GATEWAY THEATRE GUILD
hosts
THEATRE ONTARIO FESTIVAL 2016
Workshops
Workshops are open to all festival participants at no charge on a first come first served basis. All workshops will be held in the Garland Room at the Holiday Inn Express (host hotel) from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
Friday May 20, 2016: Playwright-in-Person
Playwright-in-Person brings a professional playwright to Festival communities for script readings, Q&A, and more. This year the Playwright-in-Person is Donna-Michelle St. Bernard. This workshop is made possible by a grant from the Playwrights Guild of Canada, funded by the Canada Council.
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard is an emcee, playwright, and arts administrator. Notable works for the stage include They Say He Fell, A Man A Fish, Cake, The House You Build, Salome’s Clothes, and Gas Girls. DM’s work has been recognized with a SATA nomination, the Herman Voaden Playwriting Award, the Enbridge PlayRites Award, a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, and a nomination for the Governor General’s Literary Award.
Thursday May 19, 2016: Comedy Scene Study (maximum 30 participants)
Participants will learn the elements of comedy needed when scenes in a play. We will discuss pacing, comic timing, physical comedy, patterns of three, writer’s intent and the use of contrast within comedic works. Scene partners will work on a short scene to implement these concepts. We will be approaching the work from a "Cold Reading" point of view to simulate the audition and call back settings in a community theatre environment.
Michelle Jackett-Webster received her training from Sheridan College’s Music Theatre-Performance program and Second City’s professional improv program. She has performed with Drayton Entertainment, Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, Huron Country Playhouse, Theatre Aquarius, Disney World Resorts, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Nipissing Stage Company. Michelle's recent film credits include: Death Comes to Town, Stage Fright, Midnight Masquerade and Mum’s the Word. She has worked as a director and choreographer for many local theatre groups and also facilitates dance and musical theatre workshops in North Bay and the surrounding areas. Michelle is the Artistic Director and founder of Can-do Theatre, a mixed abilities theatre company for children, teens and adults with special needs. She is the Dance Outreach Coordinator for the Capitol Centre, teaches drama to special education classes through the Ontario Arts Council’s Artist in Education Grant and has been a faculty member with Canadore College's Theatre Arts program teaching Comedy Scene Study.
Saturday May 21, 2016: Stage Combat 101 (maximum 20 participants)
This hands-on workshop will focus on unarmed physical theater. Participants will learn stage combat essentials, including falls, slaps, punches, kicks and chokes. Safety skills are given top priority during this workshop.
Joshua Bainbridge is an actor, writer, director living in North Bay as a member of the Future In Safe Hands collective. In 2009 he founded the theater company J2 Productions, under whose auspices he wrote and directed I Hear You Ride Horses, People Grieving: Mamma Never Told Me About Her Life in a Box, TheThree Musketeers trilogy, Robin Hood: King of the Outlaws, The Life and Death of John the Milkman and Paper Dolls: The Way to The Way Up. In winter 2013 Josh’s production of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross won him the honor of Outstanding Director and the show won Outstanding Production at the 2014 QUONTA festival. Josh’s film and television credits include: Harold and Lorna, A Dark Truth, Mum’s the Word, Dark Rising: Warrior of the Worlds, Joseph and Mary, Country Crush and What Would Sal Do? . Joshua also has a recurring role on the television series Hard Rock Medical which just wrapped production on its third season.
Joshua is a Certified Actor Combatant (Fight Directors Canada) in Hand-to-hand, quarter-staff, and single sword and has served as fight master for countless productions.