The Department of Dramatic Arts presents student-directed and performed one act plays in a festival program.

Pay what you can. Viewer discretion is advised. Mature content.

Date: Saturday March 24 and Sunday March 25

Time: 7 pm

Location: Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts

Limited paid parking nearby.

Encore! Professional Concert Series presents: Pat & Emilia: A Mixed-Media Chamber Opera

Pat & Emilia is a new mixed-media chamber opera based on the lives of two Windsor, Ontario artists - photographer Pat Sturn (1910-2011) and opera singer Emilia Cundari (1930-2005). Act One, created by Tara Sievers-Hunt, features opera arias from Emilia's repertoire alongside monologues inspired by newspaper interviews given by the singer from the 1950s to 1970s. Act Two showcases new music by Canadian composer Jeff Smallman with text by Windsor Poet Laureate Marty Gervais.

Friday March 23, 2018

Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines

Tickets: $28.50† adults; $22.50† seniors/students; $12.50† child (14 and under); $5* eyeGo program. General admission. † Includes the $2.50 FOPAC Cultural Capital Improvement Fund (CCIF); other applicable fees and taxes are extra. *No CCIF applied; other applicable fees and taxes are extra.

Order tickets from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office: 905.688.0722 or Long Distance Toll Free: 1.855.515.0722; online: firstontariopac.ca

Presenting the selected works of graduating Brock University Visual Arts students.

Opening Reception: Friday Mar. 23 at 7 pm

Exhibition: Saturday Mar. 24  to Sunday Apr. 8

Gallery hours: Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 10 am to 5 pm
Thursday: 10 am to 9 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 12 pm to 5 pm

Location: Rodman Hall Art Centre, 109 St. Paul Crescent, St. Catharines, ON

This is a free community event, however admission is by donation ($5 suggested), free to members and students.

A panel conversation and workshops on the theme of Tensions of Engagement in the Canadian Immigrant Theatre Context. This event will look at how theatre has been used to create collaborative opportunities with immigrants and refugees in Canada, and what struggles lay ahead of us to bridge the divide between settler Canadians and newcomers.

featuring Lina de Guevara of Puente Theatre (Victoria) and Ruth Howard of Jumblies Theatre (Toronto), with Yasmine Kandil of Brock University (Niagara)

All events take place at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts

15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON

A free community event but please register for the workshops on Eventbrite.

Limited parking available. Contact Dr. Yasmine Kandil ykandil@brocku.ca for more information.

PROGRAM:

Friday March 16 at 7:00 pm

PANEL Discussion in the MIW THEATRE: 
Tensions of Engagement in the Canadian Immigrant Theatre Context

This panel, moderated by Dr. Natalie Alvarez (Brock University), will feature three of Canada’s applied theatre artists who have devoted a large portion of their creative work towards working on issues of diversity, multiculturalism, and creating opportunities for immigrants and refugees to explore their narratives of settlement through theatre.

This comes at a crucial time, as our society is witnessing an awareness of the insidious racism that exists in our country, as revealed by the Angus Reid Institute report of October 2016.  Our panel will discuss how applied theatre with immigrants and refugees in Canada has evolved over the past few decades, and whether there has been a positive and tangible impact that this medium has had on this community, and on settler Canadians.

Panelists

Lina de Guevara

Lina de Guevara was the first immigrant artist to establish a theatre company in Victoria that solely focused on promoting the narratives of immigration and settlement with the purpose of bridging the gap between this minority group and the predominantly white culture of Victoria.  Her work has spread to other provinces in Canada since she began her Canadian journey almost 40 years ago.

Ruth Howard

Ruth Howard is the founder of Jumblies Theatre, based in Toronto.  Her work on issues of diversity has won her many awards. Jumblies Theatre is known for its work with minority groups, and especially of creating theatre that engages non-artists and a larger spectrum of participants through community-based theatre.

Dr. Yasmine Kandil

Yasmine began her immigrant journey in Victoria, BC, where she worked on multiple projects exploring celebration as a means for immigrant youth to claim a space in their new Canadian home.  She is presently engaged in the second phase of devising a theatre piece that examines narratives of immigration and settlement for Brock students and local immigrants and refugees in relation to expectations, obstacles, and assimilation.

Saturday March 17      

WORKSHOPS:  STUDIOS B and C

Workshop STUDIO B

10:00-12:00pm (Ruth Howard)

This workshop will explore Jumblies’ recent Four Lands touring project, which brings together settler, newcomer, Indigenous residents of all ages and backgrounds in a gentle exploration of different perspectives on a place.

http://www.jumbliestheatre.org/jumblies/about/staff/ruth-howard

Workshop STUDIO C

1:00-3:00pm (Lina de Guevara)

This workshop will explore the different tools used to do research related to immigrant and refugee narratives: interviews, storytelling of personal stories, image creation, forum encounters, audience participation, etc.  Lina will share the tools that she uses and those she avoids.

