Tarra Riley of Broad Minds Theatre
Without thinking too hard, you can count about 25 different theatre companies in Calgary, from the largest professional ones, down to the smallest community theatres. With so many theatre companies, and so much choice, it’s easy for some groups to get lost in the shuffle, despite the fact that they may fulfil very unique niches within the community.
THEATRE ENCOUNTER
One of the newest arrivals on the scene is Theatre Encounter. It has a distinct mandate from other companies within the city. Two MFA graduates from the University of Calgary, Mike Unrau and Michael Fenton, started the company that's now, officially, entering its second season. “We had realized that there was a wave of new theatre companies, yet there seemed to be an artistic gap of alternative classic theatre. We wanted to reunite the Calgary community with alternative classic productions from both the theatre and the literary worlds,” says Unrau.
“The artistic norm of today's theatre tends to be realism. Theatre Encounter doesn't do that. We use a variety of international approaches to theatre including expressionism, surrealism, melodrama, Wagnerian drama and our own approach as well, which really focuses and re-invents these classic texts through language and physical movement,” he adds.
Unrau admits that the reception for Theatre Encounter's works is mixed. “We have seasoned veterans in the theatre community go, ‘Wow, that was weird.’ Part of that may be because it's so different, part of it is because they don't understand,” he says.
Theatre Encounter is staging a fall production of Albert Camus's Caligula, with a restructured text. "Some vets in the theatre world argue that you should never play with the text. But, what we find more important than the actual words of the text, are what the words are trying to say. The actor's body moving creates a sense of story, as opposed to necessarily the text," he explains, adding that, until one sees a show, it's hard to fully grasp the concept.
THEATRE BSMT
Another relatively new member of Calgary's theatre scene is Theatre BSMT. It, too, is entering its second season. Artistic director Amy Dettling started the company as a way to create opportunities for emerging artists. “Our biggest goal is to give emerging artists a place for their work to be seen,” explains Dettling. As a result, the company chooses plays with roles for people in their 20s and 30s. “We also provide mentorship,” says Dettling. “There's always one professional working on a show, so the emerging artists can make those connections.”
Theatre BSMT will stage Greg MacArthur's Snowman in October. “It's a challenging piece of theatre. There's a lot of risqué material within the piece. Not only are we giving emerging artists a chance to perform, we're giving them a big juicy role, a role they can really sink their teeth into and learn from,” says Dettling.
“I found, as an emerging actor, there is work for younger actors, but a lot of the roles are simple characters,” she adds. “There aren't really a lot of juicy roles out there for younger actors. Sometimes, it's hard to get your foot in the door. If people haven't seen your work, they're less likely to hire you. To be seen, I've had to produce my own shows.”
“It was a very scary endeavour to start my own theatre company. I had a lot of apprehension,” Dettling admits, though she says she's received a lot of support from the community at large. However, she says getting funding together remains a challenge, as does getting audiences out to see the work.
FIRE EXIT THEATRE
Another group in Calgary that also faces a constant struggle to get funding, though it's entering its seventh season, is Fire Exit Theatre. The apparent problem: its mandate. “We have a crazy mandate that we actually want to talk about faith, hope and, sometimes, God,” explains Val Lieske, Fire Exit's founder and artistic director. “That very statement disqualifies us from getting lots of government money,” she says, a note of frustration evident in her voice.
“It's interesting to me that this is the last thing we can’t talk about, because we might offend someone. Are you kidding me?” she says. “I’ve been outright told, ‘Sorry, we don't support religious organizations.’ In some ways, we’ve been pigeonholed as a Christian company. I don't even know what a Christian company is.
“I want to do thought-provoking theatre. I want people to challenge long-held beliefs, or no-held beliefs,” she adds. “I want to challenge the Christian as much as the Muslim and the atheist. I want to reinvent what Christian means.”
Fire Exit doesn't just do “church plays,” a genre which Lieske readily admits has a bad rap for being simplistic in its explorations and answers. Last year, for example, Fire Exit staged a one-woman show, Craving, about a woman struggling with an eating disorder. Fire Exit uses those plays as opportunities to connect with the community. For example, Lieske invited several people from an eating disorder clinic to talk after the show. “There are some really great Christian artists out there that have some fab shows. They don't fit in the church or Alberta Theatre Projects. Where do they go? They're too worldly for the church or too churchly for the world,” she says. “I think we're up against a hard struggle. To get funding, we have to try and hide the fact we might want to talk about God.”
