meet the apprentice | kenton klassen

Our new apprentices have been training all week getting ready to run our box office and front of house for the season, as well as planning their artistic projects for the year.  It's a good bunch, and now you get to meet them.  Here is the first apprentice: Kenton Klassen.

Name:
Kenton Klassen

What were you doing last year?:
I was bartending and going to the beach all summer and then practically living at UBC during the school year. Classes, Rehearsals, Shows, Coffee.

What are your favourite shows that you've worked on so far?:
I played Edward VIII in The Duchess a.k.a Wallis Simson directed by Sarah Rogers at UBC which is probably my favourite production to date. Other favourites include The Canadian Badlands Passion Play, Dancing at Lughnasa, and Les Miserables.

What's your non-theatrical specialty?:
Bartending

What's the number one thing you're excited about doing during your apprenticeship?:
I am most excited about learning how to produce my own production!

Where have you trained in theatre?:
Most of the schools I attended as a youngster (I went to 7) had amazing drama programs so that started it. I studied acting at Keyano College in Fort McMurray as well as in the B.F.A. Acting program at UBC.

What was your favourite part of your training?:
Film Acting and Stage Combat. Also, just doing show after show after show.

Is there anything coming up next year in your apprenticeship that will be brand new experiences for you?:
When it comes to theatre anything outside of Acting will be new for me. Box office, front of house, producing, hanging lights etc. Nooob.

Your top three categories in Trivial Pursuit? (Invented or real?):
Post Punk Rock. JK Rowling. Paul Thomas Anderson Films.

throwback thursday | refuge of lies

REFUGE OF LIES is a play by Ron Reed that received its New York, Off-Broadway debut before we even got to produce it!

REFUGE OF LIES played on our stage in April of 2010. Inspired by the real-life story of Jacob Luitjens, a Mennonite man living in Canada whose Nazi background was uncovered by a reporter, REFUGE OF LIES explored the questions of personal responsibility, faith, and grace in light of horrible past deeds. The cast featured the power duo Anna Hagan and Terrence Kelly, as well as Anthony F. Ingram, Kerri Norris, David Nykl, Howard Siegel, and Mary Jane Eden.

theatre maintenance

This week we're doing some theatre maintenance. The walls and the floors are being ripped out, we're fixing a bump on the wall that has plagued designers for years, and doing some water work. Ever wonder what a theatre looks like without the stage or walls?  Here it is!

throwback thursday | the last train to nibroc

Our Throwback Thursday for this week is THE LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC by Arlene Hutton from April 2005.

THE LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC featured past apprentices Adam Bergquist and Kris Knutsen and was directed by Angela Konrad.  A simple, charming romance, it told the story of two strangers who meet on an eastbound train, one who wants to be a missionary and a discharged army officer looking to become a writer.  While neither of their lives head quite where they expected, they do find something in each other.

throwback thursday: you can't take it with you

Our next Throwback Thursday is one of a tradition Pacific Theatre held for years of the summer emerging artist production. Produced in partnership with Theatre at TWU (now SAMC), it featured that season's company apprentices and a host of acting students, new graduates, and other promising performers who had not yet made the leap to professional careers. In May of 2008, the show was YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU featured a huge cast of talented actors and told the story of the Vanderhof-Sycamore family, a group that seems completely unaware of the Great Depression happening all around them. Instead, they dance, make plays, music, and babies, and write revolutionary tracts. Everyone has at least three quirky hobbies and somehow, no one seems to feel the need to work. Everyone is blissfully happy until, of course, Alice brings home her all-too-ordinary Wall Street boyfriend.

summer wrap up | teen camp

Our summer camps have been wrapped up for a while now, but we thought we'd still share a few great pics from our first ever PT TEENS SUMMER THEATRE SCHOOL that took place this past July, as well as some feedback from the kids and teens.

"I had a really great time at the PT summer camp this year. It was great fun writing and performing our short play, and I felt it was a very good exercise in creativity." - Nicole

"It was awesome! I loved how we played tons of games that were related to acting and still had to work on the play (which was really fun)" - Ashley

"My experience at PT Summer Camp was a thrill. My first camp that did not include soccer was quite fun. I liked the games we played, the roles everyone had, and how devoted the group was. " - Hudson

"I had a great time here. I hope I can come back next year." - Agatha

Thanks to all the kids, teens and teachers who made this past year's summer camps such a success. We hope to see you at the theatre this season! 

If you are interested in future PT Theatre School programming send an email to Kaitlin Williams at kaitlin@pacifictheatre.org to make sure you are the first to hear about our 2014 spring and summer camps.

aug 7-17 | wolf at the door | playground series

The final instalment of our inaugural Playground Series, a summer series where we offer emerging producers the opportunity to "play" in our space over the summer, is upon us!  WOLF AT THE DOOR has its official opening tonight.  This is one you probably have already heard about: last summer it was our Rosedale on Robson Writer's Week play in development, playwright Tina Teeninga is a former apprentice, and it features PT regulars Rebecca deBoer (100 SAINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW), Tim Bratton (GODSPELL), Byron Noble (HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE), Kyla Ferrier (GODSPELL), and Lori Kokotailo (THE HUNGRY SEASON), directed by Kerri Norris (THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE).  That enough reasons for you to come check this humdinger of a play out?

A family is only as strong as the choices they make to stay together.

The Grenfells, peaceful artisan weavers living in Yorkshire, England, supply their neighbours and community with beautiful, quality garments.

Enter the Industrial Revolution, an idealistic factory heir, and a cousin with dangerous notions and each Grenfell must decide: will it be what they know, or a new way forward.

Harriet, all fists and fight, leads the charge. Sarah has her own plan and she’s not waiting for her father’s go ahead. And Susanna, wife and mother, torn between loyalty to her husband and a desire for justice. Times are changing, and in the Grenfell household, the women are making up their minds. The question is, can Matthias adapt and build a new world, or will he go down in the fight?

WOLF AT THE DOOR by Tina Teeninga
August 7-17
Tickets and info here.

throwback thursday | leaving ruin

The latest Throwback Thursday post is for the 2004 production of LEAVING RUIN by Jeff Berryman.

LEAVING RUIN was a guest production that took our stage from Sept. 30-Oct. 9, 2004.  A solo show about a pastor in a small town who has suddenly found that his career (and calling) may be over.  How do you chase God's will when he's not saying anything?

throwback thursdays | the hungry season

Continuing our Throwback Thursdays series, here are some shots from the 2006 production of THE HUNGRY SEASON by Jennifer Morrison Hendrix.

THE HUNGRY SEASON tells the story of a missionary couple that returns home after being in Nigeria for seven years, only to find that their daughters don't know them anymore.  Featuring Ron Reed, Katharine Venour, Stuart Pierre, Erin Bourke, Lori Kokotailo, and Chy, the play challenged the twentieth-century notions of missionary work and career advancement in a powerful way.  The ultimate question the play asks is what a "calling" really asks of us.