Newsletter
Spring 2004
by Jane Gardner
Throughout my career in theatre, the Toronto bookstore, TheatreBooks,
has been one of my favourite places to visit, to search out new plays, to
buy gifts for opening nights and friends, to discover new books and
performing arts treasures. For many people, it’s a place for the exchange
of news and views, helpful advice, and information on “what’s hot” in
town. For over 25 years, I’ve been a fan of this great performing arts
bookstore and its owners—Leonard McHardy and John Harvey.
Since its inception in 1975, the store has stocked plays in English
from around the world and plays published in Canada. They carry books on
all aspects of theatre production, as well as opera, dance, film and
filmmaking, television and media. Located at 11 St. Thomas Street (near
Bay and Bloor Streets), they’re open 7 days a week and offer a helpful
website at www.theatrebooks.com
TheatreBooks staff are often asked to recommend books. The welcoming
staff shares their knowledge and advice with customers. Looking for an
audition piece? Need an exciting new comedy for your community theatre?
Teaching storytelling at summer camp and need some new ideas? Need an
agent now that you’ve moved to Toronto and want a directory of who’s who?
A conversation at their store always starts with a question…I’m looking
for…and ends as a helpful two-way conversation sharing your love of books
and passion for the arts.
Their section on drama and theatre in education is recognized
internationally. The TheatreBooks website features an excellent “drama in
education” section and their catalogue for teachers (produced since 1975)
provides first time teachers and seasoned veterans with practical tools
for the classroom and reliable resources.
“Canadians are recognized as leaders in the field of drama and
education,” said McHardy. “I continue to recommend David Booth to people
(author of over 40 books). His book, Improvisation: Learning Through Drama
helps directors and teachers to develop skills for working with groups,
teach storytelling and foster imagination. His ideas work for all age
groups. Larry Swartz’s book New Dramathemes is full of ideas for learners
of all ages to develop skills for writing, poetry, dramatic storytelling
and presentation skills. Bob Barton’s many books on storytelling are well
known by teachers, particularly the primary grades, as excellent
resources.”
Schools have often sent their high school students to visit
TheatreBooks and to select a Canadian play as a special project to present
in class. McHardy and Harvey’s staff play host to students at teacher’s
college to do book talks and offer guideposts on the resources that will
help them in their teaching career.
As Toronto is considered a city rich with both acting and technical
talent trained in film production, the city is a hive of filmmaking.
TheatreBooks benefits from a number of visitors from Hollywood. They have
heard more than once that they have a great film section: production,
business, editing, directing, screenwriting, screenplays, etc. In fact
Jude Law has said about TheatreBooks: “there's no place like it
anywhere.”
Leonard McHardy and John Harvey, co-owners of TheatreBooks have
successfully built a bookstore that offers more than books—it provides
many events that reach out into the arts community. Emerging arts managers
from the Arts Administration Program at University of Toronto at
Scarborough recently launched a new book at TheatreBooks. Last fall, Patty
Jarvis, head of Education at CanStage hosted a Playwrights Panel at
TheatreBooks for their Toronto theatre audiences to learn more about
playwrights and to hear readings of their work. Book launches of
playwrights and authors are regularly hosted by TheatreBooks and Canadian
publishers like Playwrights Canada Press and Playwrights Guild of Canada.
Linda Griffiths used the TheatreBooks loft to perform readings from her
play in development and to get feedback from an invited audience of
theatre people. Teachers involved in CODE (Council of Drama and Dance in
Education) hold their regular meetings at TheatreBooks.
The late Urjo Kareda summed up TheatreBooks best in his 2000 Profile on
the owners in Toronto Life: “TheatreBooks—the town square for Toronto’s
performing arts community. The boys (McHardy and Harvey) make you feel
welcome, they remember you from previous visits and they always suggest
something interesting to take away. In 25 years of visiting, I don’t think
I’ve every left without making a purchase—and loving what I bought.”
by John
Watson
Two pieces of provincial legislation—the Safe Schools Act, 2000 and the
Student Protection Act, 2002—help to ensure that students in the
province’s elementary and secondary schools can learn in a safe
environment.
Ontario Regulation 521/02 (amended to 322/03), Collection of Personal
Information, came into force in December 2002, as part of the Ontario
government’s “safe schools” initiative. The Regulation was intended
to provide school boards with another tool to promote students’ education
in a safe environment. It requires that school boards collect a
police record check from all employees and service providers who have
direct and regular contact with students.
In response to this legislation, the four Ontario school board
associations—Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, Ontario Catholic
School Trustees’ Association, Association des conseillèrs(ères) des écoles
publiques de l’Ontario, and Association franco-ontarienne des conseils
scolaires catholiques—and the Council of Ontario Directors of Education
(CODE), formed the Ontario Education Services Corporation (OESC) as a
non-profit organization. The corporation provides police record check
services in both official languages to all school boards and authorities
in Ontario.
A service provider is an individual or company that provides goods or
services to a school. This includes artists and companies working in
classrooms, artist-in-residence programs or touring theatre for young
audience productions in the schools.
OESC issues secure identification cards to all service providers who
have met the established criteria. Service providers will be
expected to carry this identification card and a piece of photo
identification whenever they are on school property. The cost of a
police record check, adjudication, administration and issuance of card is
$25. The current cards are valid until 2006.
