Artists in the Auburn
In 2024/25, the Grand Theatre decided to put a hold on presenting a season on the Auburn Developments Stage to focus our efforts on connecting with established and emerging theatre artists living in London and the surrounding area.
In this spirit, we have designed a season – called Artists in the Auburn – with four exciting pillars:
1. A season-long Playwrights Lab, led by director, dramaturge, and Grand Theatre Artistic Director Rachel Peake.
2. A series of hands-on Workshops offered by some of the top theatre artists in Canada, all currently based in southwestern Ontario.
3. A Speaker Series designed for indie, emerging, and community theatre participants to build their practical theatre skills.
4. Rental space available on the Auburn Stage for independent productions, workshops, lectures, and other gatherings.
Whether you are a professional artist, an emerging artist, a participant in community arts, or simply curious about getting started, this program is for you! Keep reading to learn more:
The Grand Theatre will bring together a cohort of local playwrights for a season-long playwrights’ lab, CASCADE. Each bi-monthly meeting, led by Artistic Director Rachel Peake, will include skills-building exercises, time to share excerpts of writing, and goal-setting for work at home between sessions. The lab will culminate in a public reading of excerpts of some of the works in progress.
To apply: Submit by September 30 a writing sample of 1-5 pages and a brief (1-3 sentence) synopsis of what you would like to work on over the course of the season to: cascade [at] grandtheatre.com (cascade[at]grandtheatre[dot]com)
There is no cost to participate, but all participants must be available for a minimum of three of the four sessions.
-------------------
Rachel Peake has a long history of new play development having worked as a dramaturge of plays, musical, and opera for over fifteen years. For five years she led Solo Collective Theatre, a Vancouver-based company that at the time produced exclusively new Canadian work. She led new play initiatives at the Citadel Theatre from 2017 to 2020 and conceived the Citadel’s first Collider Festival of New Works. For Gros Morne Summer Music Rachel oversaw the creation of twelve new pieces over four years.
Pay-What-You-Can: increments of $20 / $35 / $50
(A half day workshop with these artists would typically be priced at $100/person. This workshop is being subsidized by the Grand Theatre’s Community Outreach Program.)
October 19, 2024 - 10 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.
This workshop will explore some building blocks of playwriting: developing characters and crafting dialogue. Through a series of short writing exercises, participants will have the opportunity to put words on the page and share with the group.
Mark Crawford is one of Canada’s most-produced playwrights. His plays include Bed and Breakfast, The Birds and the Bees, The New Canadian Curling Club, and The Golden Anniversaries which debuted at the Blyth Festival in 2024. His plays have been seen at companies such as Theatre Aquarius, Arts Club, Victoria Playhouse Petrolia, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Western Canada Theatre, Theatre Orangeville, Theatre New Brunswick, Neptune Theatre, and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Raised near Glencoe, Mark currently resides in Stratford.
November 24, 2024 – 6:00-10:00 p.m.
This workshop will focus on the processes of both a general audition and of an audition for a play. The goal of this work is to create ease and confidence in the actor, as well as allowing artists to show themself and their work to their fullest potential.
Rachel Peake is the Artistic Director of the Grand Theatre and is a London-based award-winning director who has directed plays, musical theatre, and opera across the country. Companies include the Arts Club, the Gateway, Caravan Farm, Citadel Theatre, Pacific Opera Victoria, Calgary Opera, Vancouver Opera, Persephone Theatre, Gros Morne Summer Music, and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
Sunday, January 19, 2025 from 1:00-5:00 p.m.
Storytelling within a song can be achieved by utilizing vowel shapes, breathing techniques, and different vocal placements. Your voice is your instrument, and with this session we will seek to explore new ways to add to your vocal toolkit.
Alexandra Kane is a music director, producer, actor, singer, equity transformation coach, and activist. She has worked extensively as a Music Director at the Grand Theatre on shows such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Elf, and this season’s upcoming production of The Sound of Music. A London-based artist, Alex is also Creative Director of the outstanding London Gospel Collective.
Sunday, March 30, 2025 – 1:00-5:00 p.m.
In this four-hour professional development workshop, participants will be given an introduction to basic improvisation skills and how they can be applied to scripted work to build character, collaboration, and immediacy in the work.
Rebecca Northan is an actor/improviser/creator/director best known for her hit-shows Blind Date and Goblin:Macbeth. She is a Canadian Comedy Award winner and has spent much of her career attempting to sneak improvisation through the side-door of Canada’s mainstream theatres. As an actor, Rebecca has appeared on stages across the country, most recently as an Ensemble Member at the Shaw Festival. As a director Rebecca recently directed The Comedy of Errors (Bard on the Beach) and will be directing Pride and Prejudice at the Grand this season. Rebecca lives in Stratford, Ontario.
Speaker Series
The third pillar of the Artists in the Auburn series will be a speaker series, featuring a collection of local and national theatre artists engaging with special topics pertaining to those who choose theatre as a career, including The Business of Theatre and Theatre Tech 101. Stay connected with the Grand Theatre on social media, or keep a close eye on this page for more information about registering for the series!
RENTALS
The Auburn is available for rentals for independent and community productions as well as workshops, lectures, and other gatherings. If you have an event that engages with art and community, we would love to have you in our theatre! Reach out for more information at rentals [at] grandtheatre.com (rentals[at]grandtheatre[dot]com)
