WODL

  
   Newsletter October 2016

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2016/2017 Adjudications schedule

Book a room for Festival 2017 at Holiday Inn, Guelph
 

Adjudications Schedule for Festival 2016/2017

By Ken Menzies, Adjudications Chair, adjudications@wodl.on.ca
The adjudication schedule has now been set. There are 8 adjudications before Christmas, and 13 after. Eleven shows are being adjudicated in-Festival. The festival winner will be a show written by a Canadian as all in-Festival entries are by Canadians. This is a delightful result for Canada's sesquicentennial. Canadian theatre has arrived when all groups entering festival can find a Canadian script which they think is worth doing.

Click www.wodl.on.ca/ADJUD-FALL-WINTER-17.pdf to check the latest schedule on the WODL website. Occasionally late applications for adjudication are received and can be accommodated.   

At most adjudicated performances the adjudicator, Lindsay Price, provides a brief ten minute public adjudication at the end of the performance. After this she provides a detailed adjudication to the cast and crew. Who else is allowed to attend the detailed adjudication is determined by the host group.

It is worth seeing a show when it is being adjudicated. The adjudicator sees and understands more than almost anybody else. You may have been impressed by a section of the play. Lindsay may help you understand why. Alternatively you felt the play go "clunk". Again she may help you understand why some portion did not work.

I have sat close to numerous adjudicators. Adjudicators spend part of their time looking down as they take notes on what they are seeing. Despite having to take their eyes off the stage from time to time, they see much more than I do.


Adjudications Schedule Fall 2016

Date
Group
In-Festival
Out-of-Festival
Play
Friday
October 21
8:00 pm
 
Theatre Woodstock
out
Sitting Pretty
A. Rosenthal
Saturday
October22
8:00 pm
Dinner
6:30 pm
 
Binbrook Little Theatre
out
Wrong for Each Other
N. Foster
Friday
November 4
8:00 pm
 
St Marys Community Players
out
Steel Magnolias
R. Harding
Saturday
November 5
8:00 pm
 
Theatre Tillsonburg
in
Ten Times Two
D. Belke
Friday
November 11
8:00 pm
Peninsula Players Community Theatre Company
 
out
Jake's Women
N. Simon
Saturday
November 12
8.00 pm
 
Ghost Light Players
out
Voices of Vimy
J. Conlon
Saturday
November 19
7:30 pm
 
Thistle Theatre
out
The Nerd
L. Shue
Saturday
November 26
2:00 pm
Kincardine Theatre Guild
out
Joseph and the Amazing Techicolor Dreamcoat
Lyrics T. Rice
Music A. Webber
 


Adjudications Schedule Winter 2017

Date
Group
In-Festival
Out-of-Festival
Play
Sunday
January15
2:00 pm
 
London Community Players
in
Jenny's House of Joy
N. Foster
Saturday
January 28
8:00 pm
 
Kitchener Waterloo Little Theatre
 
in
Lion in the Streets
J. Thompson
Thursday
February 2
7:30 pm
 
Theatre Sarnia
in
Willow Quartet
J. Burrows
Friday
February 3
8:00 pm
 
Ghost Light Players
in
Better Living
G. Walker
Saturday
February 4
8:00 pm
 
Guelph Little Theatre
out
The Perfect Murder
A. Deciantis
Sunday
February 5
2:00 pm
 
Cambridge Community Players
in
Albertine in Five Times
M. Tremblay
Wednesday
February 8
7:30 pm
 
Owen Sound Little Theatre
in
Having Hope at Home
D. Craig
Thursday
February 9
8:00 pm
 
Aylmer Community Theatre
out
On a First Name Basis
N. Foster
Friday
February 10
8:00 pm
 
Theatre Kent
out
Proof
D. Auburn
Saturday
February 11
8:00 pm
 
Elmira Theatre Company
in
Outlaw
N. Foster
Sunday
February 12
2:00 pm
 
Kincardine Theatre Guild
in
Office Politics
C. Robertson-Brown
Thursday
February 16
8:00 pm
 
Theatre Burlington
in
Papers
A. Stratton
Friday
February 17
8:00 pm
 
Paris Performers Theatre
in
Harvest
K. Cameron
Saturday
February 18
 
 
 
Lindsay Price prepares
Sunday
February 19
1:00 pm
 
Guelph Little Theatre
 
WODL General Meeting

Preliminary Adjudicator - Lindsay Price

Lindsay Price has been a professional playwright for over twenty years. She specializes in plays for schools and student performers with over 700 productions a year.
 
