Grand Theatre Announces Professional development series for theatre artists: ‘Artists in the Auburn’

September 9, 2024 – London ON – With weeks left until the beginning of the Grand Theatre’s 2024/25 season, the Theatre is pleased to announce a full season of artist development programming on the Auburn Developments Stage, titled Artists in the Auburn.

With a full calendar of programming for playwrights, performers, and other burgeoning theatre artists, the Artists in the Auburn series welcomes artists from London and area to connect with seasoned theatre professionals, with one another, and dive deeper into their craft.

“We are thrilled to be focusing our efforts on connecting with theatre artists living in London, and the surrounding area,” says Rachel Peake, Grand Theatre Artistic Director. “I have come to know London as a city brimming with artistic talent, and passion for live theatre. This series was designed for those people who engage tirelessly and creatively within this artistic community, and who wish to deepen their skills at the Grand Theatre. 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!”

The season, divided into three pillars, will offer a season-long playwrights’ lab (application-based), a series of Pay-What-You-Can workshops led by nationally renowned theatre artists, and a speaker series.

CASCADE PLAYWRIGHTS’ LAB:

The first program within the series will be a season-long playwrights’ lab, entitled CASCADE. The CASCADE Playwrights’ Lab will bring together a cohort of local playwrights for a series of bi-monthly meetings, led by Artistic Director Rachel Peake, and 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. Interested applicants should review the application process at: www.grandtheatre.com/artists-auburn

Rachel Peake has a long history of new play development having worked as a dramaturge of plays, musicals, 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 developed 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.

WORKSHOPS

Artists in the Auburn will also feature a series of workshops, subsidized by the Grand Theatre’s Community Outreach program, and available at Pay-What-You-Can Pricing of increments of $20, $35 and $50.

The details of each workshop are as follows:

Playwriting with Mark Crawford
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.

The Art of the Audition with Rachel Peake
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.

Expanding your Vocal Toolkit with Alexandra Kane
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.

Spontaneity and Script Work with Rebecca Northan
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

To register for a space in any of the above workshops, please visit: www.grandtheatre.com/artists-auburn

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. More information about this speaker series will be announced as available at www.grandtheatre.com/artists-auburn

RENTALS

The Auburn Stage is available for rentals for independent and community productions, 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)

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About the Grand Theatre – World Curious. London Made.

The Grand Theatre is known for world-class theatre created and built in London, Ontario. As southwestern Ontario’s premiere producing theatre and one of the most beautiful theatre spaces in Canada, the company has deep ties to the community and to its artists, artisans, and technicians.

As a vibrant cultural hub and not-for-profit professional theatre, the Grand serves to gather, inspire, and entertain audiences in London and beyond. At our home in downtown London, we create productions on two stages: the Spriet Stage (839 seats) and the Auburn Developments Stage (144 seats). The Grand season of theatrical offerings runs from September to May, and we collaborate with companies and artists across the country through our co-productions that see London-made artistic and creative work travel to audiences nation-wide. Through our successful New Play Development Program, the Grand is committed to developing and premiering new, original works and supporting the growth and reach of theatre writers and creators. Our recently renovated venue offers a contemporary and welcoming environment that is also home to several successful music series’, community arts rentals, and cultural and special events.

A cornerstone of the organization is our place as a teaching theatre, exemplified in our many mentorship programs and highlighted in our annual Grand Theatre High School Project. As the first program of its kind in the country and currently in its twenty-sixth year, the High School Project involves as many as one hundred high school participants annually from schools across the region. These students participate at no cost and take on roles both on stage and off, in a fully realized mainstage production under the direction of a professional creative team.

For more information, visit: grandtheatre.com.

The Grand Theatre is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Attawandaron Peoples. We acknowledge with gratitude the significant historical and contemporary contributions of local and regional Indigenous Peoples and of all the Original Peoples of Turtle Island (also known as North America). We are honoured to live, work, and tell stories together on this land.

For more information please contact:
Lia Karidas, Director of Marketing & Digital Strategy
lkaridas [at] grandtheatre.com (lkaridas[at]grandtheatre[dot]com)
office: 519-672-9030 ext. 280