ELECTRIC INNOVATIONS IS BACK!
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN – DEADLINE TO APPLY: JUNE 13 2022
We are thrilled to announce that Electric Innovations is back, and this two-week theatre intensive for youth aged 15-18 will take place IN PERSON this July 11–23! We are bringing in renowned Canadian theatre artists to facilitate a week of workshops, followed by a week of creating original work under the guidance of Lead Artist Mentors Marcel Stewart and Michelle Mohammed.
Electric Innovations is supported by our founding partners at The National Theatre School of Canada, with production support from Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.
Electric Innovations culminates in a showcase of participants’ work at the height of Suitcase in Point’s flagship summer series, In the Soil Arts Festival.
Applications are now open for the 2022 Electric Innovations cohort. Eight applicants will be selected to participate. Apply by June 13, 2022.
Eligibility requirements:
- Between the age of 15–18 at the time of Electric Innovations.
- A resident of Niagara Region or the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA).
- Ability to travel to and from downtown St. Catharines to attend the two-week programming in-person in an accessible facility. Programming takes place from 10:00AM to 5:30PM.
- Please note that COVID-19 protocols will be determined by those set forth in our host facilities at the time of programming, and may include mask and vaccine mandates.
Program Cost:
If you are offered a spot in Electric Innovations, there is a program fee of $300.00 CAD for your enrolment. We do not want finances to be a barrier for your involvement in this program; bursaries and financial assistance are available for up to 100% of the program cost. Successful applicants will be contacted directly to facilitate financial assistance.
PROGRAMMING
Here’s what you can expect this year:
Programming will take place in person at Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, in the heart of downtown St. Catharines.
WEEK ONE:
Day 1: Introductions with Lead Artist Mentors Marcel Stewart & Michelle Mohammed
Day 2: Risk Taking & Play with Miriam Fernandes
Day 3: Self & Original Creation with Cole Alvis
Day 4: Theatre Ecology & Structure with Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster
Day 5: Innovation & Design with Joanna Yu
Day 6: Exploring art in the region
WEEK TWO:
Day 1 through 4: Creation of original work with Marcel Stewart and Michelle Mohammed
Day 5: Dress rehearsal
Day 6: Showcase at In the Soil Arts Festival
GUEST ARTIST MENTORS
Risk Taking & Play
with Miriam Fernandes
Tuesday July 12
Explore how various training traditions can lead to the creation of a different kind of theatre.
Miriam Fernandes is the Co-Artistic Director of Toronto’s Why Not Theatre and has worked as an actor, director, and theatre-maker around the world. She trained with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company, and is a graduate of Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Directing and creation credits include Nesen, (MiniMidiMaxi Festival, Norway) The First Time I Saw the Sea (YVA Company, Norway). She is currently is co-writing/adapting for the stage the ancient epic, Mahabharata (Why Not Theatre/Shaw Festival), is developing a Deaf/hearing production of Lady Macbeth (in partnership with 1S1 Collective), and is co-writing and performing in What You Won’t Do for Love with Drs. David Suzuki and Tara Cullis. Miriam is the recipient of the JBC Watkins Award and was nominated for the inaugural Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize.
Self & Original Creation
with Cole Alvis
Wednesday July 13
Join us for an open conversation about the relationship between yourself and your creativity.
Cole Alvis (she/her) is a 2 Spirit Michif (Métis) artist based in Tkarón:to with Chippewa, Irish & English ancestors from Turtle Mountain. She is one of the leaders of lemonTree creations, manidoons collective, and AdHoc Assembly, and is on the board of the Dancers Of Damelahamid. Recently, Cole performed in Louis Riel (Canadian Opera Company & National Arts Centre) and directed the Dora-nominated bug by Yolanda Bonnell (manidoons collective & Luminato), Lilies by Michel Marc Bouchard (lemonTree creations, Why Not Theatre & Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) and, alongside fellow Dora-nominated Michael Greyeyes, co-directed an Indigenous opera double bill called Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin / Gállábártnit (Signal Theatre, National Sami Theatre Beaivváš & Soundstreams). This spring, Cole co-directs, alongside Samantha Brown, White Girls In Moccasins by Yolanda Bonnell coproduced by manidoons collective and Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, and a digital presentation of the play Toka by Indrit Kasapi coproduced by lemonTree creations and Theatre Passe Muraille.
