligence has exploded onto the scene this year and it’s going to be disruptive in science and art and everything and I am just sitting here going well – this is good – this is bad – so I’ve been asking a few artists and a few friends what are their thoughts about AI. What sort of an impact do you think it’s going to have?
MICHELLE
I don’t know. I feel like I’ve got my head in the sand and I’m trying to avoid talking about AI because it really bugs me. I have so many friends that are all pro AI and how it’s going to change everything and I’m just like, “No, I just want real humans. I have a hard enough time checking out at Safeway with computers” I’m so old school in that way and so I’m sort of in denial about AI and I don’t have a lot to say about it.
JAMES
It’s hard to know what the impacts are going to be.
MICHELLE
It is. Even the SAG strike had a lot to do with AI. And who knows man. They can do a video now of you and change what you’re saying and that scares me.
JAMES
It’s getting difficult to be able to distinguish between the fake and the real. And that can be scary. So, I guess we’ll have to talk about this in five years?
MICHELLE
Exactly.
2023 Distinguished Artist Michelle Thrush with family and friends, Photo credit Randy Feere
JAMES
So, you’re one of the recipients this year of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards and I was wondering what was that evening like for you where everyone gathered to honour the recipients. What sort of evening was it and what does it mean to you to be recognized for the award?
MICHELLE
It was a fun weekend. It was a whole weekend it wasn’t just one evening. The funnest part of it was they did it in Medicine Hat this year and my family comes from Maple Creek which is just forty-five minutes down the number one highway on the Saskatchewan side. So, when I found out I was receiving this amazing award and that it was in Medicine Hat I called everybody – “Everybody’s got to come to this.” So, the highlight of receiving that award was having two or three rows of my family – Indigenous faces out there with all these government officials. And it’s not often that we feel comfortable or welcomed into these types of spaces, right?
JAMES
Right.
MICHELLE
Even just in theatre alone and that’s a big part of my whole agenda is trying to find ways to make sure that Indigenous people feel comfortable in the theatre. It’s the same thing for these types of awards. My cousin got the Chief to come and they did a ceremony with me when I went up on the stage. It’s a beautiful ceremony where they come up to you on both sides and they just wrap you in this blanket. And they did that with a star quilt which is a beautiful handmade style of blanket. And to me that was such a beautiful gesture of honour. I’m glad obviously I got the Lieutenant Governor Award and the gold pin and all that wonderful stuff but to have my family there and to be recognized in that way was also an honour.
L to R: Lori Davis, Michelle Thrush, Chief Rossa Wahobin, Nakaneet First Nation, Chief Rossa Wahobin presented Michelle with a Star Quilt in recognition of her achievements, Photo credit Randy Feere
JAMES
How does it feel to be offering that mentorship now to others because Indigenous artists and young people today can look to you and see somebody who has a successful career?
MICHELLE
I try to stay away from this whole role model thing with Indigenous people. I don’t believe in putting anybody on a pedestal no matter who they are. I think we are all amazing contributors to each others light. But I do understand because when Blackstone came out my whole life shifted. I felt like a lot of my privacy was shifted with my own people because going to Pow Wows and stuff people are always coming up and they’re like, “Oh, my gosh, your character on that show was my mom or my auntie or my grandmother and then they would tell me this whole story of you know alcoholism in their family and how my character gave them permission to be able to discuss that.” And so again as an artist, it’s shining that light onto previous taboo topics and giving people permission to speak about it without shame and to share that load.
JAMES
How do you stay resilient then? Because that sounds like sometimes a heavy burden.
MICHELLE
I don’t know if it’s a burden at all. I think it’s just really a part of our development in this world. There are so many amazing beautiful things happening for Indigenous people right now. Like Reservation Dogs is on and we’ve got people in the NHL. And I remember I was on George Stroumboulopoulos back in the day – The Strombo Show – and I remember mentioning Wab Kinew who was rising up in the political scene and saying you know this is a young man who inspires me and now he’s Premier of Manitoba. And it’s just expanding continuously, and I get hope from seeing our young people. There are so many young people right now that are so resilient, and they are pushing boundaries that I never thought about when I was a teenager or when I was in my early twenties. I see these young people resurrecting language and being proud of who they are and that’s what keeps me going really is just knowing that we’ve got so many incredible young people.
It’s the holiday season and that means we celebrate a whole mishmash of different cultural traditions including the Yule Log. The Yule Log was originally associated with the Winter Solstice but it has come to be associated with Christmas Day as well.
I rather like the Winter Solstice and the Summer Solstice and both the Fall and Spring Equinox. They are markers in the year and they signify significant events in terms of the seasons and certainly can symbolically represent stages of life.
I think it’s a good idea to acknowledge the passage of time and these special days during the year. It ties us back to our world and to the environment and makes us more aware of the passage of time. These are significant things. Even our ancestors understood the importance of marking and acknowledging the passage of time and the change of seasons.
Many years ago I produced a Yule Log video for broadcast on Christmas mornings for Citytv Calgary. It ran for a few years but I doubt it exists any longer since it was produced before the days of high definition. But, lucky for me, I happen to have a DVD copy of the Winter Yule Log Program I produced and so I’m still able to share it with the world on YouTube. Happy Winter Solstice!
Happy Winter Solstice
May your day be filled with blessings Like the sun that lights the sky, And may you always have the courage To spread your wings and fly!
I’m very excited to announce that my play, Valentine’s Day, is one of twenty-four plays being produced at the 2018 Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival. The NNPF is a festival dedicated to Canadian plays and the diverse voices of this country and takes place forty minutes north of Toronto in Newmarket Ontario.
The plays are grouped into four themed Pods with six plays being presented in each Pod. Tickets are just twenty bucks per Pod and each Pod is presented four times during the festival. Valentine’s Day which is part of the “off BALANCE” Pod is about Tom who remembers the day fifty years ago when he met the love of his life, Heather. The production is being directed by Dale Sheldrake and stars Dan Karpenchuk as Old Tom, Tiffany Deobald as Heather, Kyra Van Den Enden as Karen, and Ilya Iyashyk as Young Tom.
Other plays in the “off BALANCE” Pod include Hero by Peter Cavell a sweet romantic comedy where even heroes need a hero and Funeral Sandwiches by Greg White where a grieving Barbara learns the truth about her husband and another woman. This pod is suitable for most audiences and is described as: “In life’s ledger, what we lose and what we gain always affects the balance.”
