#58 Mary Kerr / April 2, 2020 by Michael Kruse

Mary and I met at her home in Victoria BC in December of 2018. We speak of her early days growing up in Winnipeg dancing in her mother’s dance studio and her transition to majorette, sculpture and finally nationally renowned set and costume designer. We speak for considerable length about her collaboration with the late Stephen Katz and her work on the spectacular opening ceremonies for the Commonwealth Games in 1994. Mary’s work was featured in the seminal book Scenography in Canada by Natalie Rewa and she currently is a professor at the University of Victoria.

Links

Mary on the set of Toy Castle, flanked by actors (clockwise from right to left )Jorden Morris, Elizabeth Olds, Corinne Vessey, and perhaps David Lucas?

Toy Castle television series

Playhouse Theatre, Winnipeg

Donna Fiala - Winnipeg blue bomberettes

Avril Stevenson - cutter

Royal Winnipeg Ballet - Arnold Spohr

Ubu Roi David Hockney

Dr. Judith Flynn, St. John’s college University of Manitoba

Colin Gorrie

John Hirsch, Manitoba Theatre Centre

Stephen Katz

Mother Courage and her Children, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Zoe Caldwell, Len Cariou, Martha Henry, Francis Hyland and Douglas Rain

Laurence A. Cummings, St Aethalwolds Players,

Dr. Alexandra Johnson, Chaucer scholar U of Toronto at the Medieval Centre

Secunda Pastorum, at Hart House

The Digby Play of Mary Magdalene Toronto Dance Theatre, 1969-70

Patricia Beatty

The pageant of Herod the Great, directed by G.B. “Skip” Shand,

Professor Brian Parker, U of Toronto English dept

Sydney Katz and Dorthy Katz

Measure for Measure, directed by Stephen Katz at Hart House

Germain Peirce Memorial Tribute

Paul Taylor Dance Company

La Mandragola Vancouver Playhouse

Campidoglio floor by Michelangelo

Caucasian Chalk Circle at Vancouver Playhouse

Death of a Child at Expo 86

Frei Otto’s stretched membrane for the german pavillion, Expo ‘67

Josef Svoboda Laterna Magika

Norval Morrisseau mural

Andy Jones

The Magnificent Voyage of Emily Carr by Jovette Marchessault directed by Glynis Leyshon

Ian Atkin - New Zealand designer

Sweeney Todd at the Mercury Theatre in New Zealand

Pauline Kingi

Commonwealth Games Victoria BC 2994, Mechanical Wolf

Commonwealth Games 1990 New Zealand opening ceremony

Dame Whina Cooper, New Zealand

Commonwealth Games 1994 Victoria BC Ceremonies

Jacques Lemay

Clan Chief Kwaxsistalla Wathl'thla (Adam Dick)

Kim Recalma-Clutesi

The Big House

Bryn Finer

Andrew Wallace

The legend of Kawadillikalla

The Three Penny Opera at Canadian Stage and the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts

Ivan Kenneth Eyre

Ways of Seeing - John Berger

Patrick DeWors

Michael Levine

The Three Penny Opera at Canadian Stage 1989, costume design by Mary Kerr

Mary sitting with the final costumes for The Three Penny Opera at Canadian Stage in 1989

#57 April Viczko / December 3, 2019 by Michael Kruse

I had a great opportunity while I was in Calgary in the winter of 2019 to speak with designer April Viczko. She is an associate professor and the chair of the department of design in the school of creative and performing arts at the University of Calgary. She is also the past president of the Associated Designers of Canada and a founding member of the controversial Designers Working Group. We speak about her early experiences at Scenotecnica Piu in Italy at the beginning of her career and her journey from Prud'homme Saskatchewan to Toronto and back to Calgary. You can see examples of her work at https://aprilviczko.com/ .

A special thanks to the sound department at the University of Calgary who loaned us some fancy microphones to record the interview.