If playwriting is her first love, adjudicating is her second. In the United States, she has been a main stage adjudicator for the Educational Theatre Association and a National Individual Event Showcase Judge for the International Thespian Festival.
 
She has judged one-acts at State festivals in Indiana, Virginia, Florida. Closer to home, she has adjudicated for the Stratford Kiwanis Festival, as well as for the Sears Drama Festival in Ottawa, Lambton-Kent and Hamilton.
 
She is member of the Theatre Ontario Adjudicators Guild. Lindsay Price lives in Crystal Beach, Ontario.
WODL General Meeting on Sunday 30 October 2016 at Guelph Little Theatre

The next General Meeting of WODL takes place at the Guelph Little Theatre, 176 Morris Street, Guelph, ON N1E 5M7, on Sunday 30 October at 1:00 pm.

The General Meeting will be followed by a workshop on Volunteer Management for Volunteer Administrators given by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager at Theatre Ontario.

If you are part of an in-Festival production, you will also be given an opportunity to take a preliminary look around the theatre.

For more reasons to attend the General meeting see:



Volunteer Management for Volunteer Administrators - Workshop Following WODL General Meeting
Community theatres have a special identity:
  • as artistic endeavours
  • as not-for-profit businesses
  • as volunteer organizations
The people who come together in community theatres all bring different motivations and expectations. This can be challenging for the volunteers who are responsible for "managing" their efforts.

Join us for this talk and roundtable discussion to explore principles, and practicalities, that community theatres bring their work in volunteer management.

This workshop is built from consultations Brandon has done with community theatres around specific organizational challenges (he thinks of them as "diagnostic surgeries."). Things he will cover:
  • Understanding volunteer motivations
  • Recruiting new volunteers
  • Creating an outward-facing and welcoming environment
  • Articulating expectations
  • Dealing with "artistic personalities"
  • Investing in your community theatre
  • "Burnout vigilance"
  • Q&A

Brandon Moore is the Community Theatre and Communications Manager at Theatre Ontario. He has worked there for twelve years, most recently taking on responsibility for community theatre programming in 2015.

He is a director and actor, second-generation community theatre, an honourary life member of both The Curtain Club (in Richmond Hill) and the Association of Community Theatres-Central Ontario, and has held a variety of leadership roles with both organizations.

For more information contact Lynda Agocs, 2nd VP WODL, at  lynda@wodl.on.ca  
Guelph Little Theatre Welcomes the Western Ontario Drama League Festival 2017!GLT

By Ken Cameron, Festival 2017 Co-chair, Kenguy@wodl.on.ca
During the summer, the outside walls of the theatre had a colourful makeover. It was a group effort between Guelph Little Theatre and local artists Robin Baird Lewis and Janet Morton.

A four-day graffiti camp was held through Guelph School of Art. The campers were given the north wall of the theatre to paint.

Click here to see more pictures.

Located in the Historic Ward One neighbourhood in the city of Guelph, GLT has been bringing quality theatre to the city for the past 81 years. The theatre moved into its current home at 176 Morris St in 1996 after a fire destroyed their previous building. The first production there opened 20 years ago in January 1997. The new location is a converted factory that now contains an auditorium, lobby, bar and everything the theatre needs to produce its shows.

The stage is large (24' deep by 40' wide) with enough clearance (15' 9" under the catwalks) to allow for elaborate and extensive set designs. In recent years it has supported an entire cottage (Sugar Bean Sisters), an English sailing ship (HMS Pinafore) and a rotating 2-story set (Noises Off). The stage has a 4' thrust which can be removed entirely, or replaced with a ramp that runs about ¾ of the width of the thrust across the front of the stage.

