Producing – From Home

As our staff work remotely to produce our programming from their homes, it seems like the ideal time to explore how to share knowledge with others in their homes! Thus far we’ve had a virtual roundtable, we’ve moved forward with the script for Songide’ewin by hosting an on-line reading, our staff have done virtual tutorials, and there is a lot more to come. Although we can’t wait to be together again, our team is learning new platforms that can help us meet our goals of greater accessibility and inclusion – even when the theatres open again.

Before we get ahead of ourselves though – we are excited to announce our next virtual workshop! Have you ever wondered how to produce your own theatre? Where to start? What steps to take? Producing 101 will happen online from the comfort of your own home. On Saturday, May 30th from 1pm-3pm. Unlike a panel, this will be a skill-development session and as a result will only be open to a limited number of participants.

Coming up with a script or show idea is half the work, but once you have that, what then? If you’re thinking of self-producing this workshop is for you! It will provide a helpful breakdown of the fundamentals required to take your vision to the stage. Through this virtual training experience industry professionals will provide participants with an overview of producing their own theatrical performance from A-Z. Topics for discussion include budgeting, scheduling, production tech planning, plus marketing and communications. Our goal is to equip artists with helpful knowledge in preparation for future self-producing, as well as creating an opportunity for discussion between artists in our local community.

We know money is tight right now so the cost is up to participants. You decide! Artists can choose their registration fee – $20, $15, $10, $5 or free depending on what you can afford. We believe in paying artists, so monies earned from registration will be used to pay facilitators and to continue similar programming.

E-mail now to register or stay tuned for details on the co-facilitators and hope there is still space left.

We are so grateful to be able to bring art and knowledge to the arts community during these difficult times. If self-producing isn’t your thing we have lots of other opportunities coming up!

Don’t forget, for female and non-binary emerging artists, our Launchpad Project is still accepting applications HERE until tomorrow (May 1st). For both emerging and established playwrights, our One Night Stand reading series is also taking submissions HERE until May 8!

We Want YOU!

There are so many exciting things to look forward to in the near future. From workshops, to festivals, we can’t wait to gather once again as a community and share our art. We would love for you to join us! We are currently accepting submissions for our One Night Stand playwright development series and applications for our Launchpad Project! 

Every year, we host our One Night Stand reading series as a way for emerging and established playwrights to share their work and gain some feedback. We are seeking 10-minute scenes from Manitoban playwrights of all ages, genders, and backgrounds! Our first virtual, One Night Stand will take place in June, 2020. All submissions must be received by 11:59pm on May 8th, 2020. More details on how and what to submit HERE. 

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We are so excited to welcome former Launchpad participant Jonathan Mourant in helping to coordinate future ONS editions! 

Jonathan Mourant in the 2019 Launchpad Project

Jonathan Mourant is a trans-disciplinary performer, producer, and also a robot learning how to be human. They have been improvising for just under a decade and have performed and learned at festivals and workshops across Canada, including the Winnipeg Improv Festival and Toronto SketchFest. This year, Jonathan wrote and directed Here Together for the 2019 Winnipeg Fringe Festival and created Jon After Hours, an experimental late night talk show featuring local personalities. Recently, they have begun performing drag as Nora Vision, and are thrilled at the opportunities to combine improv, theatre, and drag into their own unique performance.

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You may recall our Launchpad Project from FemFest 2019. A group of emerging female and non-binary identifying artists gathered weekly for a series of workshops, before creating and performing their final work To Kill a Lizard during FemFest 2019. After a successful pilot project that supported ten young artists, we are excited to change it up this year with a new focus. This intensive residency will take place in August/September 2020. Participants will be working on performance pieces that explore climate change. They will perform them in site-specific locations in downtown Winnipeg during our fall festival of FemFest 2020. The best part is participants are paid – as all artists should be!. For more details on who, what and how to apply, click HERE. 

We hope you will consider submitting for one (or both!) of these exciting initiatives. It is important to remember that there is still a lot of exciting things to look forward to and so much art and theatre still to create! 