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Links

Interculture Canada - American Field Service

David Lovett

Lee Livingston

Ezio Frigario, opera designer

Scenotechnica Piu owned by Antonetti

Maya digital rendering

Chuck Homewood and ADC

Paul Matheson

Michael Gianfrancesco

Casa Loma Christmas, and Wolfworks

Unfinished pool at Casa Loma

Theatre by the Bay

Dany Lyne

Workshop West

Alberta Theatre Projects

Theatre Calgary

Vertigo Theatre

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, directed by David Ferry in 2005

Shadow Pleasures nee Hand Writing into Dance by Veronica Tennant

Ray Salverda

Glen Davidson

Hello Hello, by Kill Your Television, directed by Kevin Sutley

Garage Alec by Village Theatre, directed by Ron Jenkins

Ash Rizen, by Alberta Theatre Projects

Natalie Rewa, Scenography in Canada

Kendra Fanconi, created Slime by The Only Animal company

Patsy Thomas, head of wardrobe at Banff Centre for The Arts

Saa’kokoto, Kainai Blackfoot elder at U of Calgary theatre dept

Robert Gardiner

Eco-scenography, Ian Garrett

World Stage Design

Prague Quadrennial

Magnetic North and the Push Festival

Matt Flawn, Banff

Designers Working Group

Dany Lyne acceptance speech at Siminovich prize

Erica Hassel

Special Presentation: Sholem Dolgoy Retires / November 4, 2019 by Michael Kruse

On September 23, 2019, Sholem Dolgoy, an associate professor and former chair of production at Ryerson University’s School of Performance, retired. He taught at the school since the early 1980’s while building a towering career in lighting design in Canadian theatre and dance. I recorded the presentation that night and present here to you the juiciest bits of that evening, including an addendum to our talk from Episode #13 of the The Title Block. We recap Sholem’s career, how he got into teaching and his efforts to laud the word of theatre administrators in a time when we need them most.

Thank you, Sholem, for being a mentor to so many great artists, and we wish you all the best on your next adventure!

#56 Susan Benson / September 16, 2019 by Michael Kruse

Susan Benson was born in Kent, England, trained as a fine artist but as a member of a theatre family moved quickly in to theatre design. I met with Susan in Victoria in December of 2018 and she recounted her early life and training in England and her development of a robust training environment at the Stratford Festival, where she was the head of design for many years. Susan defends the idea of a theatre designer as an artist and the need of support of traditional theatre spaces to insure we train a future generation of theatre artists. You can follow along visually by finding a copy of Patricia Flood’s new book about Susan’s design career here. You can also find visual references online from Susan’s work here.

To support us on Patreon, click here.

Links

Christopher Timothy - Road Program on Benson on the Knowledge network - Guildhall School of Music and Drama

LAMDA London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts or RADA Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Sunday Times Drama Festival , Harold Hobson

John Neville

Tanya Moiseiwitsch

Royal Shakespeare Company

National Diploma of Design in Britain

ADD

Theatre Museum Canada, Alice Through the Looking Glass by Susan Benson

The Ecstasy of Rita Joe

Robin Phillips

The Krannert Centre for the Performing Arts

Manotti’s The Medium 1974 at the Stratford Festival starring Maureen Forrester, directed by Michael Bawtree

The Summoning of Everyman, by Charles Wilson in 1974 at Stratford Festival - search for the title

