The summer of 2008 saw a well-funded
Summer Street Theatre project called From Coalmines to Bathtub Races, a
Cultural Capitals of Canada Project.
Street Theatre is based on productions
previously presented as part of TheatreOne's main stage series, which in turn,
are based on historical events in Nanaimo's past. Local playwright Michael
Armstrong was commissioned to write the six scripts that were explored and
presented by youth who successfully auditioned for the Street Theatre project.
Instructors were Burton Lancaster
& Catherine Caines.
From left to right: Nicole Busby, Neil Gallagher.
Fire and Bones. 2008
In July and August 2007,
Garry Davey, Catherine Caines and Laurie Clarke co-directed the Young
Company's "street theatre" project . The project was presented to the public for
four days. It was called "Dream a Little Dream." Garry Davey adapted the script
of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream down to 30 minutes
of short scenes, with 2 narrators (Catherine & Laurie) storytelling
the way
through, and the 6 students playing several characters each.
The students also had an
individual clown character that they had created during a clown workshop with
Laurie, which we incorporated into a "Clown Parade" at the beginning and end of
the show. The "Clown Parade" was the aspect of the work that took the actors
out onto the 'street' , then returned to the outdoor 'stage' to do the play. We
all had a lot of fun, the students learned a variety of skills, and the parents
and others who saw the finished product were very pleased.
Clown Parade. Summer 2007.
In Summer 2006, we
promoted the Mainstage play, Being Frank, by setting up a pirate scene in
different parts of downtown Nanaimo and the waterfront.
From left to right: Mark Dumez, Erin Ormond,
Garry Davey. Being Frank. 2007