If your tastes run a little more mature you might want to see the “side KICKS” Pod which deals with mature themes, coarse language and sexuality and includes If the Shoe Fits by Genevieve Adam where a loyal knight, a glass slipper, and a pig farmer provide a new twist on an old tale and The Kiss by Janet Kish where Panda learns about the give and take of love in an innocent clown-like world. This Pod is definitely meant for a mature audience and is described as: “Best Buddies. Sidekicks? Boon companion or boot the companion? Relationships are so complex!”
The third Pod called “social ORDERS” includes a story about two unlikely refugees who encounter unanticipated obstacles when they try to cross the border in a play by Guy Newsham called The Other Side. This Pod is suitable for most ages and its description reads: “Independence. Interdependence. When there’s no comfort in conformity, something’s out of order.”
“Sometimes we get what we’ve longed for. Sometimes, what we get, is long overdue.” That’s the description of Pod number four: “past DUE.” Plays include Daphne of Evora by Samantha Machado which is about Daphne who faces a forced marriage to an English duke after being stolen from her homeland and Cataloguing the Stars by Andrew Lee where Agnes and Alex’s relationship is catalogued in notes that reach across the chasm of space and time. This Pod contains mature themes and is therefore intended for a mature audience.
Interview with Michael Halfin Artistic Director of the Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival
“We’ve received submissions from every province in Canada and from Canadians from around the world. We’ve received scripts from China, Tasmania, Australia, Ireland, many states throughout the U.S., and so on, and I think that Canadians are catching on to the idea that this is their festival.”
Michael Halfin, Artistic & Executive Director NNPF
Michael Halfin, Artistic & Executive Director NewMarket National Play Festival
I talked with founder and Artistic Director of the NNPF Michael Halfin and to Dale Sheldrake the director of my play about this year’s festival.
JAMES HUTCHISON
Michael, I understand you had retired and when we think of retirement most of us think of golf courses and trips to Europe and working in the garden, but after eight months of retirement, you decided to create a national festival of ten-minute plays. Where did the idea for the festival come from, and why did you take on the challenge of putting the festival together?
MICHAEL HALFIN
I’ve always been fascinated by the ten-minute play format, and as a drama teacher, I’d found it to be a great format to teach students dramatic structure, acting process, characterization…really the whole package that full length plays offer, without having to deal with pages and pages of text that kids are resistant to reading. Moreover, I’d read these plays and sometimes find myself weeping at the end – and they were only 10 pages long! It wasn’t long before I was getting kids to write their own ten-minute scripts and inviting professional playwrights into my classroom to dramaturge with them. The results were outstanding. I knew this was a format for writers, actors, and audience, and so the opportunity to create a national play festival exclusively for Canadian writers would be so inviting to playwrights because of the format’s tight structure and huge dramatic pay off just seemed logical to me.
As for retirement, I felt after 35 years it was time to leave teaching and apply all I’d learned in a different way. I’ve always been a creator, and I guess, it’s just impossible for me to stop.
JAMES
One of the things I really like about the festival is the fact that people have a chance to see twenty-four original Canadian plays. What has been the response from the playwriting community across the country, and why do you feel it’s important to showcase so many plays?
MICHAEL
I think what’s been most delightful to see in these first two years is where people are submitting scripts from. We’ve received submissions from every province in Canada and from Canadians from around the world. We’ve received scripts from China, Tasmania, Australia, Ireland, many states throughout the U.S., and so on, and I think that Canadians are catching on to the idea that this is their festival. We don’t “theme” the festival. People can write whatever they want, and what we consistently find, is that Canadians are attuned to the Zeitgeist and have a kind of “collective unconsciousness” and tend to write scripts on the same themes in a given year. So, we select twenty-four and they just naturally fall into the six-pack pods we build around themes that are common in those six scripts.
Breanne Dietrich, Jake Wilkinson, in A Little Reservation. Book & Lyrics by Trevor Curran; Music by JaeMoon Lee. Directed by Mandy Roveda. Photo: Jason Wighton – Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival
JAMES
The first year was very successful and in its second year, the festival is getting bigger and better having expanded from two days to five. What is your ultimate vision of what the festival can become?
MICHAEL
Ultimately, I’d like to see us expand into divisions of the festival that would be ten-minute, one act, full-length, and even full-length musicals, but for now, the most important thing is establishing that we are a credible, committed organization that respects creative artists and wants to open the door to the diverse voices of our country. And just as importantly, honour that ten-minute format that appeals to every generation–especially the i-generation people who want information fast and to the point. If we want theatre to be viable, we have to get the youngest generations into our houses.
JAMES
How is the community of Newmarket involved in the production and running of the festival?
MICHAEL
At the board level, all of us are volunteers. We don’t take a single cent from gate receipts for ourselves. Last year, we were overwhelmed by volunteers and we couldn’t find enough work for them to do. This year, we’ve identified our areas of need more clearly to make the best use of people’s time during festival week. We’ve also had tremendous buy-in by the restaurateurs and merchants in the downtown core who are giving ticket holders discounts on their meals and purchases. Just incredible validation from small business owners! And I can’t say enough about the Town of Newmarket itself. Without their support, this festival simply couldn’t happen. Lastly, we have a number of people in town who are billeting a number of our artists for the month of July. You can’t ask for better community support than that.
JAMES
Why should someone come to the festival?
MICHAEL
First, I think they should come for the plays! This is theatre for people who’ve never liked theatre. My 22-year-old son hates theatre, but even he likes this format. He said, “Dad, I know if five minutes in I don’t like the play, at least I know a new one is coming five minutes later. I don’t have to sit there being bored for two hours!” For experienced theatre-goers, the themed pods of six plays give them a full diet of what they’ve come for. We also build the festival around the plays. Last year, local visual artists curated an entire exhibition around our four pod themes, and we’ll be doing that again. We have 14 playwrights coming to do readings of some of their other work before the audience engages the performance of their ten-minute play. We have director and actor talkback sessions, historical tours, and have built Buskerfest into our program so people have lots of live performances to see on the streets. It’s fun. It’s great theatre and it tells us who we are as Canadians. All of these activities are free. The only thing you pay for is your theatre ticket. Somebody tell me where you can get more bang for twenty bucks?
