Category Archives: theatre

Meet the Saskatchewan Outdoors Team: Dakota Hebert

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Dakota Hebert - Co-Creator/Performer

Dakota Hebert – Co-Creator/Performer

Dakota Hebert (Co-Creator/Actor) was born and raised in Meadow Lake. Her theatre career began in Saskatchewan and has taken her across the country. Although she has seen the beauty within the other provinces, they can’t quite compare to Saskatchewan’s outdoors.

1. What is your favourite childhood memory about being outdoors in Saskatchewan?
My favourite memory would be anything on the farm. Catching frogs in the dug out with my Uncle Leonard, catching grasshoppers, fishing (I could fish forever), hopping on calves with my cousin Cole and trying to ride them for eight seconds. Bottle feeding calves. Hide-and-seek in the dark. Climbing bales.
2. What has been the most challenging part about working on ‘Sask Outdoors’?

Dakota teaches children about puppets.

Dakota teaches children about puppets.

Not getting homesick. I’m from Meadow Lake, and it is absolutely beautiful in the Spring and Summer. This is probably one of the first summers where I haven’t spent every weekend back. Don Kerr’s poems about driving and small towns make me want to cry every time I read them. They make me so homesick.

3. Why should audiences see ‘Sask Outdoors’? 

It’s a short, fun play that is completely family-appropriate. Also, all artists involved are Saskatchewan artists, and Saskatchewan based. What a great way to promote our homegrown creators and maybe inspire a few people to pursue their dream careers.

Meet the Saskatchewan Outdoors Team: Shelby Lyn Lowe

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Shelby Lyn Lowe - Co-Creator/Designer/Stage Manager

Shelby Lyn Lowe – Co-Creator/Designer/Stage Manager

Shelby Lyn Lowe (Co-Creator/Designer/Stage Manager of Saskatchewan Outdoors: A Touring Play for Families) is a Regina-based theatre artist who received her BFA in Theatre Design from the University of Regina. Select design credits include Production Design Assistant for Kaleidocycle (Globe Theatre Sandbox Series), Set and Costume Designer for The Unseen and Lookingglass (U of R), Design Assistant for Billy Bishop Goes to War, The Wizard of Oz, and Pride and Prejudice (Globe Theatre), and Costume Design Assistant for Leading Ladies (Persephone Theatre). Select stage management credits include ASM for Eurydice (U of R), ASM for Carmen (Saskatoon Opera), stage manager for Hansel and Gretel (LOOP), and ASM for The Magic Flute (Saskatoon Opera).As a lover of all things involving puppetry,

A design drawing for Saskatchewan Outdoors.

A design drawing for Saskatchewan Outdoors.

Shelby was a participant of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop Banff Puppet Intensive in January of 2014.

1. What is your favourite childhood memory about being outdoors in Saskatchewan?
Spending summers camping at Round Lake in the Qu’appelle Valley with my family but especially with my mum. I didn’t appreciate it as a kid, but now I miss those days. I would love to be able to go swimming and read on a hammock everyday.
2. What has been the most challenging part about working on ‘Sask Outdoors’? 
Designing a show that needs to tour and be outside. Most theatres don’t have wind and rain to worry about.
Forest in progress

The backdrop for Saskatchewan Outdoors as it is being painted.

3. Why should audiences see ‘Sask Outdoors’?

Because it’s a show that everyone can relate to. I remember being a kid and not liking camping and being outside. I hope this show can really get kids away from their phones and computers this summer. I also hope that it will inspire more family vacations. As a person who comes from a fairly segregated family, I love seeing families that like each other and love spending time together.

Upcoming Shakespeare Workshop!

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SHAKESPEAREEmbrace Theatre is happy to present a workshop by respected actor, director, and teacher, as well as Bard on the Beach founding member Christopher Weddell.

What better way to spend your May long weekend than exploring Shakespeare in this “workout for the actor’s body, voice and imagination.” Both auditing and full-participation slots are available. Click here for more information on this exciting workshop.

 

Meet Jenna Maren, Our Set Designer for Stop Kiss

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“Thank you to the whole Stop Kiss team for making this show exceptionally memorable.”Jenna Maren

Biography Jenna Maren(1)

Jenna has had a wonderful time working with such a talented group of artists.

Recent credits: Set design for the 2014 SaskTel Youth Tour (Persephone Theatre), La Chambre Blanche (La Troupe du Jour), A Man A Fish (Persephone’s Deep End Series), Salt-Water Moon (Station Art’s Center), The Frenzy of Queen Maeve (Bzzt Trap Door Theatre/Live Five, Live Lobster Theatre/Summerworks Theatre Festival),  Into the Woods (Greystone Theatre), and assistant set design for A History of Breathing (Persephone’s Deep End series).

Thank you to the whole Stop Kiss team for making this show exceptionally memorable.

What about this play resonates with you?

The clumsy and sweet first steps of love between Callie and Sara which everyone can recognize. We all search for ourselves, search for love, and do so messily.
What do you do to prepare for a role (or this role specifically)?

Set Designer Jenna Maren works on the Maquette (model of the set).

Set Designer Jenna Maren works on the Maquette (model of the set).

The initial prep for a show is the best part of being a designer! This is when I read the script a bunch of times and do all kinds of (what may seem silly) exercises to dig out the design from the script. A playwright will leave breadcrumbs to follow, or sometimes whole loaves. My job is to find the best and most beautiful solution to the scripts needs for the particular production.

What does community engagement mean to you?

