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Newsletter Seven Short Plays from Theatre
Ontario In celebration of Theatre Ontario’s 30th Anniversary, Theatre Ontario has partnered with Playwrights Canada Press to compile and publish a one act play anthology. Seven Short Plays From Theatre Ontario will be launched at the opening ceremonies of Theatre Ontario’s Festival 2002 in Sarnia, co-hosted by Theatre Sarnia, Western Ontario Drama League (WODL) and Theatre Ontario, on May 15, 2002. The plays are selected by Theatre Ontario and introduced by Marian Doucette and Skip Shand. “This volume aims to begin filling a need, expressed by school and community theatre groups in Ontario, for short home-grown scripts which can challenge and stretch developing directors, actors, and designers, and which are worth showing to their audiences,” say Doucette and Shand. All scripts included in the anthology have amateur and professional rights available. “We expected that this process would produce an eclectic volume, and it has done so,” say Doucette and Shand. “Among these seven scripts, directors and actors will find the abstract and the realistic, the soft and the edgy, the earnest and the wacky, the polite and the rude. There is demandingly physical theatre and there is highly meditative text-centred theatre. There are characters with fully-psychologised interiority, and characters who are pure theatrical gestures. Some of these plays depend on a strong fourth wall, and some of them have no walls at all. Some of the plays chosen for this collection will be most appropriate for school groups, others seem to bridge the gap between school and community production, and some may be suited only to the most theatrically-astute community companies and audiences.” The following
plays are included in the new Theatre Ontario anthology: While the individual scripts are incredibly diverse, there is a commonality in that as a collection, Seven Short Plays from Theatre Ontario fills a unique and underserved niche. Providing scripts between 30 and 60 minutes in length that are appropriate for a broad cross-section of audiences, theatre groups and experience levels, Theatre Ontario and Playwrights Canada Press have compiled an anthology that is a perfect fit for emerging directors, community theatres and the Sears Drama Festival participants. Doucette and Shand add about the scripts in the anthology, “We tried to ensure that time devoted to mounting these scripts, and time devoted to seeing them in the theatre, would be time well spent. So we sought entertaining plays with seriousness of purpose and with flair—plays that respect the intelligence of the audience and that celebrate the value and pleasure of making theatre. In addition, although this was not one of our initial goals, we find that our selections address the often-voiced complaint about the scarcity of substantial roles for women in the community theatre repertoire. This collection has a total of 19 roles for women, and 12 for men. Two of the scripts are all-female.” Marian Doucette and Skip Shand osbserve: “The reason for making an anthology is the same reason for writing or directing a play: that is, these scripts are printed here because we want to see them on stage. We hope that they will appeal, and we look forward to your productions.” The anthology will be available at Theatre Ontario and TheatreBooks, after May 15th, and will sell for under $25.
MEMBER PROFILE The objective is simple—to develop effective ways of producing independent theatre, so there is less stress on artists, allowing the artists to make better art. This fundamental belief in the support of theatre artists has been the driving force behind STAF (Small Theatre Administrative Facility). Responding to the administrative support needs of independent theatres in the Toronto-area, Lisa Nabieszko and Scott Burke (now Artistic Producer at Ship’s Company Theatre, Nova Scotia) founded the organization in 1992. Lisa Nabieszko, STAF’s Executive Director, has been a member of Theatre Ontario since 1992 and served on the Professional Theatre Training Committee for over five years. “Producing independent theatre is a real challenge,” says Nabieszko. “Audiences are smaller. Runs are shorter. Budgets are quite limited—and with new works, there are fewer opportunities for fundraising and sponsorship. Much of the work gets produced on the backs of the artists.” STAF offers creative, custom-fit solutions to artists’ administration and promotional needs at affordable rates. These subsidized services are available to any professional artist, collective or company in Ontario that operates as a not-for-profit and does not have any permanent administrative personnel of its own. Independent theatres, artist-producers, co-ops, collectives, project-based companies, creation-based companies, and theatres without buildings utilize the services of STAF. While the majority are Toronto-based, information technology allows STAF to serve across the province. Clients include
Cabaret Company, DNA Theatre, Expect Theatre, Kensington Carnival, Pea
Green Theatre, Pleiades Theatre, Puppetmongers, Rat-a-tat-tat, Theatre
Kingston, Theatre Smith-Gilmour, Theatreworks, and Threshold Theatre, to
name a few. Clients of STAF can choose from a variety of services. “We try to find a way to say ‘yes’ to artists, to stretch their limited resources as best we can,” says Lisa. STAF offers basic administrative services—grant preparation, mailing maintenance, government reporting, word processing, desktop publishing; financial services—budgets, cash flow, seasonal financial planning, bookkeeping, payroll; promotional services—press releases, promotional budgets, mailings, photo shoots, media relations, press kits, marketing campaigns; project management—liaison with unions, contract preparation, venue liaison, cash flow; and general management services—proposal writing, board development, financial management, liaison with funding agencies, day-to-day administration. “At STAF, we have a lot of experience preparing grants for both arts councils and foundations. We do applications for Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council, Laidlaw Foundation, Jackman Foundation, to name a few. Between December and March it’s not unusual for us to prepare 45 to 50 grant applications,” notes Nabieszko. “Some companies only apply to one funding agency, while other companies are applying to a variety of agencies at one time.” Besides
preparing grant applications, STAF also offers a “Once Over”
service. Clients submit their draft grant materials to STAF, who
carefully read and analyze them. The client is then invited to a
meeting (often an hour and half long) to discuss the application, and STAF
associates offer recommendations for enhancing the application.
“Independent
theatre artists produce wonderful work—they are driven by a desire to
share their stories and images with audiences, while working with sorely
limited resources. Their creative perseverance is astounding and
inspiring.” www.theatreadmin.com
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