The auditorium seats 250 people and has 2 aisles. There is access to the parking lot from the back of the auditorium which can be used for entrances or exits through the audience.

Details on the lighting and sound systems will be available shortly on our website.

Access for loading onto the stage can be done a couple of ways. Small set pieces and props can be brought in through an exit that opens directly into the parking lot. Larger pieces need to be brought in from the back of the building. A series of garage doors lead through the workshop and rehearsal hall directly to the back of the stage.

Backstage, the theatre has one large dressing room with two bathrooms attached. Larger casts can section off additional dressing areas in the rehearsal hall, or in a back hallway adjacent to the main dressing room.

Finally, for those last minute emergencies, the theatre has on-site a workshop and a wardrobe studio.

At the Oct 30 WODL meeting, there will be an opportunity to tour the facility, and for those entered 'in festival' to take any measurements or ask any questions they need answered in order to design their show.

Come check us out!
Stage Management for In-Festival Participants - how to have a stress free and fun experience SM

By Rob Coles, Festival 2016 Festival Stage Manager, Theatre Woodstock
So you have agreed to Stage Manage your company's production for Festival but, what will you have to do for this to be a successful, fun, and relatively stress free production during a fairly stressful chaotic time?

Well the first thing is to attend any of the WODL Festival meetings that you and your company are invited to. This includes the October and February WODL general membership meetings that are held at the venue you will hopefully be producing your production in if you have opted to be an "In-Festival" production.

The October meeting may at first appear to be a long ways off from Festival but surprisingly you can glean a lot of information that will be handy for your time in this new venue if selected to move onto Festival. This meeting is a time when you and your production members have the opportunity to meet the Festival Organizers, the Festival Technical Team (in particular the Festival Stage Management Team), get a feel for the stage and general venue itself, to get your copy of the Festival "house" rules, and Technical specs for the venue. I would strongly urge you that you, as the Production Stage Manager, SHOULD attend these meetings. You can always pass along to your production any information that you collect and need to disperse to your team and it is always best to have heard first handed the information that you are passing along. It would be even better to include the set/scenic, and lighting designers to attend this meeting. These people are going to be key, later in the whole process, in having a successful stress-free time at Festival as they have the most work to do in the smallest amount of time with the highest stress factor.

The October meeting is also your first chance to ask any questions that come to mind with regards to the stage, the technical equipment, any aspect of the load in and load out, where a set comes in, how much or how little wing space there is etc. Far too many companies arrive at the October meeting with no questions and they seek no information and then find it is not easy to produce a workable plan when you're operating in a vacuum with little to no information. I cannot stress just how much information you can obtain at this first meeting that will benefit your production and how useful you will find that information to be at a later date. Your home venue and the proposed new venue can be so radically different that it is imperative to start planning now, even though you have yet to be selected, so you won't run into major problems and design issues later. Imagine finding yourself at the Festival venue with a set and /or set pieces that will not fit in through the load-in doors or cannot be turned in tight hallways leading from the load-in doors to the deck and your production is to be up and running in just over 12 hours.

Once this meeting is over and done with, it's time for you to begin the process of planning your move assuming that you will be going on to Festival. Be realistic in your plans. Don't assume you can put a monster set into place in a matter of 2 hours just because it is pre built and you have thirty people to help - it still has to be loaded into the venue in such a way that it can be reassembled in an efficient, safe, and logical manner. Touch ups will be required. Lights will have to be hung, focused, and gelled. Costumes put away in dressing rooms and if necessary in the wing spaces for quick changes, props will need to be unpacked, sorted and placed into accessible areas in the wings - the list seems endless. You also must plan for what all you will need to bring and what "extra" equipment you are allowed to bring in. What size of truck will you need? Remember you have just about three months to make these plans and then about a month to put these plans into practice if selected but given the time frame involved there is more than ample time for the planning - it does not have to happen in one day.

