The Classical Gym

Blackbird Theatre and Melissa Haller are pleased to announce a new workshop called The Classical Gym.

This workshop provides an affordable space for actors to work on classical texts in a supportive environment. Brush up on an audition monologue, or sink your teeth into a scene or character you’ve always loved!

You will be asked to bring in a monologue or a scene of your choice. If you’d like to bring in a scene, you will need to find your own scene partner(s). The class will feature a different facilitator every week who is a respected member of the Canadian theatre community.

You can attend one class, or attend them all. Those who wish to audit the class may attend on a drop-in basis. For those who want to get up and work, please sign up at least two weeks before the class you want to attend. Spaces will fill up quickly, so sign up soon!

Facilitators will include: Duncan Fraser, Gwynyth Walsh, Lee Taylor, Simon Webb, John Wright, and more!

• Price: $15 per class, $12 for Equity & GVPTA members.
• Where: St. James Community Square, 3214 10th Avenue West, Vancouver, BC
• When: Monday nights 7pm – 9pm, January 18 – Feb 22, 2010.

To sign up, or for more information, please email classicalgym@yahoo.ca.

Melissa Haller

Melissa Haller holds a Master’s in Theatre Directing from Middlesex University, London, UK. From 2005-2006 she also studied (as a director) at the Birmingham Conservatory at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada. Melissa was nominated for a Dora Award for Outstanding Direction for her work on The Adventures of Joseph Andrews by Kenneth Brown. She has also directed, co-written, acted in and produced a number of independent productions in the Toronto area. Her assistant-directing credits include work with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Tarragon Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre Company and Necessary Angel Theatre Company. Melissa is thrilled to be working with Blackbird Theatre in bringing The Classical Gym to Vancouver.

In support of these objectives we have developed what we call “shadow casting” workshops, which operate under the creative supervision of our Education Director, Sandra Ferens.

The first of these was The Schiller Project, produced with the help of Theatre at UBC, which brought together a group of high school students from around the province as a “shadow cast” for Blackbird’s 2005 inaugural production of Schiller’s Mary Stuart.  Under the direction of Sandra Ferens and Christine Willes, and using the same text as the professional company they developed their own version of Mary Stuart.  As a key part of the “shadow casting” concept, they also received individual coaching from the outstanding professionals cast in the same roles.  The student version of Mary Stuart was presented to great applause on our set at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre before an audience of their friends and family and Blackbird’s professional actors.

In 2006, in collaboration with the Vancouver Playhouse Youth Intensive and Theatre at UBC, The Ibsen Project brought a group of high school students together as a “shadow cast”, again directed by Sandra Ferens and Christine Willes, this time to work with the text of Errol Durbach's acclaimed adaptation of Peer Gynt. 

This past season Blackbird collaborated with the Vancouver Waldorf School in creating The Euripides Project, under the direction of Sandra Ferens. This unique experience saw Sandra's Grade 10 class working with George McWhirter's adaptation of Hecuba which they then presented on our set at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. It was a profoundly enriching event in the lives of the students, and created a strong desire at the Vancouver Waldorf School to participate again in the coming years.

The UBC Connection

We value the training in classical acting, technical theatre, theatre history and dramatic literature that are part of the UBC Theatre program and try to support those endeavours and fulfill our own objectives by including their students in our productions.  Five apprentice level acting opportunities have so far been taken by UBC students and all of our stage managers have been UBC trained.

Education Director

Blackbird’s Education Director, Sandra Ferens, holds a Masters Degree in Theatre in Education from the University of Victoria. Sandra has been an arts educator for over twenty years. She was a co-founder of Bard on the Beach’s Young Shakespearians program, creator of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre’s Summer Intensive for the Young Artist, developed and facilitated the Vancouver site of the National Arts and Youth Demonstration Project for McGill University in collaboration with Arts Umbrella, and has facilitated the Blackbird Shadow Cast initiative since its inception. She currently instructs at the University of British Columbia, Capilano College, the Vancouver Waldorf School and the Arts Club Theatre’s Summer Music Theatre Intensive. Sandra is also a Jessie nominated playwright, directs and has worked steadily as a professional actor on both stage and screen.