Tales of tour survival from actor Steven Burley….
Listen. I will tell you how we survive. I’ve done it for many years.
But, first: It’s windy in Peterborough. It’s the kind of wind that comes on strong, then suddenly dies, and in that moment of calm, before the next push, it’s like the trees whisper ‘holy foof’. We are on a hilltop next to our intended playing space. Many of the actors are hoisting iPhones to the heavens, as if refracting the sky through the lenses of their mini-cams will stave off our obvious doom. The cloudbank skimming towards us looks like an ink stain on Zeus’s palimpsest, or, simply, less pretentiously, an alien mothership. An invader from that awful Will Smith movie. I look around for Will Smith. He is nowhere to be found.
There will be no show tonight, the heavens are saying. No matter how electrifying your performances, or handsome your veteran actors. Regardless of the hours of labour it took for the crew to build your stage and hoist your lights and run your miles of cable. Also: nuts to the legions of patrons that usually flock (in the hundreds!) to this particular venue. Forget your 100% rain-or-shine guarantee, the heavens say. I am coming to kill you.
But I paraphrase.
Weather is one of the obvious, and most unforgiving, forces we fight when we tour.
But, then, truly—it has always been thus. Even when we didn’t really tour.
And there’s the rub!
Driftwood Theatre Group, today, is known as a touring company. In fact, it is one of the only touring theatre companies left in Ontario. (Cue: wood-knocking.) But in 1995, the year of its inception, Driftwood performed only 8 shows at 4 venues—Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville, and Port Perry. (More a weekly excursion than a tour.) Now, Driftwood travels to nearly thirty venues—between London in the west, St. Catharines in the south, Bobcaygeon in the north, and Kingston in the east.
So, here I am—twenty-one years from outbreak—nestled in a coffee shop in downtown Kingston, a few hours before show time, strewing my pearls of wisdom pell-mell about the blogosphere. To tell you about touring. And, most importantly: How. We. Survive.
Ominous, right? Bet you can’t stop scrolling now, can you? (Here’s a cute picture, just in case you can.)
First, a few logistical clarifications. We have a company van. We have a company bus. I drive the bus. It’s a sweet, sweet ride. Tricked out for both style (sexy art/logo on its sleek, forest-green exterior) and function (it houses costumes, concessions, and about 8 company members avec duffels. Also, the ‘Bard’s Bus’—hence, the tour moniker—when parked on site, becomes a change room. A ladies change room. Again, classy.
Now, an admission: I have a wee bit of road rage. It’s gotten milder with age, and is frequently quelled by the stuffed toy kitten in my cup holder. This is my Thera-Pussy. When the microcosm of social decay that is bad driving begins to rile me, TP takes it upon herself to screech at the offending motorists. It keeps me focused on my task, which is good driving. A survival tool not as much for me, but for people who can’t drive properly.
Over the years, we have endured both the grind of GTA traffic, and the miles between Orono and Lindsay with nary a Tim’s in site. Tips for survival here include: good confab, a compilation disc of reggae, the proper connecting cable to antiquated dashboards, so as to play your new-fangled devices, song circles, the latest Governor-General Award-winning novel, nap time, and Candy Crush. (This is in NO WAY a promotion for that application/game. It’s diabolical.)
Another way we survive the tour: CUTE TOWNS. Oh, my. Ontario is rife with them.
Many of our shows land in such unapologetically beautiful places as Westport, Bloomfield, and Port Perry. Places near water. Places with family-run coffee shops. Places with stores that go ‘tring-a-ling’ when you walk through the front door. These towns provide us a respite from the road, and the bustle of urbanity.
Which brings me to one of the main reasons I love traveling with Driftwood.