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Artistic Director Michael Halfin watches a rehearsal of actors Ilya Ilysshyk and Meghan de Chastelain in For the Love of Austen by Stefanie Curran, directed by Dale Sheldrake. Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival
Interview with Dale Sheldrake Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival
“Telling and hearing stories keeps us in the emotional and intellectual company of one another. I think deep down, people desire to know they can rely on other people, and stories and theatre can offer that by creating a like-minded culture.”
Dale Sheldrake, Director Valentines’ Day
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One of the exciting things about having your plays produced at festivals is the chance to connect with the artists who are producing your play. I’ve made connections in England, and Australia and now in Newmarket Ontario. A few weeks ago I connected with the director of my play Dale Sheldrake.
JAMES HUTCHISON
Dale, you’re directing four plays in this year’s festival. Which plays are you directing and what attracted you to each particular play?
DALE SHELDRAKE
I’m directing Hero by Peter Cavell, For the Love of Austen by Stefanie Curran, Pausing At The Fringe by David Healey, and Valentine’s Day. Each play has aspects of love involved in its story: the need for love, lost and found love, new love, old love, restricting love, freeing love. These aspects of love shift and evolve in each play and reveal how present and important love is to every person’s day, existence and lifetime.
I was drawn to these plays because they’re well told but also because three of them have messages of hope in them regarding love. That’s a theme I like to share with audiences when possible. Valentine’s Day is different because of its context, but still, the main character, Tom, reflects on how his life was more meaningful than he could have ever hoped for because of his love for his wife Heather. So his hope is in reflecting on the love he had which comforts him in his current lonely life. That’s a nice twist.
JAMES
You’ve had a rich and successful career working in film and television on lots of different shows including The Handmaids Tale and Penny Dreadful. You’re a playwright and published poet, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, a singer and a musician, and apparently make a mean Tex-Mex chili. You’ve worked in a lot of different mediums and have experience in a lot of different areas of production. With all these various skills what in particular do you use as a theatre director to help bring a story to life on the stage?
DALE
Everything, really. I love storytelling and can’t get it out of my system. Having experience in different entertainment mediums and settings has been valuable for staging a performance and helpful with directing. As a starting point, I read the play and visualize it, considering what is connecting with me emotionally, in regards to the characters and what’s happening between them. This opens up aspects of presentation that can be applied to the story. The purpose, of course, is to figure out what will make the audience best able to relate personally to these characters, feel the emotions the story conveys and understand the underlying lesson? I think most stories try to teach a lesson of some kind or offer a perspective on one.
JAMES
As a person deeply involved with the creation and telling of stories why do you think people have this deep desire to hear and tell stories?
DALE
People need and want social interaction, whether it’s in person or not. Stories tell us about each other and give us a lens to look at ourselves and our behaviour. Live storytelling, like theatre, brings groups of people together, entertains us, and lets us share in emotional experiences without being personally involved. It’s safe and it feels good to laugh with others, and shed a tear with these sudden communities and friendships. Telling and hearing stories keeps us in the emotional and intellectual company of one another. I think deep down, people desire to know they can rely on other people, and stories and theatre can offer that by creating a like-minded culture.
JAMES
You had a table read with all the actors a few weeks ago where all twenty-four plays were read. What was that experience like for the people involved in the festival?
DALE
The full company table read was super! There are actors who would never have met each other during the festival because of different schedules so it worked as an introduction. It gave a depth and shape to what a huge commitment and undertaking it is to put this festival together. It gave an overview of all of the terrific writing and talent involved. Everyone loved it!
JAMES
What do you find most inspirational about the NNPF and want people to know about the festival?
DALE
The Newmarket play festival preparations are incredibly professional, and having everything creative in one place: rehearsals, set design, wardrobe, staging, props, it all just buzzes like a beehive on certain days. Most inspiring is the growing presence of the magic of theatre, of numerous people working together to build something visual, thought-provoking, heart-grabbing and grand from the words on the page. Excitement grows a little day by day as we near opening night.
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The Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival runs from July 25 to July 29th. Tickets are just twenty bucks per show and there are four shows of six plays based on a common theme available to see. You can get tickets and check out the complete festival schedule at the Newmarket National Play Festival Website.
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Man, I wish I could be there. I’d love to see all the plays and meet the other playwrights and actors and directors and I’d definitely be heading to the Chip+Malt for some fish and chips. The Chip+Malt is just one of the many restaurants and retailers offering discounts during the festival. But that’s what festivals are – they’re about going out with friends, making new friends, seeing some shows, talking about those shows, having something to eat, and exploring the community. And the great thing is the world wide web expands that community and it lets me offer my support to the festival and help spread the word. In fact, anyone with a Twitter, Facebook or Instagram account can help support the arts by just letting people know about the festivals they attend and the theatre they see. I have no doubt this year’s festival will be a huge success and Michael’s plans to grow the festival beyond the ten-minute format to a celebration of all theatre formats is an exciting prospect for Candian playwrights. In the meantime, I want to acknowledge the creative talent working on my show and all the actors, directors, designers, stage managers, and volunteers that make this festival possible. Bravo!
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Cast and Director for Valentine’s Day
Dan Karpenchuk – Old Age and Treachery; The Other Side; Valentine’s Day: After spending a lifetime as a broadcast journalist in Canada and Europe, about fifteen years ago, Dan turned to his other great love, acting. His film credits include: MurdochMysteries, Taken, Forensic Factor, Mayday and Masterminds. His most recent theatre credits include; Oakes in The Prince of Naples at the Kingston Fringe Festival, Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street at Upper Canada Playhouse in Morrisburg, Falstaff in the Merry Wives of Windsor the Humber River Shakespeare, Ivan in Drinking Alone at the Rose Theatre, Brampton, and Andrew Wyke in Sleuth also at the Rose. Dan’s Shakespeare credits include Othello, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, and All’s Well That Ends Well. Dan heads back to Morrisburg this winter for the Upper Canada Playhouse production of The Christmas Express which opens on November 30. Dan is thrilled and grateful to be a part of this year’s Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival.
Kyra Van Den Enden: Daphne of Evora; Late Romances; Valentine’s Day: Kyra Van Den Enden is a Ryerson University Theatre Performance graduate. She is thrilled that she will be continuing her theatre education at the Ecole Internationale De Theatre Jacques Lecoq this fall. Her Acting credits include: The Rover (Dir. Banuta Rubess, 2018); Jack and the Beanstalk (dir. Andrew Lewis Smith, 2017); Eurydice (dir. Robynne Harder, 2017); The Artful Widow (dir. Adam Paolozza, 2017). She also performed in several original works as a part of the 2018 New Voices Festival including two of her own works, DINGBAT DODO DOWN DISCO! which she co-created and directed with Veronica Hortiguela, and Now Presenting the Really Cool, and Totally Awesome Girl On Fire: ANALEISE. She couldn’t be happier to be performing in the Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival for a second year.