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Postponed, Cancelled, Thriving

It is with a heavy heart that we recently announced the postponement of our May 2020 performance of Songide’ewin, the culmination of our Reconciliation Through Theatre Project at the Forks. We have been holding on with great hope and optimism. We have amazing stories compiled from over 70 Indigenous youth. We have an incredible artistic team and community partners all lined up. We would like to say we are making this choice, however it ultimately was out of our hands as permits and regulations were no longer allowing gatherings in to May and June. We do believe it is the safest decision and what is best for all involved.

On April 1st we had a wonderful reading of the draft script under the guidance of our director Tracey Nepinak and with actors Sara Demers, Katie German, Braiden Houle, Jessica McGlynn, Akalu Meekis and Josh Ranville. Incredible designs are underway thanks to Production Designer Louis Ogemah and we have such beautiful art ready to share from so many talented youth.

We are 100% committed to seeing the show through, but at this time cannot provide new dates as we are working with our venue to sort out what is realistic and feasible. We will continue to share all the inspiring work happening in the interim and cannot wait to celebrate when the time is ready! We are grateful for how the community is rallying at this time, thankful for all those working so hard to provide essential services, and for all our supporters, funders, partners for their belief in our work.

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These are truly uncertain times we’re in! The arts are taking a hit as performances, workshops, festivals and more are being cancelled or postponed on the daily. In times like these, we understand it’s a challenge to remain positive. But, not all hope is lost. In fact, it is more alive than ever! There are still plenty of resources on creative ways to keep your mind and the arts active. Here are just some examples:

Watch theatre at home!

Free virtual acting classes!

Art from a distance!

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Our friends at I Like Hue created a documentary following the process of our reconciliation through theatre project. The documentary outlines the Seven Visions art workshops at our partner youth organizations, eventually resulting in our final production Songide’ewin. You can watch the video HERE on our Facebook with closed captioning or HERE on our Youtube account!

Songide’ewin may be postponed, but the conversation on reconciliation is not. We want to continue to support our artists and collaborators anyway that we can, which is why we will be introducing “Songide’ewin Sunday”! Every Sunday, starting next week, we will be featuring a Songide’ewin artist on our social media platforms. You can keep up with Songide’ewin Sunday on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Stay tuned for updates on Songide’ewin once more information is available to us. We hope you are all remaining in good health and high spirits!

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Accessibility Online

Lots of companies are offering free virtual workshops, discussions and play readings. We were so grateful to host the accessibility panel discussion, “Accessibility On Stage and Off” on Saturday, April 4^th along with Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba and Sick + Twisted Theatre.

We hosted the discussion online so panellists and workshop participants could participate from the comfort of their own home! We were even able to broadcast the discussion to or Facebook livestream so folks could choose to just watch and observe. It was nice just to do something beyond the usual quarantine routine and to have an important and valuable conversation pertaining to accessibility in the theatre industry. We were even able to have ASL interpretation for the Deaf.

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Joanna Hawkins

Some of the points and ideas brought up included a calendar of events specifically for accessible performances and productions, suggested by Joanna Hawkins, a local Deaf performer. She also brought up the idea of using ASL videos to announce local events, in order to appeal more to the Deaf community. Joanna also shared insights on the importance of communication, “communication is something we all do, we are human beings!” One of the other disability advocates, Hannah Foulger, also mentioned the importance of communication, “the more we talk about what some venues are already doing, the more the other venues will listen and change.” As did our Sick + Twisted Theatre host and moderator, Debbie Patterson, “it’s all about connections and communication. We observe, we pay attention, it’s a network it’s not any one person!” While our other partner Jenel Shaw from Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba expressed the importance of venues and organizations understanding the need for accessible spaces, “if more organizations saw accessibility not as a burden or expensive but as an opportunity to grow, it would really benefit everyone. More than a quarter of the Canadian population has a disability.”

Panellists Hailley Rhoda and Hannah Foulger also discussed the importance of hiring

Hailley Rhoda

disabled performers. “Seeing people with disabilities on stage reminds me I am worthwhile, my life is worthwhile and we have important things to say,” Hannah Foulger. “The difference between knowing you’re allowed in a space and knowing you’re welcome in a space, the.re is a huge difference,” Hailley Rhoda.

