MDEA - Metamorphosis; emerging from the chrysalis
Event is FULL - Currently not accepting registrations
Conference Title: Metamorphosis; emerging from the chrysalis
Location: Royal Manitoba Theatre Society OR Via Zoom (facilitated by EdTA)
Date: October 22, 2021 from 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Please note that we will be abiding by all public health recommendations and restrictions, which includes (at the time of this posting, September 1st, 2021) wearing a mask while indoors and having proof of both vaccinations.
This past year has been transformative, and we look forward to sharing a day of camaraderie, growth, and laughter with you all on October 22nd! We all spent the last year in a chrysalis, and the time has come to break out of the shell and let the world see the results of this incubation. We have some terrific workshops in the afternoon to offer you that will surely inspire your creative energies, and a live improvised musical keynote performance to kick off the day that will leave you laughing and rejuvenated.
"Also, we understand that many of you might not be able or willing to attend an in person event this year, so we have partnered with the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) to offer discounted Zoom workshops for the 22nd with an additional optional Saturday add-on, as well! To register for the EdTA Zoom workshops, simply purchase your MDEA membership and your confirmation email will include a discount code to use registration for when the EdTA workshops opens up. There are workshops on Saturday the 23rd for you to enjoy, as well!"
Should the need to cancel our in-person event arise due to events beyond our control, you will be issued a refund for the cost of lunch and our keynote performance, but your workshops can all be adapted to an online format, so we can still offer you the workshops of your choice in a digital format.
Program
8:30 am - Doors open for coffee and a meet & greet
9:00 - 10:15 - AGM (president’s greeting, message from partners, AGM)
10:15 - 10:30 - Bathroom / stretch and game
10:30 - 11:30 - Keynote performance
11:30 - 12:30 - Lunch (provided)
12:30 - 2:00 - Workshop 1
2:00 - 3:30 - Workshop 2
Keynote Description
Outside Joke: The Improvised Musical
Workshop Descriptions
Forum Theatre and the Creative Community: Using the Methods of Forum Theatre in the K-6 Classroom
This workshop introduces educators to Forum Theatre, a style of theatre in which the audience leave their passive roles as observers and become “spect-actors” in the drama. By embodying roles in conflicts inspired by life, audiences and artists work together to make social transformation possible. Workshop participants will learn foundational games and methods of Forum Theatre and will create a short Forum Theatre play of their own. Educators will equip themselves with tools and a personal vision to use play, body awareness, role playing, storytelling, and improvisation to transform a classroom into a creative community that can use drama to reflect and transform the world. This workshop is focused on aspects of Forum Theatre that can be readily embraced and experienced by students in grades K-6.
Forum Theatre, Justice, and Transformation in the 7-12 Classroom
This workshop introduces educators to Forum Theatre, a style of theatre developed by Augusto Boal, creator of Theatre of the Oppressed, in which the audience leave their passive roles as observers and become “spect-actors” in the drama. Forum Theatre methods and performances can help artists and audiences find a voice and rehearse actions for life. Workshop participants will learn games and methods from this tradition, and will work in groups to create short Forum Theatre plays of their own, using an approach that they can share with students in grades 7-12. Personal experiences and viewpoints of current social issues will provide a foundation for dramas to be transformed through audience participation. Discussions will identify possible paths forward for drama teachers to use participatory theatre as a way to embolden student voices and empower action for change.
Shakespeare: A Sonic Experience
"Words, words, words...", as Hamlet says. How to make sense of them in Shakespeare - real sense!? How to make them leap off the written page, like “paper bullets of the brain” as the exuberant Benedick says in Much Ado About Nothing…? It is vital we embrace the radical (and liberating) notion that Shakespeare’s language is indeed complex to both the actor and the character – they are one in the same; both are trying to make sense of it all. It is also imperative that we embrace language as sound - as a sonic experience, beyond meaning, and filled with physicality. In this workshop, we will explore Shakespeare's language not as strictly "poetic", but as thought in action, muscular and alive - connected to the heartbeat through Shakepeare's verse. It's hip-hop time, as participants tackle the balancing act between verse lines, length of thoughts, punctuation, breath and units of action. Most important of all: it is fun exploration!