Ilyalyashyk – For the Love of Austen; Valentine’s Day: Born in Poltava, Ukraine, Ilya Marvin Ilyashyk, is an actor living in Toronto. He has recently graduated with a BFA-Acting degree from the University of Windsor. Previous credits: Pete- On the Rocks (Small But Mighty Productions), Earnest- The Anger in Earnest and Earnestine (OPIA), Nick- The Plausibility of Teleportation in an Oxygen Deprived Environment (Get-Go), Man- Best Before (Hamilton Frostbites Festival). At the University of Windsor: Bill- The Driver (self-written), Gerry- Dancing at Lughnasa, Fire chief – The Bald Soprano
Tiffany Deobald – Daphne of Evora; The Pipe Test; Valentine’s Day: Tiffany Deobald is an actor from North Battleford, Saskatchewan. She holds an advanced diploma from George Brown College’s Theatre Arts Program (2014). Theatre credits include: Sex&This (Aim for the Tangent), Much Ado About Nothing (Single Thread), The Tempest (Theatre Calgary) and The Mourning After the Night Before (Alumnae Theatre). Film credits include: A Walk in the Park (Aries 6), Outfield (York University), #R.I.P. (Eden Films), INCONTROL (Umbrella Collective Films), Cody Fitz (Umbrella Collective Films). Tiffany is very excited to be working with these new pieces in the Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival and she hopes you enjoy the shows!
Dale Sheldrake: Director – For the Love of Austen; Hero; Pausing at the Fringe; Valentine’s Day: An ADR Supervisor in film and television for over 30 years, Dale works closely with incredible writers and actors on productions such as Vikings, The Tudors, The Borgias, Crash, Barney’s Version, Penny Dreadful, and The Handmaid’s Tale. He’s won several awards for his work and loves that theatre direction and ADR are such compatible aspects in entertainment, both building on the importance of performance, dialogue, storytelling and emotion. He is also a playwright, published poet, author, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker (Helldrivers, OLN 2007), singer and musician, and makes a mean Tex-Mex chili. Theatre directing credits: Of Mice and Men; Standing at The Edge of the Universe of Disunity; The Author; Crazy; Day Care; Brother, Brother (InspiraTO Theatre Festival); Tuesdays With Morrie (Theatre Aurora). Dale is thrilled and inspired to be part of the 2018 Newmarket National Play Festival. He thanks Michael Halfin for the wonderful opportunity, the marvellous crew and actors for their amazing energy, professionalism and talent, but most of all, his wife, Petra, for her love, patience and keeping the fire going at the Newmarket National 10 Minute Play Festival
To fall in love with Asia is one thing. To fall in love in Asia is another. Both have happened to me.
The Star Ferry to Kowloon at night. Lights of Hong Kong behind me. It’s a gift. A dream. A curse. The best thing. The happiest thing. Yet, also theloneliest thing in the world.
Anthony Bourdain – Parts Unknown – Hong Kong
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown- Hong Kong 3/1/18 Tony writing on the Star Ferry – Courtesy of CNN
The Hemingway Solution – that’s a title for a short play idea I’ve had – the Hemingway Solution is of course suicide. There’s always, “the Hemingway solution” so says one of my characters in my, as of yet, unwritten play.
Thoughts of death and suicide are not abnormal. We’re mortal after all. It would be strange not to ponder our own mortality. And once you have an adult mind you can imagine all sorts of “what if” possibilities. “What if I could fly?” “What if I had magical powers?” “What if aliens are already among us?” “What if I am an alien?” “What if I died?”
The movie The Big Chill from 1983 is all about a group of college friends getting together after one of them commits suicide. It’s a movie worth checking out if you haven’t seen it, or if you have seen it, why not see it again. It has a stellar cast. Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum, Glenn Close, Meg Tilly, Jobeth Williams, Tom Berenger, William Hurt, and Mary Kay Place, and it was written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan. I’ve been thinking about this movie because it’s a mainstream film that deals with suicide and questions of life and that’s good because suicide is part of the human experience and so both in our personal thoughts and in our art the subject is going to be explored. And right now there’s seems to be a more urgent need to talk about suicide because suicide rates are on the rise. In the United States, for example, over the last twenty years, CNN reports that twenty-five States have experienced a rise in suicide rates of more than 30% according to statistics released by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But there’s a difference between thinking about suicide in a casual “what if” way and being suicidal. Those are two very different things. When you’re suicidal you’re probably depressed and when you’re depressed you’re in a place of despair and despair means you disconnect from things. You don’t want to see your friends. You don’t want to ask for help, or if you are asking for help you might be doing it in an indirect way. You might reach out with a text or an e-mail or a phone call because you need to connect and talk about your problems but you don’t necessarily say that. Maybe you talk or write about everything else except what’s really on your mind. Because here’s the thing. We’re not supposed to talk about suicidal thoughts – that’s taboo. Especially if you’re a man. It means you’re weak, right? And unfortunately, if you don’t talk about it and you don’t get the help you need the end result could be deadly. And that’s why we need to talk about Anthony Bourdain.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Anthony Bourdain, as have a lot of people, over the last couple of weeks. I knew about him – but I’d never read any of his books or watched any of his shows. He was a famous stranger. The first time I remember being aware of a famous stranger was when Elvis died. His music and personality had always been a part of my life and so when he died, even though I wasn’t a huge fan, I still felt a sense of loss. And Bourdain, like Elvis, is someone I knew about – someone whose shows I would have loved if I had watched them – but I didn’t watch them – that is – until yesterday.
Yesterday I tuned into CNN and I ended up watching the last episode of Parts Unknown where Bourdain travels to Bhutan – with the director of the movie Mother – Darren Aronofsky. Bhutan is a country committed to protecting the environment and its culture. Fifty percent of the land is under some sort of protection and off limits to development. So it makes a lot of sense to have Aronofsky there because his film is all about man’s abuse and destruction of the earth and Bhutan which locally is focused on environmental protection is feeling the direct effects of global warming. The snows no longer fall. And the glaciers are melting. And even though the current government wants to protect the environment, once they open themselves up to the world they will be under increasing pressure to change – because the world has powerful forces motivated by money and profit who don’t give a damn about the environment. Me, I like the Bhutan way of thinking – I like the idea that at least fifty percent of the world should be off-limits to development. But I’m getting sidetracked. I was talking about Anthony Bourdain.