We are currently in that stretch of the tour (usually the second-to-last week), where we get SPOILED. Just spoiled rotten. It begins with The Luncheon. The Luncheon is an annual treat on the lawn of Colin & Kerry Taylor, two of the company’s staunchest supporters. Whether it is philanthropy or sheer madness, these two people host a mid-afternoon party (on their own property, mind) for our band of straggly babies. It is here that you can: eat, drink, swim, compete with stage management for the Bocce ball title, nap in the grass/hammock/bed of kittens, and generally experience a state wayyyy outside of melancholy. This Luncheon tends to take place before the Peterborough show. And when we aren’t rained out (see above), that show tends to hum with clear-eyed contentment. More wisdom: feed an artist, enhance an artform. (THIS PHRASE IS COPYRIGHTED. But spread the word.)
And then the tour heads east through Prince Edward County. Artistic Director, D. Jeremy Smith has a family cottage in Outlet, a fizzy little burp of a place outside Picton. This cottage becomes DTG’s HQ for most of the week, as we tour to outlying areas. And—as many former company members know—the cottage rules. (The ACTUAL cottage rule: DO WHAT YOU WANT. Ridiculous.)
I mention former company members here for a reason. Whether they (a) have moved on to other gigs, (b) are coincidentally homeless that same week, or (c) can’t take the words ‘you are FIRED’ as a reason not to attend, ex-Drifties tend to posse up and ride the tour’s coattails for a few days of DOING WHAT YOU WANT. Which usually includes: campfire karaoke, beach-bumming, wine touring, and all sorts of salad-eating. And, now that some of the company members have grown into adults and spawned progeny, there is an additional bonus: playing with babies. My phantom uterus goes BOOM.
Barbara and Howard Smith, my other parents and Jeremy’s actual parents, host and tolerate us for the week. Their generosity is immense. Another reason we survive the tour.
And now. Here I am. Thinking that there’s actually a boil of sentiment brewing beneath this cheeky survival memo. Penned not by the gristly survivalist I hinted at before, but rather the sap on Driftwood’s tree.
Here:
Survival on tour is ALWAYS an option. Despite the odds against it, when we caravan about twenty people thousands of kilometres through columns of tornadoes, fatigued and hungry and missing home, we always survive. We survive because we all become, and reunite with, family. That’s why I’ve been around all these damn years. Family. Smiles new and old. A growing narrative of people and places.
Plus, the shows we do are good. Real good. So come see us. You have another week.
xo,
Steven
Together again, huh?
/in NewsThe cast reading this extraordinary blend of classical theatre and pop culture is led by Jonathan Goad (Stratford Festival) as Han Solo, Sarah Wilson (Soulpepper Theatre) as Princess Leia, and Mark McGrinder (Studio 180 Theatre) as Luke Skywalker.
Joining them is a star-studded cast including Thom Allison as Lando Calrissian, Michael Hanrahan as Darth Vader, Melissa D’Agostino as R2D2, Christopher Darroch as C3P0, Helen King as Chewbacca, Richard Alan Campbell as Yoda, Karl Ang as Boba Fett, and performing all sound and music using only his voice, Steven Burley. This incredible group of performers is set to take the stage for a reading in support of Driftwood Theatre on October 26 at The Social Capital Theatre in Toronto. Tickets on sale now!
Play in a Pub 2013. Michael Hanrahan’s (far right) Darth Vader puts the choke on Andy Pogson’s Admiral Motti as fellow PIAP readers (clockwise from top left) Sarah Wilson, Joseph Ziegler, Dion Johnstone, Karl Ang and Oliver Dennis play on.
This fall, the epic saga concludeth. In a pub.
Driftwood Theatre’s Play in a Pub returns for a third year to bring to a close the most epic saga ever penned by the illustrious Bard (also known as Ian Doescher)! The stars of the stage come together in a pub very, very nearby for an evening of theatrical and cinematic mash-up of Shakespearean proportions in support of Driftwood Theatre.