Jump into the Silliness
Follow your instincts! Stop judging! Get out of your head! JUMP INTO THE SILLINESS! Outside Joke’s Jane Testar invites you to let down your defences and embrace the zane of improv in a safe, and ridiculous environment.
Wear stretchy clothes. We’re going to get weird.
The Empowering Creativity: Using Musical Theatre in the Classroom
Whether you teach MUSIC, DRAMA, ENGLISH, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY or SCIENCE…music and theatre can help spark your students’ interest, increase their engagement and make your lessons stick in your students’ minds like a good melody from a song. Reflecting on Rainbow Stage’s 2021 Micro-Musical Project for Students, Rainbow Stage staff will springboard into conversations about "meeting students where they are", empowering their creativity and using the accessibility of both musical theatre and technology as meaningful learning tools in the 21st century.
So you’ve been asked to direct the school’s play: An Introduction to Directing
A 90-minute survey of the key aspects of directing: Choosing a play, casting, scheduling, running rehearsals, the role of the stage manager, design, staging, and, the most important job of the director, helping actors.
Making your School Production Stand Out: Advanced Theories of Directing
How do we elevate our theatre productions to a higher artistic level? This will be an interactive workshop where we will identify some of the challenges and frustrations of directing student productions, and discuss techniques and strategies for clearer storytelling, deeper performances, more beautiful stage pictures, and other aspects of directing which participants desire to explore.
Fees
MDEA Membership* and Conference Fee.................$95
MDEA Conference Fee..................................................$100
MDEA 2021-2022 Membership Fee.............................$30
MDEA Student Conference & Membership Fee*.......$60
MDEA Past President Fee (confirmation required)....$0
This cost includes a provided lunch, coffee, keynote performance, two PD workshops, and pays for the MDYF and other student and/or teacher opportunities throughout the year.
Past Presidents: Free, but waive any voting rights in the organization (to have voting rights, members must be paid members, as per our constitution)
Please note:
*Cancellation Policy: You may receive a full refund if you cancel prior to the October 15th. After the 15th, refunds will not be issued. Should the need to cancel our in-person event arise due to events beyond our control, you will be issued a refund for the cost of lunch and our keynote performance, but your workshops can all be adapted to an online format, so we can still offer you the workshops of your choice in a digital format.
Conference contact person: Kyle Collins, President. president@manitobadrama.com
Registration contact person: Allison Cavers, treasurer – treasurer@manitobadrama.com
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FULL - Keynote - Outside Joke: The improvised Musical
Presenters:Outside Joke
Outside Joke is a Winnipeg-based improvisational theatre company. Since forming in 2002, they have performed in festivals and theatres across Canada, including Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal. Inspired by genres of film, theatre and fiction, Outside Joke creates a brand new improvised musical every time they take the stage, Outside Joke brings a playful energy and an open heart to their craft.
Suitable for: All Educators
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Participant Max: 60
FULL - 1A Forum Theatre and the Creative Community: Using the Methods of Forum Theatre in the K-6 Classroom
This workshop introduces educators to Forum Theatre, a style of theatre in which the audience leave their passive roles as observers and become “spect-actors” in the drama. By embodying roles in conflicts inspired by life, audiences and artists work together to make social transformation possible. Workshop participants will learn foundational games and methods of Forum Theatre and will create a short Forum Theatre play of their own. Educators will equip themselves with tools and a personal vision to use play, body awareness, role playing, storytelling, and improvisation to transform a classroom into a creative community that can use drama to reflect and transform the world. This workshop is focused on aspects of Forum Theatre that can be readily embraced and experienced by students in grades K-6.
Presenter: Kent Suss
Kent Suss is the Director of the Theatre School at Manitoba Theatre for Young People, where he teaches classes in a range of theatre styles. He also teaches Drama and Expressive Arts to Education students at the University of Winnipeg. He has degrees in Acting and Cultural Studies, which he tries to put to good use in his appearances at the Winnipeg International Storytelling on the Path of Peace Festival and at other local events. For adventure, he loves to go hiking, biking, and canoeing, and in his spare time he keeps trying to get better at drawing and painting.
Kent has studied Theatre for Living with David Diamond of Headlines Theatre, Vancouver, and has integrated Forum Theatre techniques into theatre workshops and courses for all ages. He has worked with artists and educators from the University of Winnipeg and from MTYP’s Native Youth Theatre to develop workshops and performances that use Image Theatre, improvisation, and storytelling to address topics of economic justice and reconciliation.