Twelfth Night, Stratford Festival, 1975 directed by David Jones

Tyrone Guthrie and Michael Langham

Maggie Smith in As You Like It at the Stratford Festival

Garth Drabinsky and Live Entertainment

Shaw Festival

The Mikado at the Stratford Festival 1982 a great archival video

Desmond Heeley

The Duchess of Malfy at the Stratford Festival NYT review from 1971

The Sarducci’s in the Scene Shop at stratford festival

Lillian Baylis of The Old Vic

Caberet at the Stratford Festival 1987

As You Like It by the National Theatre of Britain 2016

The Wooden “O” of the original Globe Theatre

Pumpkin Breeches

Two Planks and a Passion - its origins in theatre language

Robin Dunn designer for La Forza del Destino directed by John Copley

Madam Butterfly at the Canadian Opera Company designed by Susan Benson

The Golden Ass by by Randolph Peters with libretto by Roberston Davies

Taming of the Shrew at the Birmingham Royal Ballet

Maureen Forester in Iolanthe at The Stratford Festival

Midsummer’s Night Dream directed by Robin Phillips at The Stratford Festival

Cynthia MacLennan, cutter at Stratford Festival

Susan’s Portrait work is also published in a book called Portrait of an Island

Karen Rodd

Patricia Flood

Scott McKowen

#55 Mara Gottler / June 4, 2019 by Michael Kruse

My interview with costume designer Mara Gottler is a continuation of my profiles of Vancouver theatre designers from December 2018. Mara and I speak about her early life at the Stratford festival as a tailor and sewer and her move to the National Theatre School, and eventually Vancouver where she is a founding member and resident designer of the west coast Shakespearian powerhouse Bard on the Beach. We speak about her career and her approach to the conceptualization and communication of design. We also speak about the infra-red camera technique established by Robert Lepage to better incorporate front projection video into your production.

Links

Peter Roberts, production manager Stratford Festival

Pat Scott, cutter at Stratford Fest (scroll down page)

Tom Patterson, founder of Stratford Fest

Theatre de Nouveau Monde

Erika Hoffer, Tailor at Stratford Fest

Robert Lepage

Saidye Bronfman Centre

Full House Theatre

Electric Company’s production of Brilliant

The Nightengale by Robert Lepage

Alan Stichbury

Pamela Howard designer

Dior and the New Look

Coriolanus at Stratford directed by Robert Lepage

The Man of La Mancha designed by Debra Hanson

The Natural Way To Draw by Kimon Nicolaides

World Stage Design Expo

#54 Scott Miller / April 12, 2019 by Michael Kruse

Scott Miller is a partner in DWD Theatre Design and Consulting based in Vancouver BC. He and I speak about our beginnings in Toronto theatre as classmates at Ryerson Theatre School and proceed to a fascinating conversation about designing your theatre. While this is a program about theatre design, we rarely speak about the actual design of our spaces and all the work that goes into them. Scott spoke to me at his office in Vancouver, BC in December 2018, and this is the first of the series of interviews based on the my trip to the west coast in December.

Please consider supporting us on Patreon.com

Links

Gateway Theatre

Caught in the Act, Richmond BC

Ryerson School of Performance (nee Ryerson Theatre School)

York University theatre dept

The Red Barn Theatre in Jackson’s Point and a Retrospective of the Theatre

The fire that burnt the Red Barn theatre

Brian Cumberland

Jason McLean

Janet Amos’ Rural Roots; A Memoir about the Blyth Festival

Kawartha Summer Theatre at the Academy Theatre in Lindsay

Katherine Kaszas

Summer Stock Theatre vs. Reperatory Theatre

Drayton Entertainment

Atlantic Theatre Festival in Wolfville NS

The Rebecca Cohn Theatre

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Steve Lucas

Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia

Eastern Front Theatre

Just in Time

Brian Perchaluk

Daniel McIver and Daniel Brooks

Darryl Shaw, head electrician

Charlie Culver, head of audio

Bob carpenter, technical award named after him at neptune

Ron Ulrich

Andy Mawdsley

Theatre Aquarius

The Mayfield Dinner Theatre

Skinny Saints

Phillipa Domville, director

Leigh Kerr

Eddie Candysides, designed by Steve Lucas

DWD Theatre Design and Consulting

Vancouver Culture Centre

Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Simon Fraser University Downtown Campus

Vancouver Playhouse

The Arts Club Theatre

Artec Consultants Inc.