Now it is February and it's time for the big announcement of who will be selected to produce their productions during the week of Festival. This meeting is an absolute MUST attend for yourself, your production team, and possibly your Director. Hopefully the announcement is the news that you want to hear - that is your production has been selected. At the end of this meeting you and your production team will be given the all-important Technical package, be taken on an in-depth tour of the facility, the house rules fully explained in detail, the opportunity to take any measurements you think you may need, and most importantly ask any questions to the Festival Organizers and the Stage Management Team. This last item is important - remember there is NO such thing as a stupid question (only stupid, smart assed answers) and you should operate with the given idea of ASSUME NOTHING!!

What and how you accomplish the production set up in your own company's venue may not be what is accepted or allowed in the Festival venue. Remember once you arrive on your day in the venue, the Festival Stage Management team is really there to observe and ensure that you act is a safe, expeditious manner, to ensure that you do not create safety hazards for audience, cast, and crew, and to protect their venue from damage caused by your production (you may be able to screw set supports to a wall in your home venue but in the Festival venue you may not be allowed to do this). Remember the Festival Stage Management Team are NOT present to do the jobs required in order for your production to open on time but rather you as the Production Stage Manager, on the other hand, are responsible for ensuring that all the tasks you set out in your planning process are accomplished such that you can open on time. Don't forget to bring any important documents that you were given by the Festival team i.e. the standard house plot, the house rules etc. as they may be required during your time in the venue. Remember that the Host Stage management team will want to meet with your load-in crew prior to the load-in to go over important safety items, let you know about the happenings of the day for your company, and about the post-production activities, and your load-out.

During your setup, remember that as the Production Stage Manager all personnel in your company report to you and you are responsible for their conduct, and that they act in a safe manner that endangers no one including themselves. You and your company are also under the auspices of the Festival Stage Manager; if the Festival Stage manager sees things being done in an unsafe or dangerous manner, it is their responsibility to stop you from continuing to work in manner that endangers themselves and/or others. You and your crew MUST obey any direct order given by the Festival Stage Management Team - remember they are there to prevent accidents from happening and injury occurring. Accidents happen so fast and in a theatre some accidents can have a devastating or lethal impact/result. Remember PLAY SAFE!!

You, as your company's Production Stage Manager, must also keep your eye on the clock. In your planning process earlier in the year you should have a good idea as to how much time may be required for each of the many tasks that have to be accomplished during your 12-hour load-in. If things are starting to get behind schedule you will have to encourage that the pace be picked up and that there are sufficient people to do the tasks - reassign people if necessary. Remember that getting behind can have a domino effect and that after twelve hours the cascade could become so great that you may not be ready! Do NOT expect the Festival Stage Management Team to do your time management!

One thing I have learned over the years in Festival is that you (the Stage Manager) and your assistants (the Assistant Stage Managers) may not be able to take lunch or breaks as a group with your company. If all the set construction people are off eating lunch it does make sense for your lighting or set decoration people to work during the set crew's lunch and they will eat after they return - you or your delegate must supervise anyone that is working on the deck. This will allow you to make efficient use of the most precious quantity - TIME. You are the time manager for this project and you must try to keep everything running on time.

The Festival Stage Management Team is always there with the answer if you need it - where is the nearest lumber yard, where is the nearest hardware store, can we borrow an item, where can we find an item etc. Don't fret if you discover that you have left an item behind - maybe the Festival host has what you are looking for or something that could be adapted. Never be afraid to ask a question of this team. They are so familiar with their facility that an answer to a seemingly innocuous question could shave time off your set up or provide help in another fashion. Remember, there are NO stupid questions. Help from the Stage Management Team can be of great help if you do not know how to use some of their equipment (i.e. do you know how to use their sound system and set levels, do you know how to operate their lighting desk and how to set up your show, etc.). If all goes well you may or may not get time for a complete tech rehearsal but you should be able to at least perform a quick Q to Q with your cast to allow them time to become accustomed to their new space; if all goes really, really well then you may be able to do a complete rehearsal of your production. It all depends on the complexity of your production.