Building on the sold-out success of both Play in a Pub: William Shakespeare’s Star Wars and Play in a Pub: William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back, Driftwood Theatre reunites some of the finest performers of the stage for another epic reading. “I’m just thrilled by the cast we’ve managed to assemble for this reading,” says Artistic Director Jeremy Smith, “its a great blend of familiar faces to the Play in a Pub experience – people who’ve read in previous events like Sarah, Michael, Rick, Helen, Melissa, Chris, Karl and especially Steven Burley, who is a vocal sound effect genius, combined with two new extraordinary talents to Play in a Pub, Mark McGrinder and Thom Allison. It is going to be an extraordinary evening.”
And let us not forget that Play in a Pub is an interactive event! Audience members can get in on the action by participating in the Rebels, Imperials and Droids n’ Creatures Live Auction, and bid on one of three walk-on character tracks – rebels, imperials, or droids n’ creatures. Whether you are an rebel sympathizer, a cold-hearted imperial or a misunderstood droid, there is a role for you to play in the evening’s reading. The Live Auction takes place immediately prior to the reading.
Audience member Steven Harrison takes the stage as a beleaguered Exogorth (look it up), to the delight of the cast, during Play in a Pub: The Empire Striketh Back.
And back just in time for Halloween is Driftwood’s Star Wars Cosplay Competition. In the spirit of the season, we’re inviting guests to attend the event dressed as their favourite Star Wars inspired character. There will be a cash prize for the evening’s best costume.
But the evening’s galactic epic-ness doesn’t end there! Guests can look forward to bidding on some incredible themed baskets at the jawa-worthy Cantina Market Auction. Driftwood Theatre’s board of directors is putting together a fine selection of themed baskets, from Prince Edward County wine, to Craft Brews, to Toronto entertainment packages and the coveted Star Wars Basket – filled with Star Wars paraphernalia and goodies.
Tickets for Play in a Pub: The Jedi Doth Return are now on sale here. Guests have the option of two ticket prices: General Admission for $25 or a special front-of-the-line Jabba’s Palace VIP ticket for $40 including reserved seating, the VIP treatment and some special goodies.
This year’s Play in a Pub will take place at the Social Capital Theatre at 154 Danforth Avenue (2nd floor) in Toronto.
The last two Play in a Pub events sold out – so don’t miss out, order your tickets today! It is going to be an epic finish to Shakespeare’s galaxy-spanning saga.
Surviving the Tour, or: I Love Your Silly Faces
/in NewsTales of tour survival from actor Steven Burley….
Listen. I will tell you how we survive. I’ve done it for many years.
But, first: It’s windy in Peterborough. It’s the kind of wind that comes on strong, then suddenly dies, and in that moment of calm, before the next push, it’s like the trees whisper ‘holy foof’. We are on a hilltop next to our intended playing space. Many of the actors are hoisting iPhones to the heavens, as if refracting the sky through the lenses of their mini-cams will stave off our obvious doom. The cloudbank skimming towards us looks like an ink stain on Zeus’s palimpsest, or, simply, less pretentiously, an alien mothership. An invader from that awful Will Smith movie. I look around for Will Smith. He is nowhere to be found.
There will be no show tonight, the heavens are saying. No matter how electrifying your performances, or handsome your veteran actors. Regardless of the hours of labour it took for the crew to build your stage and hoist your lights and run your miles of cable. Also: nuts to the legions of patrons that usually flock (in the hundreds!) to this particular venue. Forget your 100% rain-or-shine guarantee, the heavens say. I am coming to kill you.
But I paraphrase.
Weather is one of the obvious, and most unforgiving, forces we fight when we tour.
But, then, truly—it has always been thus. Even when we didn’t really tour.
And there’s the rub!
Driftwood Theatre Group, today, is known as a touring company. In fact, it is one of the only touring theatre companies left in Ontario. (Cue: wood-knocking.) But in 1995, the year of its inception, Driftwood performed only 8 shows at 4 venues—Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville, and Port Perry. (More a weekly excursion than a tour.) Now, Driftwood travels to nearly thirty venues—between London in the west, St. Catharines in the south, Bobcaygeon in the north, and Kingston in the east.