Theatre Projects

Theatre Consultants Collaborative

Fisher Dachs Associates

LEAD Canada certification

Battleship linoleum

Masonite controversy scroll down :)

#53 Astrid Janson / February 25, 2019 by Michael Kruse

This episode a great conversation with legendary Canadian theatre designer Astrid Janson. I joined Astrid in at her home in November of 2018 to discuss her early days at Toronto Workshop Productions and Toronto Dance Theatre and her set, costume, and yes lighting design work in opera and new theatrical works. Please find her complete portfolio at THIS link. and follow along with this key Canadian designer.

We also briefly remember costume designer Susanne Mess who we lost in Janary 2019, and Mallory Gilbert who passed in February.

Please support us on Patreon.com

Links

Toronto Workshop Productions

Toronto Dance Theatre

Roelof Peter Snippe

University of British Columbia

Joy Coghill and the Vancouver Playhouse

Brian Jackson, resident designer at Van Playhouse

John Brockington

Richard Ouzounian

John Grey

Larry Lillo, and a film about his life

Brent Carver

Goldie Semple

A Taste of Honey at UBC, not the same production, but a neat photo

Terminal, part of the Living Theatre tradition by Open Theatre

Much Ado About Nothing - musical at UBC

Nancy (Jowsey) Lewis - resident designer at TWP

June Falkner, GM at TWP

George Luscombe

Joan Littlewood

Richard Two-time at TWP

Ten Lost Years at TWP by Jack Winter based on the book by Barry Broadfoot

You Can’t Get There From Here by Jack Winter TWP

The fire at TWP on Alexander St in 1974

CBC Design department and Susanne Mess and some of her designs

The Tommy Hunter Show

The King of Kensington, produced by Perry Rosemond

Home Fires, produced by Robert Sharen and production shots

AIDS crisis in the Arts in Canada

Expo ‘86 Ontario Pavilion and photos of the pavilion by Astrid

Ken Gass

Sholem Dolgoy

HMS Pinafore directed by Leon Major at Stratford Festival starring Michael Burgess

The Cherry Orchard at the Shaw Festival in 1980 notorious

Murray Laufer set designer

John Hirsch

Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Firebird with Vincent Nabrada choreographer

Lotfe Mansouri, Canadian Opera Company, A Tales of Hoffman directed by Hans Nieuwenhuis

Malibar’s Costume House

Robert Desrosiers’ In Cognito at the Calgary Olympics 1988

Opera Philadelphia

Joe Papp at The Public Theatre in New York and his Stable of Designers

Rusalka with Ben Heppner at COC

Dancing at Lughnasa at the Grand Theatre

The Master Builder at TWP directed by George Luscombe 1983-4

Molly Sweeney directed by Miles Potter at Canadian Stage

Women in Mind directed by Martha Henry at the Grand Theatre London

Sweet Bird of Youth at Stratford Festival starring Martha Henry

From the House of the Dead directed by Dina Bertman

Les Canadians at TWP

The Grace of Mary Travers, directed by Martha Henry, Toronto Free Theatre

Village of Small Huts by Michael Hollingsworth

Shadowland Theatre

U of Toronto Drama Department

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Josef Svoboda

Michigan School of Music - Barber of Seville

Jacob Two Two and the Hooded Fang

Harry Frehner

Jacob Two Two and the Dinosaur

Kodachrome Slide Projector

The Waverly Gallery

#52 Kevin Fraser / January 14, 2019 by Michael Kruse

Lighting Designer Kevin Fraser, photo by David Cooper.

Kevin Fraser has been at the Stratford festival for 30 years and designed the lighting for over 500 productions since graduating from Ryerson Theatre School in the late 1970’s. He invited me to his home in Stratford Ontario in August of 2018 and we spoke about his early career and beginnings in Toronto at the Adelaide Court and the Tarragon Theatre and his move into the large festivals including Stratford and Drayton. Find examples of his work here: www.kevinfraserlighting.com.

Please support us on Patreon.com