Finally, it will be time for the house to open and a half hour later your production begins in earnest. Please remember that it will be the Host Festival Stage Manager that will release the house to you for your show to begin. There may be some obligatory announcements that must occur first but do not worry, the house will soon be yours. This scenario may also play out after the intermission - again be patient. At the conclusion of your production - after the final bows - your Festival Stage Manager will most likely have some tasks for you with regards to the introduction of the adjudicator for his/her post-production "public" adjudication. Remind your cast and crew that they are free to listen to this but that they should remain in the wings not on the stage. Finally, after the adjudicator is finished you can now prepare for the "walk-through". Please meet your Festival Stage Manager where arranged and he/she will introduce your company for those who have remained at the venue for another round of applause. The host company will almost always provide a light snack/dinner for all in your company to be enjoyed before your final act of the night - the strike.
 
All good things come to an end and your final moments in the host venue will also be observed. Please, please, please perform all the tasks needed to strike your production in a safe manner and load your truck up. Many people also forget that you must restore the house plot if required. Finally ensure that all of your items have been removed and you have left the theatre how you would like to receive it in preparation for the next incoming group.

In short with some thoughtful planning and time management skills, you and your production should have a stress free fun time and don't forget to enjoy Festival and all it has to offer.
Festival 2017 - Hotel and Box Office TipsBO
By Dennis Johnson, Festival 2017 Co-chair, dennis@wodl.on.ca
Box Office:
 
  • Ticket Prices for the 2017 WODL Festival plays are $24 each or $110 for a 5-play package. The Awards Gala tickets will be $55.
     
  • The Festival Box Office will open on October 30. In our November WODL Newsletter, we will provide a link to online sales and other booking information.
     
  • Ticket Sales for Festival 2017 will be managed by the River Run Centre Box Office. Tickets will be available on line (print-at-home option), by telephone, mail or in person at the River Run Centre, 35 Woolwich Street, Guelph.
     
  • If you attend the WODL General Meetings in Guelph on October 30 and February 19, you will be able to purchase V.I.P. tickets at these meetings. Cash or cheque only, please. These will be the best seats in the house, available with no extra Box Office or on-line fees. Awards Gala tickets will only be available through the Box Office.
 Hotel: 
  • Rooms at the Holiday Inn Guelph are available for $109.99 per night, which includes a hot buffet breakfast for 2. Additional breakfasts can be purchased for $10 each if you have more than 2 people staying in your room.
     
  • Breakfast is served from 6:30 am to 9:30 am and the buffet must close at 9:30 am. Detailed adjudications begin at 10:00 am. You can carry your last cup of coffee with you to the Trillium Room for the adjudication.
  • Click here to check out the detailed information sheet for Hotel Room booking. You can book on line, by phone, by e-mail or in person at the Holiday Inn, 601 Scottsdale Drive, Guelph.   Always use the booking code WDL to ensure access to the special festival room rates.

  • If you plan to book your room on line, be sure to do so by February 12th, 2017. No on-line bookings after that date. Phone orders, e-mails and booking in person will still be available until March 18th.
     
  • If you are in Guelph for the WODL General Meetings on October 30 or February 19, consider driving by the Hotel and booking your festival hotel room in person.
  • If you select an ATRIUM room, your room will have a balcony looking out over the hotel's interior atrium, the lobby, restaurant and pool. If you want to open your windows for fresh air, select an outside room, not an atrium room.
     
  • If you want to be on the same floor as the after-hours party room (in the Priory Suite) be sure to ask for a room on the 4th floor. We will encourage the Holiday Inn to reserve the 4th floor room only for Festival participants.
WODL Has a New Treasurer - Tom Fahey
Tom graduated from Brock University with a B. Admin (Accounting) in 1988 after completing the Co-op Accounting program. He worked in public accounting for two CA firms for twelve years before moving into industry where he worked in IT as an accounting systems consultant.

He then transitioned back to a finance role as controller of an IT services company. Following this he was controller of a swine veterinary practice / swine production company. Tom is currently employed as controller of Martin Mills Inc. and the Marbro Capital Limited group of companies in Elmira.
 
Tom became involved with Elmira Theatre Company with his wife Kathy and sons Peter and Caleb in 2004. Initially serving as a volunteer with set-up and tear-down, he has migrated into the role of bar manager.
 
