I am lucky enough to be the writer in residence at Berton House in Dawson City, Yukon, for January to the end of March this year. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by!

http://bertonhouse.ca/home.html

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: December 15, 2010
for
the 5th Annual Women’s Work Festival
A Works-In-Progress Play Reading Series

Co-produced by She Said Yes!, RCA Theatre and White Rooster Theatre
in celebration of International Women’s Week, March 7-9, 2011

Theatre companies She Said Yes!, RCA Theatre and White Rooster Theatre are joining forces to present the fifth annual series of play readings by and about women, in celebration of International Women’s Week.

All submissions must be either by a female playwright or deal with a female character as the central figure. All plays must be unproduced, although previous workshops or readings of the work are permitted.

Scripts will be selected by a committee representing all three companies. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection process via email no later than February 1st, 2011.

Each script will receive a one-day dramaturgical workshop with a professional cast and dramaturge, followed by a staged reading in St. John’s between March 7th and 9th, 2011. All playwrights, actors and dramaturges will receive a small honorarium for their work. The Festival does not cover any transportation or accommodations costs for out-of-town playwrights but your local arts council may provide travel grants for this purpose. All proceeds from the reading series will be donated to a local women’s shelter.

To submit your script:
Submit an electronic copy of a full draft of your play in either Microsoft Word or PDF format, with an email indicating your telephone number, mailing address, and email address, as well as your reasons for applying to the Festival, to rcata@nfld.net (put Women’s Work Festival in the subject line).

Or deliver by hand between 9 am-5 pm, Monday-Friday, to Nicole Rousseau or Amy House, RCA Theatre, 223-233 Duckworth, Ste 202, above Haymarket Square, St. John’s NL.

All submissions must be received or postmarked by 5 pm on December 15th.

Sara and some graduates of the Clown through Mask program will take their clowns on a walk about downtown St. John’s, following whim, fancy, and traffic signals. See if you can spot this band of mischief-makers, bizarre alien life-forms and gorgeous weirdos…and interact with them, if you dare! Bound to be fun, funny, and strange. Anything could happen!

She Said Yes! Theatre Company offers Pochinko Clown through Mask training annually, through Artistic Director Sara Tilley, one of a handful of teachers of this method in the world. The Pochinko method focuses on connecting more deeply to our bodies and imaginations, bringing out hidden aspects of our personalities, and allowing ourselves to freely share our honest emotions in the moment. Anyone can train in Clown through Mask, if they are willing to be open to the process. It is vulnerable, weird, and wonderful work.

Location:

Downtown St. John’s
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

Directions:

We will be wandering up and down Duckworth St., Water St., and Harbour Drive from 2 to 4 pm. There is no planned route, but we will leave markings of some sort for those adventurous types who would like to track us!

Sara and some graduates of the Clown through Mask program will take their clowns on a walk about downtown St. John’s, following whim, fancy, and traffic signals. See if you can spot this band of mischief-makers, bizarre alien life-forms and gorgeous weirdos…and interact with them, if you dare! Bound to be fun, funny, and strange. Anything could happen!
She Said Yes! Theatre Company offers Pochinko Clown through Mask training annually, through Artistic Director Sara Tilley, one of a handful of teachers of this method in the world. The Pochinko method focuses on connecting more deeply to our bodies and imaginations, bringing out hidden aspects of our personalities, and allowing ourselves to freely share our honest emotions in the moment. Anyone can train in Clown through Mask, if they are willing to be open to the process. It is vulnerable, weird, and wonderful work.

Location:

Downtown St. John’s
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

Directions:

We will be wandering up and down Duckworth St., Water St., and Harbour Drive from 2 to 4 pm. There is no planned route, but we will leave markings of some sort for those adventurous types who would like to track us!

Sit in on a dramaturgy workshop and reading of a script-in-progress, and see how a play develops before it hits the stage. Dramaturge Sara Tilley will work with playwright Amy Anthony on her script Sweets which was just dramaturged through She Said Yes! 2010 Mail-Order Dramaturgy program.  4 professional actors will work with Sara and Amy to examine the script, hear it read aloud and give feedback. Come check out the whole workshop process, or just pop in for the reading at 4 pm.

Location:

Room B, Arts and Culture Centre, St. John’s
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

Directions:

When you enter the Arts and Culture Centre, follow the signs for the Basement Theatre. Keep walking past the Basement Theatre and past the dressing room doors all the way to the end of the hallway and turn left. Room B is at the end of the corridor down several steps. There is a wheelchair lift for accessibility.

Contact information:

Sara Tilley

sara@shesaidyestheatre.ca

Check out Culture Days’ website for more listings of free public art events near you, September 24th to the 26th, 2010.

Clown Through Mask 2010

Reid Theatre, Arts and Administration Building, MUN

Mondays and Wednesdays 6-10 pm, Saturdays 1-5 pm (except May 30 – Sunday 1-5 pm)

May 17, 19, 22, 24, 26, 30, 31, June 2, 19, 21, 23, 26, 28, 30, July 3

“Clowning isn’t something we need to learn so much as something we become aware of in
ourselves.  Any time that we are curious, playful, or creative, we are in clown mode.  When we
are in a state of wonder or awe, surprise or amazement, we are in clown.  Whenever we have
hunches, act on impulse, or digress – we are in clown.  Whenever we have strong emotions, we
are in clown.  The clown lives in the place of laughing and crying at the same time.” –Jan Hendersen

Pochinko technique, or Clown through Mask technique, is an intense, personal process which takes each participant through a series of exercises designed to open up hidden creative possibilities, and bring us back to an experience of play, impulse, wonder, and limitless potential for expression.

We face ourselves in six directions, in innocence and experience. By making and wearing a full-face mask, we explore the body first. By transferring this mask work into a red nose (the world’s smallest mask), we arrive at a powerful, unique character – the clown.

This training is not intended to prepare you for the circus. There are no tricks, no juggling and no stilts involved. Rather, we seek to expose human vulnerability, innocence, and wonder through the exploration of clown.

This work is a powerful tool for any artist working in any discipline. It opens up new avenues of exploration which can be pursued in any medium. Participants do not need to be performers – all that is required is the willingness to experiment, to face yourself honestly, to explore, and to move beyond your comfort zone.

This intensive training process is available free to participants. A maximum of 10 people will be accepted. Attendance is required at all sessions. If you are interested in this work please email Sara at sara@shesaidyestheatre.ca as soon as possible to secure a spot.

Sara Tilley trained with Ian Wallace (nion) and Sue Morrison in Pochinko Clown Through Mask technique, and has created many different clown performances in the past ten years, ranging from full theatre productions to burlesque numbers to improvised characters who are occasionally seen in public places. In 2008, she trained with Ian Wallace to teach Clown through Mask and Neutral Mask. She is the artistic director of She Said Yes!, and uses the Pochinko work as inspiration not just for clown, but for acting, directing, writing and design.

Set and Props: Amy Anthony

Costumes: Gina Rae Hoyles

Lighting Design: Phil Winters

Sound Design: Sean Panting

Stage Management: Mark White

Check out the article from the Telegram.

I have been selected to attend the Berton House Writer’s Residency from January – March 2011! Hooray! Read all about it here: http://bertonhouse.ca/media/Press%20Release_Jan%202010.pdf#zoom=100

I am featured, along with many other illustrious authors, on the 4th season of Writer’s Confessions, starting January 7th, 2010, and running every Thursday night at 8:30 pm EST, 9 pm in NL, on Bravo.

If you like listening to writers talking about their work, then you should check it out!