So, I watched the final episode of Parts Unknown – and it was a fascinating glimpse into a really interesting country and a totally different way of life. And then I watched an episode of The Layover with Anthony Bourdain on Netflix where he goes to São Paulo. The thing about Bourdain’s shows, which you probably already know and I didn’t, is that they’re not just about food. They’re really about people and culture. The food is the doorway, and if I had to sum up his style and approach I’d call it authentic and truthful. Maybe that’s why Bourdain comes across as so likable. He’s not pretentious. He loves food. He loves people. He loves going to far-away places.
Anthony Bourdain – Parts Unknown – Newfoundland – Courtesy of CNN
And that’s what struck me most after I watched these shows was Bourdain’s genuine curiosity and interest in other people. That’s something we share. That’s why I studied sociology. That’s why I tell stories. That’s why I thought of being a therapist. That’s why I’ve started to interview people for my blog instead of just writing about my own thoughts and ideas. I want to interview playwrights and actors and designers and anyone else that’s involved in the creation of theatre. You see I’m interested in the creative impulse and what drives people. And I have done a few interviews already. I talked with playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry about her play Survival Skills which deals with the aftermath of suicide and was produced a few years back Off-Broadway. I also talked to Dale Lee Kwong about her cultural coming out story Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets which ran at Lunchbox Theatre this year. And most recently I interviewed actor and playwright Braden Griffiths who is the president of The Betty Mitchell Awards Committee about the Betty Awards and theatre in Calgary.
So, watching Bourdain has inspired me to do more. To dig deeper. To think about what my interviews can be. And so, even though I’m going to work harder on more blog posts and interviews, I’m also going to watch more Anthony Bourdain and in particular, I’m going to watch his show on Hong Kong. Why? Because this show according to Bourdain was the professional highlight of his career. That’s what he told Anderson Cooper at CNN. That’s what he wrote in a guest column for the Hollywood Reporter called, My Cinematic Dream Filming With Asia Argento and Christopher Doyle in Hong Kong which was published just six days before his death. Doesn’t that just hit you in the gut? Here he is saying this is what I’ve been reaching for professionally all my life and a few days later he kills himself. I don’t know if there’s a connection between the two but I so wish someone had been there – that at that dark moment in his life he hadn’t found himself alone.
Because we all face dark days. We all face times when we need a friend. I think one of the other reasons Bourdain’s’ death has been on my mind so much is simply his age. He’s not much older than I am. In fact, oddly enough he’s about the same age Hemingway was when Hemingway killed himself. Hemingway died at 61 a few weeks before his 62nd birthday. Birthdays can be troubling events. Not everyone finds the passing of another year something to celebrate. But growing old is inevitable. So too is dying. So you’d think the inevitability of death would make life worth living but it doesn’t when you’re depressed because when you’re depressed even the smallest daily tasks can seem overwhelming and take incredible amounts of energy to complete. Basically, life becomes exhausting. So, how are you supposed to help someone when they won’t talk about their feelings or ask for help? You need to be sensitive to changes in their behaviour and routines. Those can be clues to how they’re feeling and if you suspect a friend or family member is depressed or suicidal then ask them how they’re doing. And then listen. Don’t judge. Just listen. And then urge them to talk to a healthcare professional and get the help they need.
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NOTE: I wrote the original draft of this article on Monday, June 25th which was Bourdain’s 62nd birthday. I didn’t know that at the time it was just one of those weird coincidences you sometimes encounter in life. I’d watched the final episode of Parts Unknown on Sunday, June 24th on CNN
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Other interviews and links about Anthony Bourdain that may be of interest:
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: Anthony Bourdain travels the world uncovering lesser-known places and exploring their cultures and cuisine.
Tony David Simon, the creator of The Wire, pays tribute to and writes about his friendship with Anthony Bourdain. A friendship that, for Simon, began when he binged on episodes of No Reservations one otherwise uneventful Labour Day Weekend. June 2018
Anthony Bourdain: The Thrillist Interview I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to sit down with Anthony Bourdain for an interview. I will always remember our wide-ranging, candid conversation. His untimely passing is a great loss for all of us who loved his books, his television shows and the passion he brought to talking about food and travel. July 2016
If you or someone you know is facing difficult challenges then here a couple of links with information about suicide and suicide prevention.
We need to talk about male suicide: While suicide prevention efforts have largely focused on youth and young adults, we really need to be talking about middle-aged men and what can be done to help them, says political scientist Shannon Sampert. CBC Oct 2017
Hidden Pain: Everything is Not Fine – Writer Poorna Bell on the tragic suicide of her husband, Rob, and the terrible tendency of men to hide their true feelings from loved ones.
Quota gets a London production and wins the Audience Choice Award as part of the British Theatre Challenge.
“All societies are based on codes of behaviour and when someone deviates from that code there has to be a way to handle the situation otherwise chaos would reign supreme, and we don’t want that now do we. We want everything nice and tidy. All the socks in the sock drawer and all the undies in the undie drawer.”
That’s a line from my play QUOTA. It’s what Dave Dixon gets told by Kathie, the Civic Census taker, after he gets flagged for corrective action.
QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
QUOTA premiered at The British Theatre Challenge Act II in London England at the LOST Theatre. The production featured Anthony Acosta as Mr. Dixon, Stacey Norris as Kathie, and Alex Dowdin as Officer Carmichael. Photograph by Rah Petherbridge Art & Photography
I wrote QUOTA while I was doing a little research for another play about the internment camps that the Canadian government ran during World War One and World War Two.* It’s always bothered me that we were fighting dictatorships that put people in camps while we were doing the same thing. Of course our camps weren’t concentration camps but once you have a different set of laws and rules applied to one group in your society – how do you keep it from going to the extreme?
Maybe you keep it from going to the extreme by making sure the rule of law applies to everyone equally regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.
Of course that’s only if you believe that everyone is equal. Not everyone believes this. And if you’ve seen Avenue Q you know that we’re all a little bit racist. We’re all human and we make assumptions and have distorted beliefs about people and sometimes we’re not even aware of our own prejudice. But that’s a lot different than laws being enforced by a government that are intended to limit the rights and freedoms of a particular group simply because of of that group’s differences.