Tom has participated in Mini-Fest (on stage and of!) and after attending a few nights of the WODL Festival over the years was totally hooked and has been attending the Festival for the whole week with his wife and fellow Elmira Theatre members since 2010.

You can reach Tom at treasurer@wodl.on.ca
Ghost Light Theatre - New Member of WODL
By Jeffrey Bastien, Artistic Director Ghost Light Theatre
Ghost Light Players: taking their name from the Ghost Light used to keep the stage alive and honour those that were there before, and Players like those troupes of old, as they have no urge to settle in one spot, instead they keep moving and learning and discovering. Ghost Light Players engage, inspire, challenge and entertain audiences with theatrical productions that range from classical works to new productions from local playwrights and everything in between.
 
We are supporting and promoting our current generation of artists while paving a path for future generations from within the community. We provide artistic opportunities that promote a life-long learning to a diverse community, and are constantly celebrating the essential power of the theatre to illuminate and illustrate our common humanity.  In short, creating theatre without fear!
 
GLP formed in April of 2015 and comprises many people familiar with the workings of WODL. It was of great importance that we become members of this organization as many of its methods and philosophy have been adopted by GLP. Jeffery Bastien, Artistic Director, loves the sense of collaboration and sharing amongst many of the companies; the sense of camaraderie even when competition exists within the Festival. We are not here to win, we are here to celebrate each other and learn and promote everyone's success. And then there's the hospitality room....
 
It should be no surprise then, that GLP has performed at wineries and breweries and commonly have beverages available to their audiences. We look at it as training ourselves for Festival Nights.
 
For further information about Ghost Light Players, please find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or find us at theatrewithoutfear.com.
 
We are overjoyed to be here!! Thank you, WODL Board, for accepting our application.
Locations for 2018 Festivals Announced
At the September 2016 WODL board meeting the following were approved:
  • WODL Festival 2018 will be hosted by Theatre Sarnia.
  • Theatre Ontario Festival 2018 will be hosted by London Community Players.
Two more great Festivals to look forward to!
News from Around the WODL Region
By Janice Lundy, WODL Area VP Oxford Region, janice@wodl.on.ca
As Autumn rolls around, our community theatres are gearing up for another great season of theatre! 2016-17 promises to provide some wonderful shows all across our region. October is already a busy month for productions in WODL.

Kitchener-Waterloo Little Theatre's show Lucky Stiff  opened on Sept 22  and closes Oct 8, and The Player's Guild of Hamilton's production of Trying opened on Sept 23 with its final performance on Oct 8. London Community Players' Main Stage production Prelude to a Kiss runs until Oct 9.
 
Theatre Woodstock presents its fall show Sitting Pretty from October 14-22, and Binbrook Little Theatre's Wrong for Each Other runs from Oct 14-29, as does Guelph Little Theatre's Opening Night. 

London Community Players presents  Birth  at Procunier Hall from Oct  19-29.  Aylmer Community Theatre's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike  runs from  October 20-29, and Theatre Sarnia's  Rock of Ages  is on from the  21-29. 
 
London Community Players is back on their Main Stage with La Ronde  starting  Oct 27 and running until Nov 6, and  St Mary's Community Players' production of  Steel Magnolias  also runs from  Oct 27-Nov 6.  

Workshop: Health and Safety Training for Community Theatres - Theatre Ontario - Saturday 5 November 2016
By Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager at Theatre Ontario, brandon@theatreontario.org
Many community theatres believe that the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act doesn't apply to them since they don't have  employees . This is not so.

Anyone at a community theatre who receives monetary payment of any kind - including an honorarium - can be considered a worker by the Ministry of Labour under occupational health and safety legislation.  At community theatres, this may include your production's artistic team, stage managers, choreographers, musical directors and musicians, or theatre administrators.

Theatres need to understand their obligations.
 
But community theatres are also only as strong as their volunteers - and a safe and healthy volunteer environment is one way of ensuring strong volunteers.
 
