CONNECTING THROUGH THEATRE
JOIN US FOR FREE ACTIVITIES, WORKSHOPS, AND THEATRE OUTINGS
Attend a play, try an acting class, sit with the actors and be part of a staged reading, learn a new skill. It’s all possible with Connecting Through Theatre. This popular free program of theatre and theatre-related activities is funded by the Government of Ontario.
There is no cost or long-term commitment to participate. Adults of all ages are welcome and no previous experience or knowledge of theatre is required.
Connecting Through Theatre is the perfect way to meet new friends and feed a love of all things theatre!
Please read the program descriptions below. Please note, there are sign-up lists for First Read Club, Audience 101 and Scene Study sessions. If you do not see a link below to the sign up list, please check back closer to the session date.
→If you are NEW to the program, please fill out the registration form at the bottom of the page to be added to our program newsletter list.
THE THINGS I’VE SEEN: CONNECTING THROUGH SCENE STUDY
Do you marvel at the ability of your favourite actors to create interesting and complex characters, sometimes even from the most unassuming script? Are you curious about the process of how they go from words on a page to characters that seem so genuine and original?
We explore short scenes, and discuss and try out some of the techniques actors employ to present what you ultimately see on stage, in films, and on TV. The classes are free, informal, and don’t require any previous acting experience. You can just come to one, or as many as you please. Come out and meet some new people, learn something new, and have a laugh or two!
Scene Study classes begin on Tuesday, October 1st, at the Port Perry United Church starting at 10:30am, and going until Noon.
Classes are free and will be running weekly.
Please sign-up here
FIRST READ CLUB
Read plays, dig into text and gain insight into live theatre creative and production processes.
Our First Read Club invites you to the production table with Theatre on the Ridge artistic staff and artists. Each session will feature a new play to be read aloud followed by creative discussion and conversation.
First Read Club takes place 1 pm – 3 pm in the Rotary Room of the Scugog Memorial Public Library, and will run on the first Tuesday of every month.
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→We will also be continuing with our 2 CLASSES AND A LUNCH PROGRAM!
If you join us for the Scene Study class in the morning, and the First Read Club in the afternoon, we will provide lunch! This year we will be charging a modest fee of $5 for those joining us for lunch, to help with deferring the costs of the food. There will be a variety of sandwiches, raw veggies and fruit, desserts and beverages.
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AUDIENCE 101 (LIVE THEATRE)
Audience 101 provides access to free performances of some of the best community theatre in Durham this coming season, complete with exclusive pre and post show conversations with professional theatre artists and writers.
We are getting off to a great start with 2 plays in November! We will be attending:
The Trojan Women by Ellen McLaughlin from the play by Euripides
Where: Durham Shoestring Performers – Arts Resource Centre, 45 Queen St., Oshawa
When: Sat. Nov. 16, 1:30pm (show starts at 2pm)
War is cruel, especially to civilians. Survivors are left without connection when their loved ones, homes, culture, and even their belief systems are destroyed. The women of Troy await their fates after the fall of their city at the hands of the Greeks. Exploring how displacement shatters identity, this classic tale about the costs of conflict seen through the eyes of the vulnerable continues to deserve our attention. We should not, we cannot look away from these women whose individual stories become lost in the aftermath of history.
This outing is now full.
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Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon
Where: Whitby Courthouse Theatre – 416 Centre Street South, Whitby
When: Sat. Nov. 23, 1:30pm (show starts at 2pm)
Bella is thirty-five years old, socially awkward, and living at home with her mother, stern Grandma Kurnitz. As the play opens, ne’er-do-well son Eddie deposits his two young sons on the old lady’s doorstep. He is financially strapped and taking to the road as a salesman. The boys are left to contend with Grandma, with Bella and her secret romance, and with Louie, her brother, a small-time hoodlum in a strange new world called Yonkers.
This outing is now full.
WORKSHOPS
Introduction to Improv with Stephanie Herrera
Where: Church of the Ascension – 266 North St., Port Perry
When: Sat. Nov. 30, 10am to 1pm
Stephanie Herrera has been working in the performing arts for over twenty-five years in TV, Film, and on stage, as a performer, writer, director and producer. Stephanie has taught thousands of people through Durham Improv, which she founded in 2005 (becoming a Not-for-profit in 2016). She also created the improv courses at both Durham and Fleming Colleges and is the author of the book “The Ten Commandments!…of Improvising!”
Sign-up here.
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Do you have an idea for a workshop you would be interested in? Let us know! Any questions or comments can be emailed to Michael Serres at programs@theatreontheridge.ca.
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