But governments are not composed of robots. Governments and Prime Ministers and Presidents and Kings and Dictators are all people. And so I have to wonder what kind of people are they? Are they good leaders? I think not if they allow such laws to be passed and enforced.
But what makes a good leader? I think good leaders don’t seek power for themselves but instead seek to empower others. Bad leaders are afraid of diversity. They’re afraid of others having power. They see the cup as half full and they want what’s in the cup all for themselves. And while I know there are lots of different definitions of leadership I think great leaders enlarge the world they don’t limit it. They share.
You know one of the purposes of theatre and story is to provoke discussion. Discussion about politics, morality, relationships, love, religion, and power. And comedy allows us to shine a light on attitudes and behaviours in a way that drama doesn’t. That’s why I wrote QUOTA. I wanted to take a look at how individuals go from being a member of society to becoming an identified minority and having their rights violated.
So, I’m excited to announce that QUOTA gets a London production and is being produced by Sky Blue Theatre as part of The British Theatre Challenge – Act II. The British Theatre Challenge is an annual international playwriting contest run by the Sky Blue Theatre Company and this year, in addition to the ten winning plays produced in December 2016, an additional six plays will be produced on Friday April 7, 2017 at the Lost Theatre in London, England. If you happen to be in London check it out.
QUOTA is the story of Dave Dixon who – while looking for a job on-line – is interrupted by the Metro City Census Taker. This is unlike any census Dixon has ever taken and when he’s asked whether or not he was spanked as a child he refuses to answer. That causes the Census taker to call for police back up and Dixon finds himself being targeted for corrective action because of his unemployment and the fact that he’s left handed. When a 2 kilo bag of white sugar is found on the premises and Dixon is facing jail time for trafficking he has to make a moral choice between naming names and protecting himself.
QUOTA gets a London Production
Guilty by Pete Barrett: Guilty takes Alice Golding one step through the looking glass into a bizarre courtroom scene, peopled by men, where she is tried for her many failures: her failure to get on with her own mother, her neglect of her children, her failure to find a job and contribute to the family budget, her failure to maintain her looks and figure and the consumption of an entire cheesecake in one go, thereby robbing her family of a Sunday treat and leaving them bereft. Of course, there can only be one sentence: life.
About Michael by Peter Anthony Fields: A first-year high school English teacher meets with the school’s administrators for what he believes is his mid-term job evaluation. However, as the meeting progresses, he soon discovers that the evaluation is actually an interrogation…
Threatened Panda Fights Back by Rex McGregor : As the World Wildlife Fund’s poster boy for endangered animals, Ling enjoys a comfortable life full of adulation and all the bamboo he can eat. But when a rival species challenges him for the role, he risks losing everything.
Mother’s Ruin by Michelle McCormick: As new parents, life for Esther and Tom has become a continuous cycle of miscommunication and long waits for invitations that never arrive. Then one simple question threatens to change everything. ‘Where’s the baby?’
The Waiting Room by Steve Shapiro: This is the place where you wait between lives. Barbara and Helmut arrive separately and must be assessed to see if they have fulfilled their pre-incarnation pledges, and while The Girl and Dinesh negotiate a better life next time. One of them is destined to make a mark in history.
Sky Blue Theatre strives to produce diverse and relevant works as well as being a hub of creativity and professional development for emerging artists. Lost Theatre is dedicated to promoting and developing young and emerging talent through regular productions, festivals, training, workshops and showcases in addition to year-round education and outreach activities.
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* Internment in Canada – World War I & World War II
At the beginning of World War I, the Government of Canada enacted the War Measures Act which gave it the power to suspend and limit civil liberties as well as the right to incarcerate “enemy aliens”. Enemy Aliens were citizens of states at war with Canada and who were living in Canada during the war. The camps were operated from 1914 to 1920. Twenty-four camps housed 8,579 men which included 5,000 Ukrainians and 2009 Germans. The camps provided forced labour which was used to build infrastructure as well as some of Canada’s best-known landmarks such as Banff National Park.
During the Second World War 40 camps held an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 prisoners. This included Germans and Italians and after Pearl Harbor approximately 20,000 Japanese Canadians were taken from their homes on Canada’s West Coast without any charge or due process and placed in remote areas of eastern British Columbia. The Canadian Government stripped them of their property and pressured them to accept mass deportation after the war ended. Most of the Japanese Canadians that were placed in camps were Canadian Citizens.
When we read a book, watch a movie, go out for a meal we judge it. We either like it or we don’t. We all have opinions and we generally share those opinions with our friends and family. Word of mouth is still the best way to spread the news. Why? Because usually word of mouth means people are talking with people they know. They have a relationship and that means they’re better able to judge the recommendation and they know from experience whether or not what their friend likes will be something they like.
And I think the same holds true for critics. While we may not know the critic personally if we read enough of their articles we gain a sense of whether or not this critic’s views match our own. That’s one of the things we’re looking for. We’re looking for someone who has a similar view as us so we can decide which of the many movies or theatre shows we’d like to spend our hard-earned money on.
Now, I have, on occasion, used this blog to recommend particular shows that I’ve liked but I don’t consider myself a critic. That’s a different profession and one that seems to be disappearing with the collapse of conventional media. At one time I would get my local paper and I could find a list of all the theatre productions coming up as well as concert listings and other arts-related events. It’s harder to find that information gathered in a central location nowadays and one of the things being cut and eliminated from newspapers is arts coverage. I think we’re in a time of transition. I think there will be online sources of information that will provide local coverage in the future beyond what we see on social media and places like Yelp or Facebook. Or we may see Facebook evolve so that all events for a particular city can be viewed as a list of some sort.
The thing is if you’re a lover of the arts and you’re lucky enough to still have some form of local arts coverage I encourage you to share the online reviews and event information through social media. Newspapers can see how many people read an article and how many shares it gets. It’s still all about eyeballs. The more eyeballs the greater the revenue potential when it comes to advertising. If you don’t read the articles and don’t share them then why would a news outlet pay someone to write about the arts – they won’t.
So what is it I do if it’s not criticism? I think it’s commentary. I read a HowlRound article called Chloe Veltman on Arts Criticism where she talks about the difference between Arts Criticism and Commentary and I think that’s a good distinction to keep in mind. You can read the entire article at the bottom of this post. I’m not, when it comes to theatre, interested in writing about the productions I wouldn’t recommend. I’m much more interested in helping to promote the shows I like. In the past, I’d shoot off an e-mail to a few friends with a recommendation when I’d seen a good production. Now I have my blog, so when I see something I think is worth a friend’s time and money I can share it with a wider audience.