Come learn the fundamentals of a health and safety program, including the following:
  • Introduction to Health & Safety in the theatre
  • Health & Safety Law, Rights & Responsibilities (with a focus on volunteers)
  • Risk Assessment
  • Health & Safety for Stage Crew
  • Best Practices
  • Resources
Join us at our Health and Safety workshop on November 5 in Toronto.


Can't make it on November 5th?  Let us know so we can plan future workshops.
Live Webinar: Bring Your Show to Schools: Navigating the Education System - Theatre Ontario - Thursday 13 October 2016

By Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager at Theatre Ontario, brandon@theatreontario.org
Thursday October 13th, 2016
5:30-7:30pm
Live Webinar

Does your 'Theatre for Young Audiences' show need an audience?

  You have a show, or an idea for a show, that kids (and/or teens) will LOVE. Since it has educational value, their parents and teachers will love it too. The modest school gymnasium will become your Globe Theatre, and you'll have a captive audience that is collectively thrilled to be watching theatre instead of sitting in math class. So how do you get your show into schools? Where do you start?

Start by knowing what challenges to expect, and how to meet those challenges. Working in and with schools can be very complex, but this exclusive session with education expert Patty Jarvis will give you insider information on all the fundamentals, such as:
  1. Who should you reach out to? - How school boards and schools are structured
     
  2. What is the place of arts in schools? - Basic curriculum expectations in the arts and how your work can enhance them
     
  3. What are educators looking for? - Components of a successful school performance/program
     
  4. What do you need to be able to work in schools? - Vulnerable Sector Checks, Study Guides, Liability Insurance
So join us, and get ready to rock that school gymnasium. You'll leave with a fuller understanding of what it means to work in and with schools, and you'll have a clear picture of your next steps.

Meet the Instructor... 
Patty Jarvis has been a member of the Toronto arts community for over 30 years and is deeply committed to arts education and community engagement.

Her diverse experience includes working with Second Look Community Arts, Theatre Passe Muraille, Studio 180 Theatre and b Current Performance as well as 17 years with Canadian Stage where she developed numerous arts education programs as the Director of Audience Development and Education.

In 2010, in partnership with Creative Trust, Patty developed the PAEO (Performing Arts Education Overview) Report, a first time analysis of educational programs delivered by arts organizations in Toronto. A founding member and the current Chair of PAONE (Professional Arts Organizations Network for Education), Patty is also a Board member for Ontario Presents and an Advisory Committee member for both CNAL (Canadian Network for Arts and Learning) and CPAMO (Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement of Ontario).

Patty teaches Arts Education as part of Centennial College's Post-Graduate Arts Management Program. She has been the Executive Director for Prologue to the Performing Arts since 2010.
Course Fee

$40 plus HST Regular Price
$20 plus HST for Theatre Ontario members

For more information, please contact the Theatre Ontario Community Outreach and Training Coordinator at  outreach@theatreontario.org or 416.408.4556 x10.
Canadian Play Map of Canada

Each month the Playwrights Guild of Canada publishes a map showing which Canadian plays are being produced and where. To see the map for October  click here.
ONstage Theatre Listings

Theatre Ontario publishes an online list of current and upcoming productions by its member groups. To see what is on  click here.
Is your WODL Membership Information Up-to-date?

Are you on the board of a theatre group that belongs to WODL? If your group has:
  • A new President
  • New WODL delegates
  • A new Treasurer
Please let our membership chair, Sue Perkins, know at  membership@wodl.on.ca
Dates for your Diary


30 October 2016 GM, Guelph
19 February 2017
GM, Guelph. Finalists and out-of-Festival awards announced

13 to 18 March 2017 WODL Festival 2017, Guelph

17 to 21 May 2017 Theatre Ontario Festival 2017, Ottawa
23 July 2017 AGM, place to be decided
12 to 17 March 2018 WODL Festival 2018, Sarnia
16  to 20 May 2018 Theatre Ontario Festival 2018, London
This newsletter was prepared by:  

Tricia Ward
Communications Coordinator
WODL

Western Ontario Drama League | communications@wodl.on.ca | http://www.wodl.on.ca