The Beaux’ Stratagem  at Stratford - Wonderful Restoration Comedy - August 2014

by Heather Dick, Artistic Director

                                                                      Date:  August  2014

I saw THE  BEAUX’  STRATAGEM at Stratford recently and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was a sparkling production with sumptuous costumes, a beautiful set, and a strong cast led by Colm Feore as Archer and Lucy Peacock as Mrs. Sullen.  Although this restoration play was first produced over 300 years ago in 1707, the story felt modern and fresh and my daughter and I were engaged from the very first moment. 

Martha Henry’s delightfully comic performance as Lady Bountiful was splendid and the moment she ran on stage wearing a breast plate and brandishing a broad sword, ready to defend her home from highwaymen, was priceless.  What joy!  

And be sure to pay close attention during the numerous set changes, too.  Don't look at your program or someone in the audience.  Watch for the little relationships between characters.  They add another dimension to the show and will keep you thoroughly entertained.  You might even wish that some of those changes could take just a little bit longer.  I know I did.

Here’s a link to Richard Ouzounian’s review.  He thoroughly enjoyed it too.  http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2014/08/16/the_beaux_stratagem_a_funny_blissful_ride_review.html

As a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher My Journey is Just Beginning

by Heather Dick, Artistic Director

                                                                      Date:  August 5, 2014

On July 19, 2014 I was accepted as a Designated Linklater Teacher or a DLT as voice teachers say. The last stage of my training took place at the newly built Kristin Linklater Voice Centre on the beautiful Orkney Islands of Scotland and was a special moment for all of us. Our small group of 14 dedicated teacher trainees was the very first group to graduate from this wonderful new home for voice exploration and training. 

As a young actor, more than 30 years ago, I studied voice with David Smukler at Equity Showcase Theatre in Toronto.  While I couldn’t know, at the time, how important this training would become for me, I did recognize that it profoundly affected my work as an actor.  I moved more freely, was less tense and more directly connected to impulses.  Vulnerability became my acting strength, my moment-to-moment work was truthful, vibrant, and powerful and, most of all, my voice became more deeply connected to all of me.  In truth, isn’t that what we strive for as performers - to be honest, transparent and authentic in every moment on the stage or in front of the camera?  More work started coming my way as I won more auditions and show reviews were good.  What was equally exciting was that this work spilled over into other areas of my life so that my connections with friends and family became deeper, richer and more honest. 

Lasting change never happens over night though, does it?   So, it’s no surprise that all this wonderful growth, which was both subtle and gentle, took place gradually over the course of several years.  In January 2011 during a month of intensive study with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass. I was re-introduced to Kristin's work and the series of exercises that she calls The Progression.  Because of the growth that I experienced in my own work and observed in my fellow actors during that month, I knew that I wanted to share this work with many others.  That was the start of my journey on the road to becoming a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher.  

And so, after embodying this method as an artist for more than 35 years and training for 5 years to teach it, here I am, a DLT .   I see this as the beginning of the next phase of my work as an Artist Educator.  

This method is for everyone who would like their voice to be more powerful, direct, resonant and truth-filled.   Are you curious and willing to be more connected to who you are, to your authentic self?   If you are, please get in touch with me.  I’m happy to see if I can help.  I can be reached at info@siriustheatrical.com

Thank you to Christine Berg , David Smukler, Andrea Haring, Dennis Krausnick, and first and foremost, Kristin Linklater, for your support, encouragement and training over the years.

Eduardo Garza's Photo Exhibit Featured at Sirius Theatrical Studios

Photographer Eduardo Garza along with invited guest photographers will exhibit works at Sirius Theatrical Studios during the run of OLD LOVE.  Here is Eduardo's description of the exhibit:

It was born in 2012 when I had to record ( photographically ) the different types of Streetlights for a solar-electric system personal project.
 
I was amazed to realized the beauty of them, and how they could have a relation with their surroundings. And when I started to name each one with a significant name, I decided to make this a new theme for a photographic series.
 
After the first exhibition I invited other photographers ( not have to be pros ) to participate and add pictures to the series. Now I have 2 guests who are excited to show their Works ( ideas ). The invitation is open for any of you 
 
This is a brief history of the exposition
 
Thank you again
 
Regards
 
Eduardo

Heather Dick, Actor/Artistic Director on OLD LOVE

Sirius Theatrical Company's Artistic Director, Heather Dick plays Molly and 6 other characters in Norm Foster's OLD LOVE

1. What draws you into the script of OLD LOVE?  What has made you want to work with this piece?

Norm Foster creates characters that are imperfect and believable and he has strong ear for dialogue that is easy to speak and very real.  I’m playing seven different women and each one of them talks in a unique way – vocabulary, speed of dialogue, phrasing, intonation.  They are clearly defined and easy to connect with – not necessarily easy to portray, but I can connect with all of them, something about each of them resonates with me.  I like to work on characters when I have strong connections to them.  There are also many layers to each scene and so many subtle nuances within the story.  Yes, this is a comedy, but beneath the humour are real and surprising truths.  It’s finding those deeper layers that is challenging and fascinating.  I also love the fact that the story is all about love the second time around.  We all want a second chance at love, I think.

 

 

2. You each portray multiple characters in this play, is there one character that you connect with over the others and why?

