Northern Light Theatre: Intro

I was at Northern Light Theatre, Edmonton Alberta 1987-1992. I produced four seasons of classics, new plays and plays from the international repertoire. On occasion, I co-produced with a touring company, enabling a second production and a western tour for companies like Theatre Columbus and Theatre Repere. I was lucky to have great Administrative Directors (Frank Glenfield, David Hennessey, Susan Moffat), an excellent publicist (Juliet Kershaw), and a very supportive Board of Directors (Norman Browning, Steve Glover, Brian Storey), who helped me to morph the company’s mandate to contemporary classics, as we dug it out of debt.  I’ve served on a number of Boards myself since then, and I like to think I’m following their example.

Most of all, I was lucky to find a fine group of actors, writers and musicians who liked to work collaboratively.

Devised work, developed in the studio with collaborators, was my favourite medium in these years. It wasn't a good fit with the Equity 3-weeks-rehearsal-and-then-you're-done model that the company was expected to adhere to, and I struggled with this, often doing artist- co-pro's outside the company.

I remember visiting Robert Lepage when he was directing Romeo and Juliet/Romeo et Juliette in the Tent in Saskatoon and his shock at the rules and attitudes that shaped the work of the anglo Equity actors in contrast to the franco Union des Artistes. Management demanded 9 shows a week, regardless of 50% sold houses; the actors protected themselves by punching a clock in rehearsal. The franco artists would find themselves left mid dicussion or mid-speech as the stage manager ended the day. Equity has come a long way since then, by listening to members who wanted a more collaborative environment.

Northern Light highlights included Plutocrats with David Rimer’s great music, Polygraph with Robert Lepage and Marie Brassard (winner of 3 Stirling Awards), Something Wicked This Way Comes, with Ray Bradbury and the Alberta Ballet (winner of 2 Stirling Awards, recipient of Canada Council Touring Office Award and a Western Canadian Tour) and Treacheries of the Blue Angel, a multi-media production with composer Jan Randall and videographer Gary Bruckner, recipient of a Canada Council Explorations Award.

Productions

Director. Plutocrats, by Paul Goetzee. Composer David Rimer. W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (Oct. 1988).

Producer. The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine by Theatre Columbus. W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (Feb. 1989).

Producer. The Lady from the Sea. Henrik Ibsen.W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (April 1989).

Director, dramaturge, collaborator, The Lure of Foreign Parts. Composer Bev Ross. Co-production with Some Dudes Theatre for Edmonton Fringe Festival (1990).

Director, writer. Treacheries of the Blue Angel. Video musical with Gary Bruckner videographer and Jan Randall composer. W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (Nov. 1989).

Presenter. Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, by Anne-Marie MacDonald. Nightwood Theatre. W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (Feb. 1990).

Director. The Revengers Tragedy. Adapted from Tourneur by Brad Fraser and Geoffrey Hirschfield.W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (Mar. 1990).

Director. Sherlock's Last Case, by Charles Marowitz. Design by Morris Ertman, winner of 2 Stirling awards.W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (May 1990).

Producer. President Wilson in Paris, by Ron Blair. W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (Oct. 1990).

Director. collaborator. Cinderella, the real story, by Kate Lushington. W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (Dec. 1990).

Director. Artist Descending a Staircase by Tom Stoppard. W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (Feb. 1991).

Collaborator, translator, presenter. Polygraph by R. Lepage and M. Brassard. W. Kaasa Theatre, Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Alberta (Oct. 1990). International Tour to London, Avignon, Berlin, Barcelona, Ostend, Prague, New York (BAM Festival), Chicago. Asian Tour to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka. Canadian Tour to Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver (1990-2003).

Director, adaptor, book lyrics. Something Wicked This Way Comes, with Ray Bradbury. Commissioned by Oracle and Unisys for Edmonton International Conference on Computer Programming, April 1989. Western Canadian Tour.1991: Banff Centre for the Arts; Vancouver East Cultural Centre; Gateway Theatre Richmond; A.C.T. Theatre Seattle; Yellowknife Arts Centre; Lethbridge University Theatre; Calgary University Theatre; Fort McMurray Centre for the Arts; Western Canada Theatre Company, Kelowna; Sunshine Theatre Company, Kamloops.

Presenter. The Erotic Irony of Old Glory. One Yellow Rabbit and Northern Light Theatre co-production Edmonton Fringe Festival (1991).

Director, playwright. The Dog's Temper. co-production with Mile Zero Dance Company, John L. Haar Theatre, Edmonton (Nov 1991).

Dramaturge, presenter. Ilsa, Queen of the Nazi Love Camp by Blake Brooker. International Tour to Edinburgh, Berlin, Avignon (1990) New York La Mama. Edinburgh Festival "Fringe First" Award. National Tour to Factory Theatre, Toronto, Manitoba Theatre Warehouse, Firehall Theatre Vancouver (1991).