And you can do the same. And I know a lot of people are already sharing their opinions and recommendations, but if you don’t then I encourage you to let the world know when you see something you love.
Jamie Gahlon asked arts journalist Chloe Veltman to answer some questions about criticism. She kindly obliged.
What is the state of arts criticism today, as compared to a decade ago?
There is relatively little genuine arts criticism in America today. But there is a lot of arts commentary.
I was thinking about this recently as I wandered through downtown Austin, TX, as the South by Southwest Festival was entering its final throes.
For the past five days, this city has been a playground for musicians and lovers of music. I don’t know how to begin to quantify the amount of discussion in writing, video and audio that the festival generated. I myself contributed to the overall noise, writing my blog, lies like truth, every day during my stay here (as well as during last week’s SXSW Interactive Festival.)
What I wrote provided hopefully interesting commentary on the music I experienced and other facets of the SXSW scene. But it wasn’t criticism, I realized. And with that realization, I felt bad.
The thing is that criticism, when practiced diligently, is a much higher calling than commentary. Anyone can comment on something.
But to construct an engaging, deeply felt, educational and entertaining response to a work of art is an art form in itself. And unless I spend the necessary time digesting the work, reading around it and thinking about it before putting my thoughts into the public domain, then it’s not criticism. It’s merely commentary.
Meanwhile, true criticism is dying. (I know, I know, it’s a cliché to say this, but I can’t help myself because it’s true.)
Today, criticism is really the purview of a few people who still have those precious staff critics’ jobs for mainstream media organizations and those for whom money and time are meaningless. I am talking trust fund babies and trophy wives. That’s too bad.
If the thinking is that social networking is replacing professional criticism—and nixed a professional review’s ability to drive sales—then can some middle ground be found between professional criticism and interactive social networking and if so, what would that look like?
This question carries the assumption that the point of criticism is to drive ticket sales. Box office revenue is one by-product of criticism, but in my view it has always been a minor one.
And I don’t think that the falling off of this aspect of criticism in the wake of the growth of social networking is hugely responsible for the demise of arts criticism in the media. It’s only part of the story.
In any case, if I accept this assumption, I would say that the middle ground, at least in the short term, is the acceptance of the fact that criticism is something that must be created by people who are passionate about art but not dependent on criticism as a way to make a living.
Once this reality has been established and accepted (and perhaps it’s just a short-term reality) then it’s a question of harnessing the web’s filtering power to allow the best of the (mostly amateur) voices to rise to the top.
So the middle ground is likely to be a mixture of the work of the few remaining professional critics, seasoned amateur critics (who may well once have been paid for their work in this field) and members of the public who have no particular arts writing background but have a strong enough editorial voice to be heard above the din.
Describe your arts criticism utopia.
In my arts criticism utopia, I would have the resources to practice criticism rather than commentary. And every day would bring a lively conversation between a wide community of stakeholders, including members of the public, artists and journalists, about art.
“This piece, “Chloe Veltman on Arts Criticism” by Jamie Gahlon was originally published on HowlRound, a knowledge commons by and for the theatre community, on March 27, 2012.”
Every year on March 27th the International Theatre Institute celebrates World Theatre Day. On that day a figure of world stature is asked to share his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace. Past contributors have included John Malkovich, Edward Albee, and Eugéne Ionesco.
Art makes us look in the mirror. It reflects who we are as a people a culture and a society. The mirror does not hide the scars and neither should our art. We should reflect on the whole: both the good and the bad.
And one of the ways we reflect on who we are as humans is through story and one of the ways we present story is on stage. And that’s why we still gather in groups to experience the comedy and tragedy of life. Theatre has a place in society. It always will. It will not die. We are social creatures and theatre is one of the original social medias.
I thought it might be interesting to dive into the archives, beginning with the first World Theatre Day message delivered by Jean Cocteau in 1962, and see whether or not these messages from the past still have relevance in today’s world.
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“It is the nature of the theatre to breed this paradox: that history, which as time goes on, becomes deformed, and mythology, which, as time goes on, becomes established, have their only true moment of reality upon the stage.”
“In a time when diplomacy and politics have such terribly short and feeble arms, the delicate but sometimes lengthy reach of art must bear the burden of holding together the human community.”
“The theatre and its sister arts cannot aim high enough in their responsibility towards society. Our effectiveness is great, and transcends national boundaries. We invite people to our theatre to present to them an image of reality in an entertaining, wise and agreeable form, thus enabling them to recognize reality. We, the people of the theatre, try with our work to make our planet at last fit to live: and that still means above all, that we must create a theatre for a peaceful present and a friendly future, in which man is a helpmate to man.”
“Art, as the saying goes, knows no frontiers. The theatre should have no frontiers either. Transcending ideological divergencies, caste, race, national outlook and individual countries, the theatre should be a universal country, the meeting place of all men who share the same anguish and the same hopes revealed by the imagination, and should be neither arbitrary nor realistic but an expression of our identity, our continuity and our oneness.”
“The theatre taught man to face himself honestly, with infinite scrutiny; to confront his guilt and assume responsibility for himself; it taught him to consider and rise to what he could be rather than bow to limitations he has been led to accept. It taught him equality through protest and how one man alone is an entire universe.”
“…not a day goes by without learning of increasingly cruel acts of violence and terror, of dangerously tense situations and armed conflict. Every day we witness the growing hatred of one human being for another, mutual intolerance and brutal violations of human rights which, in the field of international relations become transformed into threats of catastrophe.
A self-destructive fever seems to have humanity in its grip. In our attempt to prevent these catastrophes we have resorted to a tragic and paradoxical form of therapy; struggling to maintain life we undermine its roots; declaring peace we accelerate the insane arms race, protecting people’s freedom we violate their sovereignty; solemnly proclaiming the Charter of the Rights of Man we trample human dignity underfoot. The UNESCO Constitution asserts that wars begin in the minds of men and that it is in their minds that peace must be built – a lasting peace founded on the intellectual and moral solidarity of humanity.”
“This day enables us to focus on all that unites us, that links us to one another, through our daily joys and cares. But above all, it provides an opportunity to look on the other, on another culture, at the other end of the planet. If, kindred in poetry, theatre artists often anticipate the reality of tomorrow and have a foreboding of the destiny of humanity, they also represent its memory!