Molly, the character around whom the story revolves, is the person I immediately connected with when I read the play for the first time.  She’s a survivor who has never lost her sense of humour despite “crawling through some barbed wire”, as she says to Bud, to arrive at the place where she is now.  It’s her wit, and the fact that she tries not to take herself too seriously, that I connect with and love.  As well as Molly, I play six other women, all of whom are very, very different and just as much fun to portray.  I connect with all of them and have enjoyed finding the little bits of ‘me’ inside of each one.

 

3.  What for you are the biggest challenges of this work?

Playing seven very different women who vary in age from early 20’s to late 50’s is a huge challenge, especially as four of them appear back to back within three minutes and in the same scene.  I’m working to explore unique physicality and voices for each of them so that transitioning from one person to the next becomes easy and seamless.  I literally transform in front of the audience without being able to change costumes or leave the stage.  That’s a big acting challenge.

 

4. Where do you find inspiration for the characters you portray?

I find inspiration all around and within me – from personal experiences, imagination, people I observe, my director, Marianne McIsaac who is amazing, and Nick Rice who is a joy to act with.  For me, it’s very important during the rehearsal process to be as open to new ideas as possible because inspiration often comes from the most unexpected sources, if I can simply be open and aware of them.

 

5. Do you have a favorite moment so far of working on OLD LOVE?

The rehearsals have been filled with laughter and joy right from the first day so I don’t think I can say that I have a favourite moment.  I’m enjoying the whole process and I think that will shine through the performances.

Costume Designer - Diana Luszczek

OLD LOVE's Costume designer Diana Lusczek speaks about inspiration for her design.

1.  Where did you draw inspiration from for the costume design of OLD LOVE?  Was it directly from the script, from the director, from the time period, the characters?

I drew my inspiration for the costume design from reading the script and getting a sense of the characters as I first "met" them. Then, further inspiration came from a collective discussion of the characters and their transition between the past and the present. The director as well as the cast were contributors because of their understanding of their characters.

2. What challenges have you faced in creating the costumes for OLD LOVE?

The biggest challenge was to find a way to portray to the audience the various time periods (flashbacks & present) and character transitions. For instance, Sandra, Delores, Claire and Shirley are all played within a 5-10 minute time frame. All the characters transition right on stage. The costume pieces needed to be simple yet demonstrated a change in character. A scarf, a sweater, an accessory piece that made each character individual and set apart from the previous or next one.

3.  Do you have any favorite moments or experiences you would like to share from your time working on OLD LOVE?

My favorite time at any rehearsal, is watching the actors develop into their characters. Last week I was so engrossed not only in the performance but the story. I was totally drawn into the story being told that I felt I was part of all of their lives. It's strange how you begin to know these people, their intimate lives and at times almost feeling like you are intruding on their most private moments like when Molly confronts Arthur about knowing he is having a child with another women. 

I find I do the same thing when I'm engrossed in a good book except with a stage production the characters have come to life off the pages instead of flowing through my own imagination.

Nicholas Rice on OLD LOVE

For me, Old Love is an exploration of what it is to be a man.   I'm lucky to play three men in the show:   first and foremost Bud, but also Arthur and Arthur Junior.
 
Truth is, I've spent my whole life pondering manhood.   It's something I've never taken for granted.    My own dad died when I was five, which left me to learn the manly ropes on my own.   Even in my sixty-third year, manhood for me is a work in progress.  
 
I sense that Bud's experience is similar.   He speaks of his dad just once:   it was his dad, he says, who gave him the nickname Bud "and it just stuck."   But the spirit of his dad hovers over him throughout the play.   Bud's real name is Lionel, but, he says, "I haven't been Lionel since I was ten."     With the exception of a moment when he sits in his office and tries, unsuccessfully, to persuade the grumpy secretary Shirley to call him Mr. Mitchell, he always insists on being called Bud.   I think this is more than mere chumminess.   I think it's a subtle way he honors and connects with his dad.   
 
Bud says several times, moreover, that he was 'taught' the value of hard work, and surely it was his dad who did the teaching.   
 
I know I'm drawing on my own experience here, but I have the sense that Bud lost his dad when he was just a teen.   Really he and I are not that different.       
 
So Bud has come to manhood on his own -- he's had no-one to guide him.   He's ventured forth tentatively and through trial and error, but always with integrity and perseverance.    And he's done well.   He's become successful his way, forged his own life.   And if this has made him 'slightly off-kilter', well, at least he's been true to himself.
 
A psychologist once told me that boys who lose their fathers early tend to retain a boyishness even as they age.   They tend to be attentive, eager to please.   And while they may not be the kind of men every woman wants, there are nevertheless women who find them very appealing indeed.
 
I'm just riffing here -- trying to tie Bud's experience to my own.    I mean, this is what an actor does -- he seeks the parallels and analogies between the character and himself.   I love Bud's kindness and compassion, the fact that he is one of a kind, not like other men.  Certainly he is unlike his boss Arthur Graham (a part which, incidentally, I also play).   Bud is not the warrior, the alpha-male.   He is his own person, quirks and all.   
 
As I probe his depths further, I'll write again.
 
Nicholas Rice  
 

OLD LOVE - tickets on sale now!

Love can be funny, scary and passionate. A secret flame that has smouldered for three decades can be the thrill of a lifetime in our 2014 production of “OLD LOVE”.

Tickets available at www.siriustheatrical.com/oldlove 

Norm Foster's OLD LOVE