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This discussion was incredible informative and beneficial in many ways. We want to thank the panelists, the participants and everyone who tuned in! We are grateful to be able to keep conversations like these going and we hope to have many more! It is also important to move it beyond talk and walk the walk. Here are some amazing resources:

• Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba has a ramp available for rent
• Sick + Twisted Theatre now offers audio-description for the visually impaired
• Scent-free venues are essential
• Relaxed performances can make for a better experience for many people

Stay tuned for more updates on our season. We hope you all are happy and healthy!

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Accessibility On Stage and Off

The world is changing but the arts continue to stay alive. Everything has moved to the virtual world as folks social distance and work on flattening the curve. We want to do our part, but we also want to keep the arts alive! That’s why this Saturday, April 4th at 12pm, we will be hosting a discussion on Accessibility On Stage and Off with guest panelists and disability advocates via Zoom! More is being done to address accessibility in theatre and the arts in Winnipeg, but is it enough? How accessible are performances for audiences? How exclusionary are the spaces and processes we use in making theatre? Why is the inclusion of artists with disabilities essential to the continued development of the art form? Join Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba, Sarasvàti Productions and Sick + Twisted Theatre for a frank discussion with guest artists and Disability advocates.

Zoom is an online video chat platform. Participants can choose to join in the discussion and be seen and heard from the comfort of their own homes; or watch without any pressure to join in! The choice is yours. Debbie Patterson of Sick + Twisted Theatre will be moderating. Jenel Shaw representing our other partner, Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba, will be part of the panel will . Along with Debbie and Jenel, we have a selection of disability advocates who will be sharing their insights.

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Hailing from Poland, a University of Manitoba Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate, Joanna Hawkins has always felt a strong connection to the arts. She is a skilled artist (drawing & painting), graphic designer and photographer but her real dream had always been with acting. Joanna has performed as a lead in a children’s show for young deaf children and has been involved in several films in Manitoba as a featured extra as well as two television commercials. Joanna has been professionally trained in mime, physical comedy and storytelling by the award winning Hot Thespian Action’s Shannon Guile. Recently Joanna performed as Mrs. Peachum in Sick + Twisted/AA Battery production’s “The Threepenny Opera”. Joanna’s aim is not only to entertain audiences with her incredibly crisp and clean physical illusions but to reach-out with the beauty of Deaf Culture and build bridges between the hearing and Deaf worlds. Joanna continues enjoying working in theatre/film industry as an actor, ASL translator and ASL coach.

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Hailley Rhoda is a theatre artist focused on storytelling, puppeteering and reimagining traditional myths. She has a fringe company, Chronically Ch(ill) Productions, entering its third year of existence. She is a graduate of the University of Winnipeg’s Theatre and Film department. Hailley has two invisible illnesses, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Classic) and Von Willebrand’s Disease. Quasi the tripod cat will likely be appearing in this live stream. She has yet to develop artistic passions, and mostly enjoys biting Hailley and chasing the laser pointer.

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Hannah Foulger is a British Canadian theatre artist and writer from Cambridge, Ontario on the Haldimand Tract of Treaty 3 territory. She studied Theatre and Creative Writing at the University of Winnipeg, and is a winner of the Bertsinger award. Her theatre projects have appeared at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, the PTE Festival of New Works and Sick + Twisted Theatre’s Lame Is… Cabaret. Her creative writing has been featured in Prairie Fire Magazine, Matrix Magazine, Juice and the Disability Voices Anthology from Rebel Mountain Press. She lives in Winnipeg on Treaty One territory with a brain injury and epilepsy.

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Also joining the panel is Diane Driedger, Ph.D. Diane Driedger is Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Disability Studies at the University of Manitoba. She is a visual artist, poet and disability activist.

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To join the panel, email info@sarasvati.ca to get the link! All you will need is a computer or cellphone so you can access the Zoom app or website and the meeting code. If you wish to interact live with the panelists you will also need a camera and microphone. If you can’t do a Zoom and prefer to just watch, you can also tune in via Facebook livestream. We hope to see you virtually on April 4th from 12pm-2pm!

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