Suitable for: K - 6
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Participant Max: 20
FULL - 1B - Shakespeare: A Sonic Experience
"Words, words, words...", as Hamlet says. How to make sense of them in Shakespeare - real sense!? How to make them leap off the written page, like “paper bullets of the brain” as the exuberant Benedick says in Much Ado About Nothing…? It is vital we embrace the radical (and liberating) notion that Shakespeare’s language is indeed complex to both the actor and the character – they are one in the same; both are trying to make sense of it all. It is also imperative that we embrace language as sound - as a sonic experience, beyond meaning, and filled with physicality. In this workshop, we will explore Shakespeare's language not as strictly "poetic", but as thought in action, muscular and alive - connected to the heartbeat through Shakepeare's verse. It's hip-hop time, as participants tackle the balancing act between verse lines, length of thoughts, punctuation, breath and units of action. Most important of all: it is fun exploration!
Presenter: Rodrigo Beilfuss
Rodrigo Beilfuss spent four years in Ontario with the Stratford Festival, and then relocated back to Winnipeg to be the new Artistic Director of Shakespeare in the Ruins (SIR) in the Fall of 2019. Born and raised in Brazil, Rodrigo moved to Winnipeg in 2001 as an exchange student, discovering Hamlet in high-school. Mr Gord McLeod is to be blamed for everything, for Rodrigo hasn’t stopped pursuing Shakespeare since. In Winnipeg, Rod was a founding member of Theatre by the River, and he has directed and acted in several productions at various local theatres. Rod also has a passion for teaching, and he is a theatre instructor at various organizations and universities. He holds a BA (Honours) from the University of Winnipeg, an MA in Classical Acting from England’s LAMDA, and he’s a graduate of Stratford’s two flagship programs: the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre and the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction. More info at rodrigobeilfuss.com.
Suitable for: Grades K - 12
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Participant Max: 20
FULL - 1C - Jump Into the Silliness!
Follow your instincts! Stop judging! Get out of your head! JUMP INTO THE SILLINESS! Outside Joke’s Jane Testar invites you to let down your defences and embrace the zane of improv in a safe, and ridiculous environment.
Wear stretchy clothes. We’re going to get weird
Presenter: Jane Testar
Jane is a greedy little performer and wants to do it all. A veteran improviser, performing for the past 19 years with the musical improv troupe Outside Joke, Jane is also a member of the Canadian Comedy Award nominated sketch troupe, Hot Thespian Action. She is a loyal member of the Fu fu Chi Chi Choir, who released their first EP and have performed at multiple music festivals. Theatre-wise she has appeared in productions with Prairie Theatre Exchange (Little Munsch on the Prairie, Munschbusters), in French with Cercle Molière (Que Faire d’Albert?), and in Noël Coward’s Private Lives (RMTC), and most recently in The Winter’s Tale with Shakespeare in the Ruins.
Jane has written sketch comedy for CBC Radio and was also known as a modern etiquette expert with her radio column “Miss Conduct”.
She is currently the host of the CBC Comedy Factory Podcast, and co-created a radio special about body acceptance called “The Bod Pod”.
Suitable for: Grades K - 12
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Participant Max: 20
FULL - 1D - Empowering Creativity: Using Musical Theatre in the Classroom
Whether you teach MUSIC, DRAMA, ENGLISH, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY or SCIENCE…music and theatre can help spark your students’ interest, increase their engagement and make your lessons stick in your students’ minds like a good melody from a song.
Reflecting on Rainbow Stage’s 2021 Micro-Musical Project for Students, Rainbow Stage staff will springboard into conversations about "meeting students where they are", empowering their creativity and using the accessibility of both musical theatre and technology as meaningful learning tools in the 21st century.
Presenters:Rainbow Stage
With over 65 years of combined experience in professional theatre and theatre education, Rainbow Stage’s Artistic Director Carson Nattrass, Assistant Executive Director Jeffrey Kohut, Production Administrator Jacqueline Harding and Education Developer Taylor Gregory are a dynamic quartet whose education and mentorship programs have fostered the development of youth, professional artists, and community leaders across Manitoba.
