Sunday, June 20, 2010

Harriet’s House-Opening night in 12 days and The Playwrights Guild of Canada

The cast and artistic team of Harriet's House are beginning to count down the days until opening night. Rehearsals are going extremely well. Director Jocelyn Wickett tells me that it is an honour to watch each of the actors develop their character and find their voice, movement and journey in the show. Everyone’s creative process has been different. Some of our actors have found their ‘path’ quickly and then within that performance are working in nuances. Others are exploring a variety of different paths to find the one that they feel most connected to. While watching our rehearsals, I can see what Jocelyn means when she says that there are an infinite number of ways to realize a character.

In other news, I am coming to the end of my term as Chair of the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the University of Toronto, and have accepted the role as Chair of the Playwrights Guild of Canada Women's Caucus. This is a position that Marcia Johnson has held for four years. One of Marcia's greatest achievements as Chair of the Women's Caucus was to create a cyber community among the women members of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. It is an achievement I hope to carry on. If you are a Canadian playwright and have not yet joined the Playwrights Guild of Canada, I strongly recommend you do. It's a professional organization that provides regular news on writing, production and professional development opportunities for playwrights across Canada. For more information see: http://www.playwrightsguild.ca/pgc/

All the best,
Tara