Theatre in an Elevator!
You have two evenings left (today and tomorrow) to catch The
National Elevator Project (NEP) at Mag North. Edmonton’s Theatre Yes has
commissioned five-minute plays from across the country to be performed within
working elevators. “The actors will be only a few feet
away so the experiences are intense,” says Heather Inglis, founder of the NEP
and artistic producer at Theatre Yes. “Many people say that the plays are so
engaging that five minutes is all they need to feel they have had a complete
theatre experience.”
When and why did you first become
interested in theatre?
HI: I've been interested in theatre my whole life. I’m an
example of a child who was immersed in the arts and fell in love with them at
an early age. Before I even knew what a theatre director was, I forced my
younger brother to perform plays under the walnut tree for my extended family
while I stood on the sidelines to watch.
Are they the same reasons that you
continue to be involved today?
HI: I’m happy to say theatre has become my career – and it is
pretty all consuming. I can honestly say I’m not exactly sure why I created
those early 'backyard works' and in some ways I’m still kind of mystified by
the source of what drives me now. What I do know is that I love theatre – all
of it. I love theatre people: actors, writers, technicians, producers. I love
the meetings and the smell of latex paint and even writing grants and making
budgets. Most of all I'm delighted when audiences are delighted. I’m really
fortunate that I’m able to do what I love.
What are the challenges of the
vocation?
HI: All the things one expects from a career in the arts are
kind-of true: the paid work isn’t always consistent, you probably won’t get rich, the hours can be
long. There are like any profession’s ups and downs; pros and cons. But it
is always challenging and hardly ever boring. Dangerous yes, but routine can be
lethal.
Is your creative process more
'inspirational' or 'perspirational'?
HI: I would say it is a bit of both. I get ideas and then it
usually takes a long time for them to make it to the stage. Often times it is
two or more years from the moment I know I want to do something to it finding a
life on stage. A lot of this has to do with the time it takes to raise the
funds to produce fully professional theatre. It is just not a fast process and
in that time there is a lot of perspiration involved.
What inspired The National Elevator
Project?
HI: Our company is very interested in site-specific work, and
works that engage very small audiences. The thing that is specific to theatre,
that sets it apart from other forms of narrative storytelling is that the
actors in a play are in the same room with the audience. Living, breathing
performers of great skill who's energy you can feel, are present with the
audience to tell a story. We’re interested in amplifying this reality and
making sure that is central to our work. We wanted to see what would happen if
the performers were very close/among the audience in very small rooms. In
elevators – like it or not — we collide with people. We ascend towards the sky and
plummet to the earth while jammed into tight spaces with people we don’t know.
Our lives are shaped and transformed by transactions and collisions with
strangers. We wanted to explore moments of transition in our lives. The times
where things happen that change us forever. The elevators are metaphors of
transformation and transition and they make for exciting experiences in and of
themselves because elevators rides come with baggage which is then amplified by
the play. These are plays for people that want adventures.
What can audiences here expect to
experience?
HI: The audience can expect a completely unique theatre
experience. The actors will be only a few feet away so the experiences are
intense. Many people say that the plays are so engaging that five minutes is
all they need to feel they have had a complete theatre experience. The
audience will be in the thick of the action, placed in the midst of hyper-real
performances that will leave them tingling and talking for hours
afterward. It is really something they won’t forget.
What are your thoughts on the
current state of theatre in Canada?
HI: I
think exciting things are happening. A new generation of bold, brash theatre
artists are finding their way into leadership positions in the country. As this
happens, a new theatre is being built that challenges more conservative notions
of what the art form is. Don’t get me wrong I love the proscenium arch. And to
keep live performance vital we need to find out how to engage new audiences in
new ways. That is happening more and more and it is TERRIFIC.
What can we be doing better?
HI: The
biggest challenge is the limits of funding. Artists work very hard to find
funding that allows audiences to see theatre at a price they can afford. I can
honestly say I spend most of my time finding funding for projects. What
would happen if it was even a tiny bit easier? Funding for the arts is a small
ticket item on the budgets of every government who funds it and yet the
economic spin off is both huge and documented. In the arts a little bit of
funding goes a long, long, way. Even tiny increases from federal and provincial
governments would make gargantuan differences to artists who are creating the
social capital Canada needs to meet the challenges we’ll face in the next 50
years.
What's next on your creative agenda?
HI: We
have a number of dates cooking to perform plays from the National Elevator
Project at events in the coming year - all to be announced. We’re developing a
commission for a play to be written which will go in a shipping container and
we are looking forward to co–production of a new play with another Edmonton
theatre in the next season. That is all I can say for now. But more
interesting plays in more interesting spaces…more intelligent theatre for
adventurous audiences.
The National Elevator Project
Today (June 24) 5:30-8pm (The Maritime
Centre, Fortis Properties)
The Tip of Things by Catherine Banks (NS)
Commissioned by Mulgrave Road Theatre
Commissioned by Mulgrave Road Theatre
Admission by donation
Tomorrow (June 25) 5:30-8pm (The Maritime
Centre, Fortis Properties)
Earworm
Duet by Megan Coles (NL)
Commissioned by Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland
Admission by donation