Suitable for: Grades K - 12
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Participant Max: 20
FULL - 1E - So You've Been Asked to Direct the School Play: An Introduction to Directing
A 90-minute survey of the key aspects of directing: Choosing a play, casting, scheduling, running rehearsals, the role of the stage manager, design, staging, and, the most important job of the director, helping actors.
Presenter: Arne MacPherson
Arne MacPherson is a Winnipeg-based professional theatre maker, theatre educator, on-camera performer, and film-maker.
Some of the theatre productions Arne has directed are: How It Ends (sick + twisted), The Threepenny Opera (sick + twisted/AA Battery), Hamlet (The Bunchback’d Toads), Deserter (Moving Target), Sargent and Victor and Me, Stretching Hide (Theatre Projects Manitoba), Head, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest (Shakespeare In the Ruins), Harvest, Magical Mystery Munsch (Prairie Theatre Exchange), The Walworth Farce, Such Creatures (Incompletely Strangled).
He has also directed many student productions, at the University of Winnipeg Department of Theatre and Film, and the Prairie Theatre Exchange school.
He lives in the Wolseley neighbourhood of Winnipeg and at a cabin on the shore of Lake Winnipeg.
Suitable for: Grades 7 - 12 but applicable to anyone directing a show!
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Participant Max: 20
FULL - 2A - Forum Theatre, Justice, and Tranformation in the 7-12 Classroom
Sustaining our resilience as educators can be a challenge during times of change. Based on Dr. Ungar’s research around the world and his clinical practice, this presentation uses examples from his new book Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success to explore how those who help others can avoid burnout and maintain their own career and life resilience when stressors pile up at home and on the job. Twelve factors that make us more resilient as adults will be discussed, along with practical tools participants can use to find the resources they need to cope successfully in culturally and contextually relevant ways. Using the concepts of navigation and negotiation that are key to understanding resilience in complex, changing environments, audience members will have an opportunity to reflect on their own resilience in life, as well as times at work and at home where they had the resources they needed to succeed. Be prepared for a fast-paced, story-filled presentation that will help you build new personal and social resources.
Presenter: Kent Suss
Kent Suss is the Director of the Theatre School at Manitoba Theatre for Young People, where he teaches classes in a range of theatre styles. He also teaches Drama and Expressive Arts to Education students at the University of Winnipeg. He has degrees in Acting and Cultural Studies, which he tries to put to good use in his appearances at the Winnipeg International Storytelling on the Path of Peace Festival and at other local events. For adventure, he loves to go hiking, biking, and canoeing, and in his spare time he keeps trying to get better at drawing and painting.
Kent has studied Theatre for Living with David Diamond of Headlines Theatre, Vancouver, and has integrated Forum Theatre techniques into theatre workshops and courses for all ages. He has worked with artists and educators from the University of Winnipeg and from MTYP’s Native Youth Theatre to develop workshops and performances that use Image Theatre, improvisation, and storytelling to address topics of economic justice and reconciliation.
Suitable for: Grades 7 - 12
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Participant Max: 20
FULL - 2B - Shakespeare: A Sonic Experience
"Words, words, words...", as Hamlet says. How to make sense of them in Shakespeare - real sense!? How to make them leap off the written page, like “paper bullets of the brain” as the exuberant Benedick says in Much Ado About Nothing…? It is vital we embrace the radical (and liberating) notion that Shakespeare’s language is indeed complex to both the actor and the character – they are one in the same; both are trying to make sense of it all. It is also imperative that we embrace language as sound - as a sonic experience, beyond meaning, and filled with physicality. In this workshop, we will explore Shakespeare's language not as strictly "poetic", but as thought in action, muscular and alive - connected to the heartbeat through Shakepeare's verse. It's hip-hop time, as participants tackle the balancing act between verse lines, length of thoughts, punctuation, breath and units of action. Most important of all: it is fun exploration!