So, here I am—twenty-one years from outbreak—nestled in a coffee shop in downtown Kingston, a few hours before show time, strewing my pearls of wisdom pell-mell about the blogosphere. To tell you about touring. And, most importantly: How. We. Survive.
Ominous, right? Bet you can’t stop scrolling now, can you? (Here’s a cute picture, just in case you can.)
First, a few logistical clarifications. We have a company van. We have a company bus. I drive the bus. It’s a sweet, sweet ride. Tricked out for both style (sexy art/logo on its sleek, forest-green exterior) and function (it houses costumes, concessions, and about 8 company members avec duffels. Also, the ‘Bard’s Bus’—hence, the tour moniker—when parked on site, becomes a change room. A ladies change room. Again, classy.
Now, an admission: I have a wee bit of road rage. It’s gotten milder with age, and is frequently quelled by the stuffed toy kitten in my cup holder. This is my Thera-Pussy. When the microcosm of social decay that is bad driving begins to rile me, TP takes it upon herself to screech at the offending motorists. It keeps me focused on my task, which is good driving. A survival tool not as much for me, but for people who can’t drive properly.
Over the years, we have endured both the grind of GTA traffic, and the miles between Orono and Lindsay with nary a Tim’s in site. Tips for survival here include: good confab, a compilation disc of reggae, the proper connecting cable to antiquated dashboards, so as to play your new-fangled devices, song circles, the latest Governor-General Award-winning novel, nap time, and Candy Crush. (This is in NO WAY a promotion for that application/game. It’s diabolical.)
Another way we survive the tour: CUTE TOWNS. Oh, my. Ontario is rife with them.
Many of our shows land in such unapologetically beautiful places as Westport, Bloomfield, and Port Perry. Places near water. Places with family-run coffee shops. Places with stores that go ‘tring-a-ling’ when you walk through the front door. These towns provide us a respite from the road, and the bustle of urbanity.
Which brings me to one of the main reasons I love traveling with Driftwood.
We are currently in that stretch of the tour (usually the second-to-last week), where we get SPOILED. Just spoiled rotten. It begins with The Luncheon. The Luncheon is an annual treat on the lawn of Colin & Kerry Taylor, two of the company’s staunchest supporters. Whether it is philanthropy or sheer madness, these two people host a mid-afternoon party (on their own property, mind) for our band of straggly babies. It is here that you can: eat, drink, swim, compete with stage management for the Bocce ball title, nap in the grass/hammock/bed of kittens, and generally experience a state wayyyy outside of melancholy. This Luncheon tends to take place before the Peterborough show. And when we aren’t rained out (see above), that show tends to hum with clear-eyed contentment. More wisdom: feed an artist, enhance an artform. (THIS PHRASE IS COPYRIGHTED. But spread the word.)
And then the tour heads east through Prince Edward County. Artistic Director, D. Jeremy Smith has a family cottage in Outlet, a fizzy little burp of a place outside Picton. This cottage becomes DTG’s HQ for most of the week, as we tour to outlying areas. And—as many former company members know—the cottage rules. (The ACTUAL cottage rule: DO WHAT YOU WANT. Ridiculous.)
I mention former company members here for a reason. Whether they (a) have moved on to other gigs, (b) are coincidentally homeless that same week, or (c) can’t take the words ‘you are FIRED’ as a reason not to attend, ex-Drifties tend to posse up and ride the tour’s coattails for a few days of DOING WHAT YOU WANT. Which usually includes: campfire karaoke, beach-bumming, wine touring, and all sorts of salad-eating. And, now that some of the company members have grown into adults and spawned progeny, there is an additional bonus: playing with babies. My phantom uterus goes BOOM.
Barbara and Howard Smith, my other parents and Jeremy’s actual parents, host and tolerate us for the week. Their generosity is immense. Another reason we survive the tour.
