National Advisory welcomes Sandra Oh, Peter Herrndorf, Don Shipley and Victoria Steele
As co-chairs of the MNTF National Advisory Committee, Marti Maraden and Cindy Reid are delighted to welcome our newest members: Peter Herrndorf, Sandra Oh, Victoria Steele and Don Shipley, all of who bring with them tremendous skills and knowledge as well great enthusiasm for our vibrant festival. They join continuing members Roberta Beiser, Ken Gass, Jock Osler, The Honourable David Peterson and Dr. Shirley Thomson.
We would also like to thank past members Albert Benoit, Antoni Cimolino, Joy Coghill, Michael Dobbin, Nona MacDonald Heaslip, Dr. Gordon Jones, Hester Kroft, Thomas Peacocke, Mary Pratt, Nada Ristich, Dr. Rose Wolfe, Peggy Walt and Dr. Joyce Zemans, and we honour the memory of founding members Bill Glassco, Mavor Moore and Nancy McNee.
Masterclass for Directors
The Masterclass is open to both mid-career directors and established theatre artists making a transition to directing. Participants will be led and mentored by National Arts Centre Artistic Director Peter Hinton who will guide the nine days of instruction.
The program will include a three-day session with British director Josette Bushell-Mingo and Canadian icon Martha Henry. Best known in Canada for directing The Penelopiad, a co-production between the National Arts Centre of Canada and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Josette Bushell-Mingo is currently Artistic Director of The Silent Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden, Artistic Director of PUSH, an Associate Artist of The Almeida Theatre, London and a holder of the O.B.E. (Order of the British Empire). Martha Henry has directed across the country, holds seven honorary doctorates, a Governor General’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Performing Arts, the Order of Ontario and is a Companion of the Order of Canada. She currently is the director of Stratford’s Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre.
Applicants must be Equity members in good standing. Each participant’s tuition will be subsidized as part of the Association’s mandate to support high-quality professional development opportunities available to Equity members. The masterclass will take place during the 2010 Magnetic North Theatre Festival.
The deadline to apply is November 19, 2009. The application from is available on EQUITYONLINE at www.caea.com or email masterclass@caea.com for more information.
Presented by Canadian Actors’ Equity Association in association with the upcoming Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario
Congratulations Mary Vingoe
Former Artistic Director of Magnetic North, Mary Vingoe won the 2009 Portia White Prize at the fourth Creative Nova Scotia Awards Gala held in October in Yarmouth County.
Ms. Vingoe, an actor, director, playwright and founder of Eastern Front and Ship’s Company theatres in Dartmouth and Parrsboro, received $18,000. She named emerging playwright Natasha MacLellan of Margaree as the recipient of the $7,000 Protege Prize. Ms. MacLellan honed her skills at the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre.
The prize is named for the late Portia White who overcame adversity to become a world famous classical singer.
Artistic Director Ken Cameron was invited to be part of the CINARS delegation attending the 9th Performing Arts Market Seoul in Korea. Here Ken shares his experience with us.
The Performing Arts Market Seoul is 5 days from Oct 12 to 16, and this year had 1,505 participants from 45 countries and I swear I met them all in person. Over those five days there were 4 showcases in theatre, 6 showcases in dance, 4 showcases in multidisciplinary arts, 85 booth stands, 10 Industry panels. It was refreshing to see that PAMS has also adopted the speed-dating modality and hosted 210 speed datings; theirs were an uncurated speed-dating meeting point, and it was interesting for me to hear feedback from artists in attendance about how that did or didn't work for them.
Like contact events in Canada, the Performing Arts Market Seoul is just what its name describes it to be: a marketplace. In that sense, its very different from attending a festival like Magnetic North or PuSh, which is primarily a festival experience with an Industry Series as a secondary activity. PAMS is all about making connections between presenters and artists across many disciplines.
Attending these international events is always a bit odd for me, because I am not really there to book Korean work for our Canadian theatre festival: I'm there to make connections with fellow festival directors and invite them to come to Magnetic North and look at Canadian work. However, over the past eight years of the festival we have discovered that you can only invite festival directors to take work from Canada so much before they start to figure out that its just a one-way relationship. As part of the year-long Strategic Planning Process Magnetic North is currently undergoing and which many of you have participated in through our series of Focus Groups, we have recognized our commitment to the need for international reciprocity. So one of the things on my mind in Korea was the possibility of a potential Canadian-Korean co-production.
Seoul has a incredibly active theatre community. With a population of over 10 million and 24.5 million in the Seoul National Capital Area its is the world's second largest metropolitan area. I've heard there are over 500 theatres in Seoul proper; one of my hosts told me that the district of Daehangno passed a bylaw that every new building must include an arts space, and as a result there are 150-200 theatres in that district alone.
The most vibrant performances I saw were those that combined the traditional Korean arts with a western sensibility. For instance, I saw a melding of Bertolt Brecht's Good Person of Szechwan and the Korean Pansori style (more info at http://pansoriza.blogspot.com/). A popular form in Korea during the 19th century, pansori featured satires and love stories performed by one singer and one drummer. Just as impressive was the pop band WHOOL who mix traditional Korean instruments with guitar, bas and synthesizer; they often play traditional Korean songs, but they play them really, really, really fast, and have inspired a whole new generation of young Koreans to take an interest in traditional music and instruments.
Of course, Korean hospitality was on display the entire time. The final day at PAMS was my 40th birthday. Feeling a bit lonely, I let that fact slip to one too many people. At the closing ceremonies the President of PAMS called me up onstage even though we were huddled together seeking shelter in the midst of a rainstorm. It was an odd cacophony to hear Happy Birthday sung in both English and Korean, but the song was punctuated with a clap of thunder, as if even the heavens were providing a blessing. So an extra thanks to Park Yong-jae and his team for showing us all the true meaning of hospitality.
Dates to Remember
November 19 Deadline to apply for Directors Masterclass
June 9 – 19, 2010, Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Kitchener-Waterloo
