Prince George is feeling the pre-shocks of a Shakespeare earthquake.
The quintessential playwright has been a favourite in this city over the years, as with most communities everywhere, and longtime student of the great bard, Lauren Brotman, is building a new movement in his direction.
Brotman has a long credits list from the modern and classical stage industries, but a particular career highlight was earning the Christopher Plummer Fellowship Award allowing her to study and perform in London at the Globe Theatre. Shakespeare's theatre.
Since then, she has turned her acting career into a teaching career as well, developing youth programs in her home province of Ontario and co-founding an instructional drama company, Bound To Create Theatre, with husband Jack Grinhaus who was recently installed at Theatre North West as TNW's artistic director.
Brotman has scheduled a Shakespeare workshop for January 10 and 11, with an application deadline fast approaching.
"It's filling up quickly, but all I'm looking for from anyone interested is a short letter on why you're interested, a photo of yourself, and if you have any past theatre experience but that is not necessary to have," she said.
The workshop is the first in a series of Shakespeare events Brotman hopes to foster, based on feedback she has already received from the local theatre community feeling the loss of Prince George Theatre Workshop - the now defunct amateur company that most often did Shakespearean productions in years gone by.
"The ultimate goal would be to have an outdoor Shakespeare experience to provide that entertainment for audiences, but it also develops other aspects of your community," she said. "[US President Barack] Obama was asked once how he prepared for his speeches, he's such a great orator, and he said he studied the tragedies of Shakespeare. From a technical point of view, if you are a politician or a CEO or anyone who has to convey information to people, Shakespeare informs us how to write and how to speak. He was the one who encapsulated those techniques. How do you inspire? How do you communicate with clarity? The model we still use today is the one developed by Shakespeare."
Her two-day workshop will include some scene work and some attention to the Shakespearean sonnet. She promised some theoretical learning and some development of performance and movement skills.
"It is not just for actors. It can be taken for different purposes, but one of the hopes is we can find the traction to once again nurture professional actors again in Prince George. There is a very good musical theatre community here, but dramatic theatre doesn't have the community here that it once did. We will start with a workshop, and see how it might lead to future plans."
For more information, Brotman can be reached online at www.boundtocreate.com under the Contact heading. Deadline for workshop applications is Monday, while space is available.