Theatre Ecology & Structure
with Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster
Thursday July 14
Join us for an invigorating discussion about the realities of pursuing a career in theatre.
Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster is an artistic leader of the Toronto-based theatre collective The Howland Company, was recently the Assistant Artistic Director at Tarragon Theatre, and is former resident artist with Soulpepper Theatre. She has directed the radio plays Three Women of Swatow, 7 Stories, Shape of a Girl and Democracy (Expect Theatre/Tarragon), and Ins Choi’s Casting at Factory Theatre. Her live theatre direction includes The Wolves (Howland/Crows), Cannibal (Next Stage Festival), 52 Pick-Up (Howland), Gray (Inamorata), Three Women of Swatow (Tarragon), The Home Project, (Howland Company/Native Earth/Soulpepper), Casimir and Caroline (Sheridan College) and Everybody (York University). She has performed with the Shaw Festival, Soulpepper, Public Recordings, Canadian Stage, Citadel, Blue Bridge Repertory, Cahoots, Native Earth, Tarragon and beyond. Courtney is a co-creator of Stillwater School for Mosquitos, a musical adventure podcast for children. She is a theatre instructor with Sheridan College and XU, and has worked as an educator with Soulpepper Theatre and the Paprika Festival.
Innovation & Design
with Joanna Yu
Friday July 15
Join us to talk about innovation in theatrical design.
Joanna Yu is a set and costume designer born in Hong Kong, raised in Thornhill, Ontario. Over the past 15 years, Joanna has designed over 100 productions for large and small theatres across Canada; 44 of them World premieres. Design collaborations include: Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Young People’s Theatre, Tarragon, Canadian Stage, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel Theatre, Factory Theatre, Obsidian, Cahoots, fu-Gen, The Blyth Festival, Musical Stage Co., Theatre Passé Muraille, Buddies in Bad Times, Why Not Theatre, Nightwood, Project: Humanity, The Grand, Neptune Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, Mirvish, Lemon Tree Productions, Signal Theatre, Luminato, Tapestry Opera, the COC.
LEAD ARTIST MENTORS
Creation of Original Work
with Marcel Stewart
Monday July 18 through 23
Creation of original work (Week Two)
Creation of Original Work
with Michelle Mohammed
Monday July 18 through 23
Creation of original work (Week Two)
Michelle Mohammed is an artist with a primary interest in developing her skills as a performer and director. She is currently working as an Artistic Associate at Suitcase in Point and Teaching Assistant to Cole Alvis at Brock University. In 2021, she worked with the Shaw Festival, Why Not Theatre, Brock University, The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, and Suitcase in Point. She also worked as a dramaturg and actor on an audio drama created by Aria Sharma entitled, The Trick to Walking Backwards. In 2020, she trained in Factory Theatre’s Mechanicals actor training program under the direction of the incomparable Nina Lee Aquino and worked as an Operations Assistant with the wonderful Amrita Kaur-Ratta for Shades of Brown Girl.
Select credits include: Olga in Orphan’s for the Czar(Crow’s Theatre), Betty in Betty’s House(Workshops) by Nikki Shaffeeullah, Villager in Chitra (Shaw Festival), Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare BASH’d), Devisor/Creator in Mahabharata (Workshops) (Why Not Theatre/Shaw Festival), The Handmaid’s Tale (Gilead 3 Prod), Apprentice Assistant Director to Peter Hinton in Oh What a Lovely War (Shaw Festival), Assistant Director to Danielle Wilson in Top Girls (Brock University).