GREEN FOOLS THEATRE
Another longtime theatre company that has represented Calgary both nationally and internationally is also facing a struggle, the largest they've encountered in their 18-year history. That company is Green Fools Theatre. “We're in a serious crisis here,” says Dean Bareham, artistic director and co-founder of Green Fools. “The Fools have no place to play.”
A quick visit to their website brings up a picture of their current space on Erlton Road, showing the old church the group is occupying. Across the image reads, “no space for art.” Their current location can be used for an office only, not a performance space. “The crisis in this city is a lack of space for artists,” says Bareham. “We've moved three times in the last three years. Now, we're sitting in a state of limbo. We can't do anything in our space, but use it as an office.
“Fools is unique in the sense that we're the only company in Calgary that offers a variety of physical theatre including mask, puppets and stilts,” he adds. “One of our main forms of theatre is our spectacle of outdoor performance.”
The company has represented Calgary at festivals around the world. Bareham, for example, has toured to 30 different countries with his clown character of Gustavo.
Despite the lack of performance space, the Green Fools still continue to do a lot of corporate work and collaborate with other organizations, such as the Glenbow Museum. For example, they did an interpretive show using Vietnamese water puppetry in which puppets are controlled underwater. “This type of theatre transcends the age boundary between adults and kids,” explains Bareham. “We're a connection between the physical theatre and the circus. Our last few shows have been non-verbal, involving storytelling through puppetry and music,” he adds, offering Project: Whooping Crane as an example, which the Fools recently took to Saskatoon.
As for next year's season, however, things are still up in the air because of uncertainty over funding and performance space. “It's very frustrating for us,” Bareham says. “It's pretty dire straits for us, unfortunately.”
On the bright side, however, the Green Fools are talking about the possibility of expanding east and possibly opening an office in Toronto. “There's a whole market out there,” Bareham says. “It's too bad that Calgary doesn't recognize what it has in its own backyard.”
BROAD MINDS / URBAN CURVZ
Change is also in the wind for a company that's been on Calgary's theatre scene since 2002, Broad Minds Theatre. Started by Tarra Loïs Riley, the company is dedicated to “creating challenging and engaging roles for women in theatre while raising awareness of women's issues and celebrating women's strength.”
“I'd finished my masters degree in theatre, and I realized there were actually very few opportunities if I wanted to stay in Calgary,” says Riley. “I wanted to start a theatre company that helped support women artists by providing a place not only where they could showcase their talents, but they could also develop.” Since that time, Broad Minds has staged such productions as John Murrell's Waiting for the Parade and Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine.
In 2005, another theatre company with a similar mandate entered the scene, Urban Curvz Theatre. Riley says the media and funding agencies immediately started to assume the two groups were in competition with one another, something Riley says was not the case. “The automatic assumption was that we'd be pitted against each other, instead of supporting each other,” Riley says.
For the last year, Riley considered approaching Urban Curvz about the idea of merging, combining the strengths of both companies. “It truly is about supporting each other. Even with funding, it shouldn't be seen as though we are in direct competition, but it seems like that. Instead of appearing that we're splitting off our support, let's consolidate. That's one of the main reasons,” Riley explains.
Riley finally approached Urban Curvz with the idea, and they agreed. The change takes effect this upcoming season. The newly merged company will operate under the Urban Curvz name.
In a statement from Urban Curvz, artistic director Jessica Dollard says: “Urban Curvz is thrilled to be joining forces and working together with Broad Minds. It is inspiring to have two like-minded organizations forming a supportive partnership in order to strengthen our common initiatives. This merger will ensure the long-term sustainability of this organization.”
“When I created Broad Minds, there were opportunities that needed to happen for women artists in Calgary that just were not happening,” Riley says. “Broad Minds did a lot of things about developing the market, an audience base and an appetite for this kind of theatre.
“We want to continue having opportunities for women and women artists,” she adds. “This merger is in the best interests of both companies to keep these opportunities.”
As for Riley, she will continue on, at least for the next year, in a mentorship role with the company, particularly in the area of arts administration.
However, she says the merger will give her more opportunity to pursue writing and directing, something she's looking forward to. She's already on-board to direct for Urban Curvz. “It's not as if we're closing down our doors, we're only getting stronger,” Riley says, a confident note in her voice.