And now. Here I am. Thinking that there’s actually a boil of sentiment brewing beneath this cheeky survival memo. Penned not by the gristly survivalist I hinted at before, but rather the sap on Driftwood’s tree.
Here:
Survival on tour is ALWAYS an option. Despite the odds against it, when we caravan about twenty people thousands of kilometres through columns of tornadoes, fatigued and hungry and missing home, we always survive. We survive because we all become, and reunite with, family. That’s why I’ve been around all these damn years. Family. Smiles new and old. A growing narrative of people and places.
Plus, the shows we do are good. Real good. So come see us. You have another week.
xo,
Steven
Speak the speech…
/in NewsMyekah Payne is the Assistant Director of Hamlet. Though she has logged plenty of time on the stage, this is her first time on the other side of the action at the Director’s table. Currently she is finishing her degree at York University specializing in the study of Dramaturgy. This study is what spurs her fascination for development and re-imagining of the classics. Read on for Myekah’s tales from the rehearsal hall…
Hello all!
It’s Myekah just giving an update as we move now through our second week of rehearsal of Hamlet for the Bard’s Bus Tour.
As we began our first week of rehearsal, the daily morning routine was quickly established. After all morning pleasantries, the cast is seated and our Director Jeremy leads us all in a moment of meditation. This moment every morning helps everyone to bring their awareness into the space, and to focus for the ever busy schedule to come.
This is usually always followed by a movement warm up led by Richard Lee and/or Adriano Sobretodo Jr. These warm ups consist of fun games to get the body moving and the mind active. There is nothing more motivating and energizing than quick reaction memories games (zip,zap,zop) especially when the penalties for screwing up include push-ups and jumping jacks.
Using only vocal sound, rhythms and vibrations the cast quickly learns three part harmony in nasal overtones. Every music rehearsal new sounds and harmonies are explored. Repetition has already found some constant themes that are truly haunting. As said before much of Driftwood’s work is about exploration and these soundscapes are a fluid exploration from rehearsal to rehearsal.
Exploration are not only made in sound but also through Toby Malone’s adapted text. Even when actors were not being blocked onstage, they were constantly working on and through their text. If you looked around the hall at any given time you could find someone like Natasha Mumba (Ophelia) memorizing in an upstairs room or Sarah Finn (Horatio) doing scene work outside. Even now as we move ‘off book’ you can still find really any cast member looking up words in one of four lexicons floating around the room at any given time. And if that doesn’t work, you will find me on Google Books trying to help with whatever obscure volume that I can find. The text work is endless and wonderful when it comes to Shakespeare, not to mention this variation of Hamlet. However it is essential to make sure everyone understands fully what is being said.
exercises was quite moving and visceral.
By the end of the first week rehearsals we’re growing in momentum. Scenes were being expertly blocked and layered. Characters were being honed and developed through script and scene work. Hamlet and Leartes fought to the death numerous times (some of those times with actual swords). Kind of like a puzzle where you put together all the doable pieces first, the show shakily started taking shape.
During these transitions, Tom began adding in bits of musical themes, getting the company singing and adding vocal rhythms. Richard joined in the process, choreographing movement to layer on top of the sound and shifting scenes. Until all of a sudden, I am, as the audience, in the king and queen’s bed chamber during a romantic moment while the eerie fear theme drones out from cast. Other moments pass and all of a sudden I am listening to a dance worthy beat boxing theme of hope as the players set up and re-enter for their second chat with Hamlet in Act III Scene II.
Rehearsals are on for a few more weeks and we have yet to do a full stumble through but Hamlet is on his vengeful way. And I must say that this year Driftwood has “the best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastorical-comical, historical-pastorl,tragical-historical-comical-historical-pastoral” and pretty much everything in between. Here’s to two more weeks of rehearsal till opening!
The actors are come hither…
/in NewsThe actors are come hither…
The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral…
Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2
Rehearsals for Hamlet started this week. It’s always a thrilling time, full of possibility. Before we jumped into the first week’s work of table reads and meet-and-greets and design presentations, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the process of bringing this incredible group of actors together for our summer tour.