The Second World War ended 40 years ago. The world of theatre remembers. Theatre, so often harassed, persecuted throughout the ages, has become the symbol of resistance to all types of oppression; theatre which identifies itself to life, for creation is life, is witness to this renascent life.
From the end of the nightmare a great hope emerged: that of mutual understanding between peoples.”
“Today, as in the past, Theatre must contribute to enlightening our minds, and to giving battle on all fronts against barbarity on our planet. Now, more than ever, it needs to make its presence felt in our societies, caught up as they are in a web of racist and exclusive attitudes and practices; it must make people think and arouse solidarity, all things which contribute to human dignity. Theatre must act as a precursor, illuminating people’s self-awareness and their conscience.”
“I have been in totalitarian societies where people have been imprisoned, have died for access to the arts, and I live in a society where the self-censorship is as ruthless as any imposed from without. The paradox is uglier than we should have to consider.”
“Ethnic fanatics and thugs are casting the world back into its darkest past. People of the theatre who engage their audiences in dialogue about the dramas of the world of today and the dramas of the human spirit point the way to the future. There is another war going on in Sarajevo beside the one we see on television. It is an unarmed conflict between those who hate and kill others only because they are different, and people of the theatre who bring the uniqueness of human beings alive and make dialogue possible. In this war the people of theatre must win. They are the ones who point towards the future as a peaceful conversation between all human beings and societies about the mysteries of the world and Being.
These people of the theatre are serving peace and they remind us that theatre still has meaning.”
“Both the theatre and the international arena demand care and concern, but no less do they demand optimism. Without optimism, mixed with a good helping of realism, no theatre can survive. The theatre, as a microcosm of our society, reflects and sometimes reinvents what we do in the outside world. All human conflict and strife, ambitions and dreams are generously depicted there. The entire world’s a stage, as a rather well-known English dramatist put it, and on that stage, the actor becomes the symbol of man with all his shortcomings and frailties, with all his high hopes and ideals.”
“Theatre subtly permeates the human soul gripped by fear and suspicion, by altering the image of self – and opening a world of alternatives for the individual and hence the community. It can give meaning to daily realities while forestalling an uncertain future. It can engage in the politics of peoples’ situations in simple straightforward ways. Because it is inclusive, theatre can present an experience capable of transcending previously held misconceptions.”
“May your work be compelling and original. May it be profound, touching, contemplative, and unique. May it help us to reflect on the question of what it means to be human, and may that reflection be blessed with heart, sincerity, candor, and grace. May you overcome adversity, censorship, poverty and nihilism, as many of you will most certainly be obliged to do. May you be blessed with the talent and rigor to teach us about the beating of the human heart in all its complexity, and the humility and curiosity to make it your life’s work. And may the best of you – for it will only be the best of you, and even then only in the rarest and briefest moments – succeed in framing that most basic of questions, “how do we live?” Godspeed.”
“Under trees in tiny villages, and on high tech stages in global metropolis; in school halls and in fields and in temples; in slums, in urban plazas, community centres and inner-city basements, people are drawn together to commune in the ephemeral theatrical worlds that we create to express our human complexity, our diversity, our vulnerability, in living flesh, and breath, and voice.”
There is only one theatre which is surely not needed by anyone – I mean a theatre of political games, a theatre of a political “mousetraps”, a theatre of politicians, a futile theatre of politics. What we certainly do not need is a theatre of daily terror – whether individual or collective, what we do not need is the theatre of corpses and blood on the streets and squares, in the capitals or in the provinces, a phony theatre of clashes between religions or ethnic groups…”
“More than literature, more than cinema, the theatre —which demands the presence of human beings before other human beings— is marvellously suited to the task of saving us from becoming algorithms, pure abstractions.
Let us remove everything superfluous from the theatre. Let us strip it naked. Because the simpler theatre is, the more apt it is to remind us of the only undeniable thing: that we are, while we are in time; that we are only while we are flesh and bone and hearts beating in our breasts; that we are the here and now, and no more.
Long live the theatre. The most ancient art. The art of being in the present. The most wondrous art. Long live the theatre.”
“As the world hangs by the hour and by the minute on a daily drip feed of news reportage, may I invite all of us, as creators, to enter our proper scope and sphere and perspective of epic time, epic change, epic awareness, epic reflection, and epic vision? We are living in an epic period in human history and the deep and consequential changes we are experiencing in human beings’ relations to themselves, to each other, and to nonhuman worlds are nearly beyond our abilities to grasp, to articulate, to speak of, and to express.
This is a time for deep refreshment of our minds, of our senses, of our imaginations, of our histories, and of our futures. This work cannot be done by isolated people working alone. This is work that we need to do together. Theater is the invitation to do this work together.”
“I am speaking to you today, not just to speak, or even to celebrate the father of all arts, “theatre,” on his world day. Rather, I invite you to stand together, all of us, hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, to call out at the top of our voices, as we are accustomed to on the stages of our theatres, and to let our words come out to awaken the conscience of the entire world, to search within you for the lost essence of humanity. The free, tolerant, loving, sympathetic, gentle and accepting human. And to let you reject this vile image of brutality, racism, bloody conflicts, unilateral thinking, and extremism. Humans have walked on this earth and under this sky for thousands of years, and will continue to walk. So take your feet out of the mire of wars and bloody conflicts, and leave them at the door of the stage. Perhaps then our humanity, which has become clouded in doubt, will once again become a categorical certainty that makes us all truly qualified to be proud that we are humans and that we are all brothers and sisters in humanity.”
Wooden Bridge at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden in Lethbridge Alberta
More than ever we need to build bridges of understanding between nations and people and theatre is one of the ways we can do that. And maybe the future of theatre is to be found not just in the performing spaces of basements and churches and theatres but in our ability to share thoughts and ideas across new forms of social media. And maybe the future of theatre, in combination with today’s social media, is one of the ways we can help to promote understanding and compassion throughout the world.
I suppose now more than sixty years after the first International Theatre Day the message is still the same. The echoes of the past reach us in the present and while we can never eliminate violence we can certainly help to reduce the amount of violence in the world.
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. And Mama in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter’s nap.
When out on the roof there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the lustre of midday to objects below, when, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles, his coursers they came, and he whistled and shouted and called them by name:
“Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky so up to the house-top the coursers they flew, with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof the prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head and was turning around, down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes–how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself. A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk. And laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
