In process: Robert, by Briana Brown

Briana Brown is Driftwood s Playwright-in-Residence, and our current Beyond the Castle playwright. Her play “Robert” was the winning script at last year’s Trafalgar 24. Since Then, Briana has been “embedded” with Driftwood working on “Robert” and other ideas.

I tend to carry stories with me for months, or sometimes years, before they first find their way into a draft. I scribble notes in individual notebooks, send emails to myself from my cellphone, and covertly steal scraps of magazine articles from the dentists’ office. I know my characters like they’re family. When I imagine their location, it is with deep nostalgia. I collect all these pieces until slowly the story surfaces. And then I write it. (And rewrite it and rewrite it and rewrite it.)

From the beginning, the process with Driftwood has been the opposite. In the castle (oh I still love writing that), I pulled something from the air and crafted it into a scene within hours. All that existed of these characters and the world they inhabited ended up on the page immediately. I didn’t have time to consider my choices as obsessively as I tend to do. I was consumed with one thing: “how do I create a scene that works?” It was a fantastic exercise, and I hated almost every minute of it, spending much of the night wondering why on earth I had put myself in such a frightening position, and more importantly why had I invited the man I had just started dating to come see it? Then I saw the play – beautifully staged and performed, mere hours after I’d written it. Which is a truly special experience, and one for which I was very grateful.

Through the Beyond the Castle program, and with the support of the Ontario Arts Council, I have been gifted the luxury of space and time to step back and consider what it is I’m interested in exploring through the premise and characters I created in a panic in the middle of the night last February. Crafting what was a beginning into a full play has been a process of pulling the rest of this story from the air, and following the breadcrumbs of what I’d written to lead me where they want to go.

I think my biggest hurdle so far has been trust. (Alongside overcoming the panic that comes with a lack of trust.) Trusting that these characters will continue to reveal themselves, that there is a story, that it is a story worth telling, that it will connect with an audience and that I, as the ever-doubtful writer, am worthy of telling it. It has been challenging and exciting to engage with the act of writing in a new way, and to force myself into a place of trust and commit the pen to page before I feel “ready”.

Now that I have a first draft behind me, the process feels slightly more comfortable, something I’ve embarked on before, with all its questions and possibilities. Our first dramaturgical session felt good. I was glad to discuss the larger questions of the script, and to get a sense that things are resonating, or are beginning to. The meeting provided me with additional avenues to explore, paths to travel down, and questions to consider. And once again I need to trust — that one of those threads will feel “right” and take me where I, and these characters, need to go.

(And it’s a comedy!)

 

Together again, huh?

PIAP artworkDriftwood Theatre proudly announces the cast for Play in a Pub: The Jedi Doth Return – the final chapter in William Shakespeare’s (courtesy of Ian Doescher) epic galactic saga.

The 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!

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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.

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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

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.

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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.)

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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.)

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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.

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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…

Myekah 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…

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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.

Rehearsal Warm UpAfter movement comes a vocal warm up with music director Tom Lillington. Though our cast is amazingly talented, vocal music isn’t always at the tippy top of the skills list. However, under Tom’s direction the actors found new confidence in their singing abilities. Through sound-building exercises Tom has begun creating the original soundtrack for Driftwood’s Hamlet.

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.

Hamlet Bed RehearslaWith all the text work, vocals, and blocking, the movement within the piece is never neglected in rehearsal. As I stated previously every morning the actors are guided through a body warm up by movement co-directors Richard and Adriano. However many times, after the fun, the cast is asked to explore themes through their bodies. These movements are used or are reimagined for different moments and transitions within the play. Much like the vocal music being created this is also just as explorative. Watching the company embody fear and grief during one of these
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.

Fight RehearsalThat first week was a whirlwind and even though scenes were taking shape the play still seemed really disjointed in rehearsal. Not always having the full company every day meant many of the scenes had to be rehearsed out of order. So at times it was hard to remember how the full action of the play would come together. Finally having transition day really gave a glimpse into what was coming.

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!