First day of rehearsal, Hamlet 2015.
Casting a production is never simple and it represents for me the very best and worst aspects of my job. I both love and loathe this annual process of narrowing a field of over 400 candidates to exactly the right combination of 8-10 individuals.
From one perspective the casting process is filled with unknown opportunities. At any moment someone can enter the audition room and bring that unexpected quality that you didn’t even know you were looking for – one which takes your thinking about a play in new and surprising directions. The challenge is always to create an auditioning environment where, within a very short amount of time (usually 10-15 minutes), a sense of trust and play can be built between the auditioner and the auditionee. And when you do engage with someone in a meaningful way, it’s a great room to be in.
From another perspective, there is the constant knowledge that in nearly 90% of the cases, you’re going to end up saying ‘no’ to the person who walks in the door. This is something I’ve never really gotten used to – even after over 4,000 auditions. It’s a serious downer. Auditioning is an imperfect system: one fraught with both excitement and considerable stress.
The 2011 Bard’s Bus Tour company hanging out with the old Bard’s Bus.
But when you do end up with that right combination of people – actors or who are both new and familiar, who will both trust you and challenge you (and in Driftwood’s case, who will continue to work well together throughout a five-week tour in a small bus) – it is an extraordinary experience.
The journey of casting Hamlet was particularly grueling. It took nearly four months (it normally takes one), involved numerous rounds of auditions and countless phone calls, offers and emails. But the end result is quite frankly one of the most exciting groups of people I’ve ever had the pleasure of bringing together.
Driftwood is very much an ‘ensemble’ company. When you’re working in touring theatre, a cast not only needs to perform well together, they need to get along well enough to enjoy being on the road together for over five weeks and 4,000kms. There needs to be plenty of trust, respect, patience and good humour.
For this reason, I’m thrilled by this year’s ‘core’ company members, Steven Burley, Chris Darroch and Rick Campbell. These three actors are not only among the very best ensemble members, able to deftly and quickly maneuver a number of character arcs, but they are incredible to be on the road with.
Steven Burley, all the way back in our first show: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1995.
They bring ease, camaraderie and a commitment to Driftwood Theatre to the table. I’ve worked with Steven for over 20 years and with Chris for over 10: they are an integral part of the Driftwood family. I’ve admired and respected Rick for over 15 years and we’ve worked together twice. These three know the score when it comes to Driftwood and I trust them wholeheartedly.
Christopher Darroch in our 2008 production of Romeo & Juliet
But I also love what new energy brings to the process, and I’m so excited to be in the rehearsal room with our new company members this year, Nehassaiu deGannes, Jon de Leon, Sarah Finn, Natasha Mumba, and Paolo Santalucia. Throughout my limited time with each of them so far, they have all demonstrated a passion and energy for the project that is more than I could have hoped for. They each bring intelligence, passion, curiosity and considerable talent to the table. True to Driftwood form (where pairing emerging artists with established professionals is a stated mission of the company), they represent a range of experience from Natasha, who will make her professional theatre debut, to Nehassaiu, who has worked for some of the finest theatre institutions in North America.
The cast of Hamlet, 2015. Paolo Santalucia, Natasha Mumba, Christopher Darroch, Richard Alan Campbell, Sarah Finn, Nehassaiu De Gannes, Jon de Leon, Steven Burley
Together, this ensemble has the potential to put some of the very best work on the Driftwood stage our audiences have ever seen. As with any cast, I hope they’ll challenge me and expand my thinking about both the play and my craft, and I sense that they are collectively up to the task of putting together a production inside of a grueling and busy four weeks. I have a feeling they’ll also be pretty stellar people to work and play with as we venture out on the road to 25 communities in Ontario this summer.
Still, you never really know how things are going to work out until you get everyone into the rehearsal hall and start working. At the time of writing this, we have been through one fantastic day together. I couldn’t be more excited.
– Jeremy.