The Wellington Street Theatre

The Business of Theatre

2009-05-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

Terminology is important. It's important because we would like everyone to understand the meaning of a word in the same way that we understand its meaning. We want to make sure that we can communicate with each other so that things get done, and there are no hard feelings. In a perfect world, we would all have the same dictionary, the same picture reference, and the same understanding. Well, no maybe that would be hellish and Peyton Place-like. Variety is the spice of life.

But understanding business means understanding language, and the real meaning of business terminology makes or breaks deals for artists and for the community all of the time. This is especially true in theatre arts.

I have just read the minutes of Meeting No. 5 of the Arts Advisory Committee. There was mention made about use of the local municipal facility and how professional theatre groups were more likely to be able to set up and tear down quickly, thus saving money, as compared to community groups which are run with amateurs. The minutes as recorded made it obvious that there is a lack of understanding from one side about what constitutes professional vs. community theatre. This can be confusing for most people, and causes a lot of stress and bad feelings due to terminology.

The usual misunderstanding (and that is what was wrong with the above meeting) is that people believe that the terms 'Non-Profit' and 'Not-For-Profit' mean 'amateur'. If this were true, then you would be visiting 'amateur' doctors at the KGH and the Hotel Dieu and almost every other hospital in Canada. People employed by the city would be amateurs. Queen's University would have 'amateur professors'.

Non-profit organisations are legal entities, businesses with a business model that says 'We will not sell shares of stock in this company, which is exists for the benefit of society or for a part of society. Our directors will not receive payment for running this company.' Non-profits are allowed to pay their employees. If you are paid, and if you make your primary income from theatre, then you are a theatre professional, even though you may work for a non-profit organisation.

Theatre companies may be non-profit and use professionals. In fact, in theatre, that is the more likely scenario than having a for-profit company, like Mirvisch.

Amateur means that you are not paid for your work. Community theatre companies normally use amateur actors, and amateur staff to mount productions. These are people who have employment in another field, and who choose to use their free time for theatre. Usually, they have more time strictures than their professional counterparts, whose daily work would be mounting the production.

Professionals are paid workers, actors, stage crew, directors, producers who make their living by working at the business of theatre. So yes, if you are being paid in a day to set up or strike a set, and that is your only job, you tend to be a little fresher at it than someone else who has just worked eight hours and then hoofed it to the theatre to see where they can lend a hand.

The Stratford Festival is a professional theatre company. It pays its actors, and its crews. It pays the creative teams that work on productions. It is a non-profit company. It has a board of directors who oversee the business without compensation.

In Kingston, the biggest employer for theatre is Thousand Island's Playhouse. They are a non-profit (charitable), professional theatre. They operate a two venues and have their own productions using professional actors and staff.

At no time should you believe that the terms 'professional' and 'amateur' are reflective of talent or ability, or love of the art.

It's simply a matter of money.

~AM

falling coins image courtesy of freefoto.com

Miss Julie

2009-02-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

Miss Julie opened on Thursday night to a very good house.

From the program:

Director’s Note

Miss Julie was written by August Strindberg as one of his series of naturalistic plays in the 1890’s. Much like Henric Ibsen, he later moved on to fantasy plays. But, about Miss Julie he has been quoted as saying that this play is a “battle to the death” between the two leads. Strindberg had been an early champion of women’s rights, but later was highly critical of the movement. He also supported the worker’s movement. In John, Strindberg has written the servant who is unhappy with his lot in life, and dreams of much more. Christine represents the type of working class character that is happy with her lot in life, something Strindberg despised in the lower classes. Miss Julie represents the collapse of the upper orders. Miss Julie seems like a likely source of inspiration for Tennesee William’s dreamy Blanche Dubois in “A Streetcar Named Desire”. John could be Stanley Kowalski, as in William’s play, the old south, the genteel nobility of learning and manners is overrun by the rising working class.

In Miss Julie, words are the weapons of choice.

And there are casualties.

Miss Julie runs Thursdays to Saturdays at 8:00 pm until March 7.

Theatre in Kingston

2009-02-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Vagina Monologues was certainly an inspiring spiritual event. The Wellington Street Theatre is a former church, and it was wonderful to see these motivated young women transfer this old church of bygone years into their church of female empowerment. In January, Blue Canoe Productions brought blood and revenge to the stage with their rendition of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, horror from the late 1500's. A cast full of Queen's University students had great audiences and great reviews for this timeless contemplation of man's (or woman's) inhumanity to man. While the savagery seems inconceivable to us in Kingston, we need only pick up the paper. The Vagina Monologues and Titus Andronicus are powerful ways of dealing with terrible events. They allow us to feel. The Not So Amateur Amateurs played to sold-out audiences as well, as talented and energetic kids thrilled their audiences with their sheer enjoyment of being on stage. I particularly thought Victor Kaduk as the mushroom-keeper was outstanding. Miss Julie by August Strindberg sets up shop Thursday February 19th at 8 p.m. and it looks at religion, gender and class in a battle to the death between a man and a woman. It is an amazingly modern play for the time that it was written in the 1800's. I think Tenesse Williams must have been inspired by Strindberg's play to create A Streetcar Named Desire. There are many similar themes. Following that is A Book of Spells, as story-tellers Jan Andrews and Jennifer Cayley celebrate their lives as lesbians. And a note about I Am My Own Wife
which starred Brett Christopher in a one-man show which is currently playing at The Baby Grand. We got to listen in on his rehearsals at The Wellington, and his dedicationa and talent is undeniable. So theatre seems alive and well in Kingston. Domino Theatre, Hope Theatre, Theatre Five and Thousand Island's Playhouse are all pillars of the theatrical community that are able to transport people even for a couple of hours to a place dominated by the imaginationm, a place removed from the nuts and bolts of every day life, a place where a shared experience is possible, and as human beings, as social animals, it is a place we need in our lives

Empowered Women

2009-02-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

Queen's University Women's Empowerment Committee just finished their SOLD OUT run at the Wellington Street Theatre tonight. This is a large group of young women, most of whom do not have a theatre background, who managed to sell out four shows, have a good time, not stress out (too much).. produce, direct, stage manage, light, act in, promote... and all for a good cause.

What, you may ask, was the secret to their success?

Well, it was their power. It was a little show that allowed them to be proud to be women, to be empathetic, and funny, and unapologetic. It was The Vagina Monologues.

Congratulations, women! You did good.

Shop and Support

2009-02-07T01:21:00.000-08:00

We are now offering Shop and Support cards as a fund raising initiative for The Wellington.
Shop and Support makes all kinds of sense, especially during this difficult economy.

It works like this - you continue to shop at all of the same places that you usually do for everything from groceries to gas, from movies to makeup - the only thing that changes is how you pay at the cash register. Instead of whipping out that debit card, you pay with your pre-paid Shop and Support card.

When you use Shop and Support, the theatre gets up to 15%, and you still use all of the value of the card on your purchases.

You can use your cards to budget your money, trust me, they have cards for all occasions!

We will be posting a page to the Wellingtonst.net website about this within a week, so keep watching for it.