Presenter: Rodrigo Beilfuss
Rodrigo Beilfuss spent four years in Ontario with the Stratford Festival, and then relocated back to Winnipeg to be the new Artistic Director of Shakespeare in the Ruins (SIR) in the Fall of 2019. Born and raised in Brazil, Rodrigo moved to Winnipeg in 2001 as an exchange student, discovering Hamlet in high-school. Mr Gord McLeod is to be blamed for everything, for Rodrigo hasn’t stopped pursuing Shakespeare since. In Winnipeg, Rod was a founding member of Theatre by the River, and he has directed and acted in several productions at various local theatres. Rod also has a passion for teaching, and he is a theatre instructor at various organizations and universities. He holds a BA (Honours) from the University of Winnipeg, an MA in Classical Acting from England’s LAMDA, and he’s a graduate of Stratford’s two flagship programs: the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre and the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction. More info at rodrigobeilfuss.com.
Suitable for: Grades K - 12
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Participant Max: 20
FULL - 2C - Jump Into the Silliness!
Follow your instincts! Stop judging! Get out of your head! JUMP INTO THE SILLINESS! Outside Joke’s Jane Testar invites you to let down your defences and embrace the zane of improv in a safe, and ridiculous environment.
Wear stretchy clothes. We’re going to get weird
Presenter: Jane Testar
Jane is a greedy little performer and wants to do it all. A veteran improviser, performing for the past 19 years with the musical improv troupe Outside Joke, Jane is also a member of the Canadian Comedy Award nominated sketch troupe, Hot Thespian Action. She is a loyal member of the Fu fu Chi Chi Choir, who released their first EP and have performed at multiple music festivals. Theatre-wise she has appeared in productions with Prairie Theatre Exchange (Little Munsch on the Prairie, Munschbusters), in French with Cercle Molière (Que Faire d’Albert?), and in Noël Coward’s Private Lives (RMTC), and most recently in The Winter’s Tale with Shakespeare in the Ruins.
Jane has written sketch comedy for CBC Radio and was also known as a modern etiquette expert with her radio column “Miss Conduct”.
She is currently the host of the CBC Comedy Factory Podcast, and co-created a radio special about body acceptance called “The Bod Pod”.
Suitable for: Grades K - 12
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Participant Max: 20
FULL - 2D - Empowering Creativity: Using Musical Theatre in the Classroom
Whether you teach MUSIC, DRAMA, ENGLISH, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY or SCIENCE…music and theatre can help spark your students’ interest, increase their engagement and make your lessons stick in your students’ minds like a good melody from a song.
Reflecting on Rainbow Stage’s 2021 Micro-Musical Project for Students, Rainbow Stage staff will springboard into conversations about "meeting students where they are", empowering their creativity and using the accessibility of both musical theatre and technology as meaningful learning tools in the 21st century.
Presenters:Rainbow Stage
With over 65 years of combined experience in professional theatre and theatre education, Rainbow Stage’s Artistic Director Carson Nattrass, Assistant Executive Director Jeffrey Kohut, Production Administrator Jacqueline Harding and Education Developer Taylor Gregory are a dynamic quartet whose education and mentorship programs have fostered the development of youth, professional artists, and community leaders across Manitoba.
Suitable for: Grades K - 12
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Participant Max: 20
FULL - 2E - Making Your School Production Stand Out: Advanced Theories of Directing
How do we elevate our theatre productions to a higher artistic level? This will be an interactive workshop where we will identify some of the challenges and frustrations of directing student productions, and discuss techniques and strategies for clearer storytelling, deeper performances, more beautiful stage pictures, and other aspects of directing which participants desire to explore.
Presenter: Arne MacPherson
Arne MacPherson is a Winnipeg-based professional theatre maker, theatre educator, on-camera performer, and film-maker.
Some of the theatre productions Arne has directed are: How It Ends (sick + twisted), The Threepenny Opera (sick + twisted/AA Battery), Hamlet (The Bunchback’d Toads), Deserter (Moving Target), Sargent and Victor and Me, Stretching Hide (Theatre Projects Manitoba), Head, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest (Shakespeare In the Ruins), Harvest, Magical Mystery Munsch (Prairie Theatre Exchange), The Walworth Farce, Such Creatures (Incompletely Strangled).
He has also directed many student productions, at the University of Winnipeg Department of Theatre and Film, and the Prairie Theatre Exchange school.
He lives in the Wolseley neighbourhood of Winnipeg and at a cabin on the shore of Lake Winnipeg.
Suitable for: Grades 7 - 12 but applicable to anyone directing a show!
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Participant Max: 20