I was very fortunate to sit in on a discussion that our community partners had after a dress rehearsal. They had insights into the struggle and the beauty of the LGBT community that were very valuable to a deeper understanding of the play. Our community partners are hosting The Afterplay, following each performance, which I would encourage everyone to stick around for.

Read more about Embrace Theatre’s production of Stop Kiss by Diana Son

Read about the rest of the Cast and Creative Team of Stop Kiss 

FINAL-stopkisshandbill-front

 

Meet Laura Andreas, our Stage Manager for Stop Kiss

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BiographyLaura Andreas(1)

Laura is excited to be working with Embrace Theatre on her first Live Five show. This spring, she will receive her BA in Drama from the University of Saskatchewan. Her previous credits include stage manager for Don’t Panic (Dibley Theatre) as well as assistant stage manager for Angel in the House (International Virginia Woolf Conference) and Love of the Nightingale (Greystone Theatre). Next up for Laura is stage managing Short Cuts Ten-Minute Play Festival (Hardly Art Theatre).

What about this play resonates with you?
Stop Kiss is a love story, not all that different from any other. A friendship that develops into something more: awkward moments, hesitant subtext-filled conversations and a first kiss. Difference is it’s not just any other love story. Stop Kiss is beautiful and tragic in equal measure.
What do you do to prepare for a role (or this role specifically)? 20140316_135134
I prepare by getting organized and making lists, so many lists. Also sticky notes, sticky notes are my friend.
What does community engagement mean to you? 

Theatre is a social experience. It isn’t meant to be forgotten as soon as the curtain call finishes and the audience gets up from their seats. Community engagement means continuing the conversation after the final curtain is drawn. It is this formal (or informal) connection to the community that brings wider attention to the issues of a play.

Read more about Embrace Theatre’s production of Stop Kiss by Diana Son

Read about the rest of the Cast and Creative Team of Stop Kiss 

FINAL-stopkisshandbill-front

Meet Gilles Zolty, our Sound Designer

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Biography Gilles Zolty(1)

Gilles is super excited to be working with the beautiful Stop Kiss team on his first Live Five production. Since 2007 he has composed and sound designed over 20 theatre productions. This past season Gilles worked on My Chernobyl, A Man A Fish, The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon (Persephone Theatre) and La Chambre Blanche (La Troupe du Jour). Gilles also has film scored several films and performs music as a solo artist.

What about this play resonates with you?
I love the fact that Stop Kiss manages to make me laugh and cry in a single breath. It’s messy, snotty and wonderful.

Having family and friends that are victims of this kind of abuse makes being part of this show intensely important and moving.
What do you do to prepare for your role (or for this production specifically)?IMG_1765
I start by drawing/scoring from the script and Director’s vision but the true possession/engagement happens with actors and the rest of the design team.
What does community engagement mean to you?
We are all a collective and being part of it is where inspiration lives.

It been wonderful sitting in a few of the after-show talks listening to people stories and perspectives in Saskatoon.

Meet Curtis Peeteetuce, our Detective Cole in Stop Kiss

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“Prepping for this role was a bit of a challenge, which I love, for such challenges can only make us better artists in the long run.”

Curtis Peeteetuce

BiographyCurtis Peeteetuce(1)

Curtis is Cree from the Beardy’s & Okemasis First Nation.  Since 2001, he has had the honour of working with many talented artists in theatre, radio drama, music and film. Selected highlights include Persephone Theatre (A History of Breathing, Bannock Republic), SNTC (Where The Blood Mixes, Thunderstick), CBC (Out in the Cold, Red Moon) and Rabbit Fall, season 2.  Curtis is the recipient of the 2012 Saskatoon & Area Theatre Award for Outstanding Male Performance.  He dedicates all his efforts and accomplishments to his beautiful son Mahihkan.  Special thanks to family and friends for years of support!

What about this play resonates with you?Giving Direction

I am quite fond of the storytelling style. Any piece of work which dares to tell the story in an unorthodox fashion – particularly beginning, middle, end – is of particular interest to me. I’m very happy to be working on this piece with this team of artists. 

What do you do to prepare for a role (or this role specifically)?

As an Aboriginal actor, I am usually cast in roles which reflect my ethnicity or look. These roles I am quite adept at preparing for, as I have a strong sense of identity, culture and language. In Stop Kiss I play a New York detective, which I know nothing about. Prepping for this role was a bit of a challenge, which I love, for such challenges can only make us better artists in the long run.

What does community engagement mean to you?

Community engagement is about opportunity and acknowledgment. Opportunity for storytelling, sharing, dialogue and collaboration. As a theatre artist I am not classically or ‘Westernly’ trained. In one sense this is a detriment, for I have little knowledge about classical theatre and its pedagogy or its great artists. On the other hand, I feel I contribute a valid and important perspective to the arts in our community. That inevitably opens the door for acknowledgment about the diverse forms of artistic expression within our discipline.

Read more about Embrace Theatre’s production of Stop Kiss by Diana Son

Read about the rest of the Cast and Creative Team of Stop Kiss FINAL-stopkisshandbill-front

Stop Kiss is selling out! Get your tickets before they’re gone!

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Stop Kiss by Diana Son sold out its opening night on March 28th! Unfortunately, some people had to be turned away at the door. Make sure to buy your tickets here before the rest of the run sells out.

Here are some responses from our preview and opening night audiences: 1238067_374127746060345_1391218881_n

“Wow, you guys really touched the audience last night. Way to make a difference!”

“it completely blew me away. An absolutely incredible story, with talented actors and a phenomenal director.“

“Thank you for an amazing experience last night. Looking forward to seeing it again!”

“Fantastic show.”