Information
collected to conduct the police record check includes the applicant’s full
name (as it appears on legal documents), mailing address, driver’s
license, and the prepayment. As well, the applicant indicates
whether they have been contracted through a school-booking agent (for
example, Prologue to the Performing Arts), or the applicant can indicate
they are self-employed or engaged directly by a particular school or
school board.
Some service providers, such as Second City, are explaining their
compliance with this legislation online: “…all Second City Educational
Staff will have completed their police screening through the Ontario
Education Services Corporation and will carry police check authorization
cards when entering our public schools. This move is in compliance
with recent Ontario legislation to help protect our children. Our
staff members are pleased to participate in these safety and security
measures.”
According to OESC officials, “it takes approximately 15 working days
for a police record check to be completed through OESC.” As of March
1, 2004, each board of education is required to enforce this legislation
and request the OESC Identification Card.
For more information about a police record check through OESC, please
contact OESC by email at oesc-cseo@opsba.org.
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Ralph Small | by John Watson
Ralph Small is an actor, director, writer and teacher. More importantly, he is a man on a journey, one that has taken him all over the world in pursuit of truth in theatre.
It was at Oakwood Collegiate in Toronto where Ralph got his first taste for performing. While studying Shakespeare in a grade 13 English class, Ralph was asked to read aloud the title role in King Lear. He was hooked. Then, while participating in a few school plays and emceeing talent shows, his joy of performing really started to grow. But it was the football team that finally helped convince Ralph that theatre was where he wanted to be. Explains Ralph: “I joined the football team. After only one day, I quickly realized that instead of knocking people down; I wanted to build them up, to entertain them, to ‘connect’ with them on a different level.”
After graduation, Ralph went to York University, where he majored for a year in technical theatre and dramaturgy. While working backstage, he also found time to perform in a number of university and fringe productions, and by second year, was asked by the school to join the Performance section.
Graduating with a BFA, Ralph’s real spiritual journey began. He packed his bags and flew to the Middle East, where he then proceeded to hitch hike back across Europe through Greece, Italy Switzerland, Belgium, and Great Britain. “Being exposed to so many different cultures definitely has influenced my life and work, although I may not have realized it at the time. I saw as much theatre as I could while traveling, and learned so much from these experiences.”
“I came back to Canada, and earned my Equity card while touring theatre for young audiences with Petrolia Players, a young company then based out of the Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia.”
Ralph began to feel that he wasn’t properly prepared to bring his craft to the work. He dove headfirst into classes and workshops and began studying many other acting techniques. Around that time, he was asked to join the Young Company at London’s Grand Theatre. His first role was Toby Belch in Twelfth Night directed by William Hutt.
“I met my mentor, Bernard Hopkins at the Grand a year or two later. A veteran of the Stratford Festival, Bernard instilled in me the importance of storytelling, about being true to myself and striving for that truth in whatever play, or musical, I was doing. I started to trust myself after that experience.” In 2002, Ralph returned to The Grand to play Kris Kringle in Miracle On 34th Street, directed by Mr. Hopkins. “To work with my mentor again after more than 20 years was a true privilege.”
After a two-year gig in the conservatory program at the Grand, Ralph’s journey continued, performing at theatres across the country, including Huron Country Playhouse, Lighthouse Festival Theatre, the National Arts Centre, Vancouver Playhouse, Charlottetown Festival and Theatre Aquarius, where he starred in The Melville Boys. He also spent a number of years at the Muskoka Festival and Theatre Orangeville, where he learned to direct and workshop new plays and musicals.
In the late 80s, Ralph began a new journey as a teacher, using the skills he’d honed while working with a wide variety of artists throughout the years. As a longstanding member of Theatre Ontario’s Talent Bank, Ralph has worked with Medina Theatre Ensemble, Kemptville Youth Musical Theatre Company, and The Curtain Club in Richmond Hill. He is currently a teacher at Sheridan Institute for Advanced Learning and Technology and UTM’s Erindale College.
For three years, Ralph taught the youth at Theatre Ontario’s Summer Courses. Last year he started a new course for adults, The Art Of Storytelling For The Theatre. This course was extremely popular, and is being offered again this year. “This course grew out of personal experiences; a lack of process and clarity surrounding productions that ultimately did not respect the audience’s sensibilities. While not a scene study class, this could be considered a play study class, perfect for actors and directors,” says Ralph. “How to make it come to life; it’s a hands-on course about bridging the gap between the writer’s intentions, the actor’s choices and the director’s vision.” Theatre Ontario’s Adult Summer Courses are held August 8 to 15, 2004 at Brock University in St. Catharines.
In the summer of 2004, Ralph’s journey continues; he’s co-starring in Separate Beds, a new play by Mary Jane Cruise, at Showboat Festival Theatre in Port Colborne. Ralph’s excited by the opportunity to be part of another new work. He’s also focusing more attention on his personal writing projects while continuing to write and direct for Stage-Kids: The Edu-tainment Co., a company that produces new musicals for school audiences and young adults.
“The pursuit of this art is really a pursuit of
yourself, the artist’s soul. It’s a personal journey. The destination may
not make you rich, but, if you pursue it with passion and dedication, it
will definitely make you a better person,” says Ralph. “The pursuit of
theatre is the pursuit of life.”
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