In Transit: Artistic Interventions in Precarious Times is a one-person performance piece, combining multimedia, live theatrical performance, and audience engagement to create an evocative and thought provoking dramatic experience. This autoethnographic theatrical piece explores the intersections of queer identities, Christianity’s contributions to anti-queer violence, and the challenges of embodying transgender identities within our current political contexts. Mesner weaves a narrative arc between current live theatrical performances from his 2017 piece, In Transit and multimedia excerpts from the filmic version of his 2014 play, Intervention, that was part of his doctoral dissertation.

This performance will be of interest to scholars, graduate students, practitioners, and activists working in such areas as arts based educational research, performance studies, transgender and queer studies, religion/theology, and anti-oppressive education.

Performer: Kerr Mesner, Arcadia University

Thursday March 15, 2018

7 - 9 p.m.

MIW Theatre

A free community event! (admission is first come, first served - max. capacity of 200)

This is a Walker Cultural Leader Series event.

Our Tuesday Music@Noon series is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation. This free concert series takes place most Tuesdays at noon throughout the academic year, displaying the artistry and creativity of a wide variety of musicians.

Dates with performers: 
Tuesday Mar. 6 - Walker String Quartet
Tuesday Mar. 13 - Piano and guitar students
Tuesday Mar. 20 - Instrumental students
Tuesday Mar. 27 - Voice students

Time: Noon

Location: Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
250 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines, ON

This is a free community event!

Students in Studies in Arts and Culture as well as in French Studies at Brock University explore contemporary expressions in art and literature and create unusual stories mixing narrative and art-making. Their starting point is a graffiti artwork by artist Mat Vizbulis. /

Des étudiants en Etudes en français et en Studies in Arts and Culture à l’Université Brock explorent des expressions contemporaines dans l’art et la littérature, et construisent des histoires inhabituelles mélangeant narration et création d’art. Leur point de départ est un graffiti de l’artiste Mat Vizbulis.

Opening Reception: Thursday Mar. 8 from 6-8 pm / jeudi 8 mars 6h-8h en soirée

Exhibition: Saturday Mar. 3 to Friday Mar. 16 / samedi 3 mars à vendredi 16 mars

Gallery hours: Wednesday 10-5, Thursday 12-9, Friday 12-9, and Saturday 12-5 / mercredi 10-5, jeudi 12-9, vendredi 12-9, et samedi 12-5

Location: Niagara Artists Centre (NAC)

354 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines, ON

This is free community event!

Students in Studies in Arts and Culture as well as in French Studies at Brock University explore contemporary expressions in art and literature and create unusual stories mixing narrative and art-making. Their starting point is a graffiti artwork by artist Mat Vizbulis. /

Des étudiants en Etudes en français et en Studies in Arts and Culture à l’Université Brock explorent des expressions contemporaines dans l’art et la littérature, et construisent des histoires inhabituelles mélangeant narration et création d’art. Leur point de départ est un graffiti de l’artiste Mat Vizbulis.

Exhibition: Saturday Mar. 3 to Friday Mar. 16 / samedi 3 mars à vendredi 16 mars

Gallery hours: Wednesday 10-5, Thursday 12-9, Friday 12-9, and Saturday 12-5 / mercredi 10-5, jeudi 12-9, vendredi 12-9, et samedi 12-5

Opening Reception: Thursday Mar. 8 from 6-8 pm / jeudi 8 mars 6h-8h en soirée

Location: Niagara Artists Centre (NAC)

354 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines, ON

This is free community event!

What would you sacrifice to get to the top?

The second mainstage production of the year is Top Girls by the celebrated playwright Caryl Churchill. First produced in 1982 (last seen produced at the Shaw Festival in 2015) this contemporary play tells the story of Marlene, a career-driven woman who is only interested in women’s success in business. This smart, funny play takes a critical look at women in society and considers the conflicts that come with the pursuit of success and the desire to “have it all.” Directed by professor Danielle Wilson the production runs from Friday, March 2, 2018 to Saturday, March 10, 2018.

by Caryl Churchill.

Directed by DANIELLE WILSON
Set Design by NIGEL SCOTT
Costume Design by KELLY WOLF
Lighting Design by JENNIFER JIMENEZ
Original Music by MAX HOLTEN-ANDERSEN
Assistant Direction by MICHELLE MOHAMMED
Dialect Coaching by JANE GOODERHAM

When: March 2-10, 2018
FRIDAY, MARCH 2 and SATURDAY, MARCH 3 at 7:30 pm
SUNDAY, MARCH 4 at 2:00 pm
FRIDAY, MARCH 9 at 11:30 am and 7:30 pm
SATURDAY, MARCH 10 at 7:30 pm

Location: MARILYN I. WALKER THEATRE, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON

Fourth-year student and Assistant Director for the production, Michelle Mohammed, is writing about the development of the show in a dedicated blog.  See https://darttopgirls.wordpress.com/.

Tickets: $5-$18 (applicable fees and taxes are extra)

Purchase tickets at the FirstOntario PAC Box Office: 905.688.0722 or online firstontariopac.ca.