Introducing Sam Banigan - Will in Exposure (From Cradle to Stage 2013)

What is your role in this production? I am playing the part of Will in Exposure, he is agoraphobic, but in the end he just wants to be normal again.

Why did you audition for this show? I really wanted to try and get out of the school environment and career track I was on and I thought that this could be a good place to start.

What is your background in theatre? I grew up with 2 very artistic parents and it just kinda became my life. Grade 5 was my first play that I ever did, and then I've been in one or more every year since then, Most recently I have performed in Neil Labute's A Second Of Pleasure at my school's Playworks festival.

What has been the biggest challenge for you? The biggest challenge I have had is working with new people, I have only ever worked with people I knew from class so just entering this new world was difficult. The most gratifying? The most gratifying part of this is that no one can say that they've seen someone else play this character before and I can literally start from the bottom and go up, create a completely original character not inspired by any other production.

Both plays deal with hidden connections that people have.  Have you ever had a situation where you discovered you were connected to someone in a weird and unpredictable way? I guess I have had a couple moments, for instance, last year in my math class I met a guy named Chase and I thought he was like alright guy maybe a little douchey but then I found out that he was an actor as well and we were in our school's production of The Odyssey. Now, I consider him to be one of my best friends. Another weird one was when I was at Artstrek in 2009 I met Greg Dowler-Coltman and just 2 years ago he auditioned me for the Advanced Drama 10 class at Vic and he is now my Directing teacher and will be again next year as well as my Advanced Acting teacher.

Spotlight on Christopher Nash - Sound Designer for Burning Vision

What is your role on this production? I'm the Sound Designer, so I came up with the long list of sound cues for the show.  Many of the sounds are made from scratch.  I even got my inner Hank Williams on to sing I Saw the Light.

What drew you to Burning Vision as a project to work on? I'm a musician and songwriter (I post my stuff to topher.ca), and when my friend Sarah was going to direct Burning Vision, she contacted me to see if I would be interested in giving sound design a try. It was an excellent way to stretch myself and learn something new.

What is your background in theatre? I was in a couple of musicals as a child growing up in Wainwright. In university I was the on-stage music director for summer musical revues in Lethbridge. I have no recent experience in sound design - I'm pretty much a newbie. The only background I have with Walterdale is that I travelled to Japan with its former artistic director Sam Varteniuk.

Burning Vision deals with Canadian History that is not well known, but which has had a long lasting impact on many people environmentally and culturally. What has working on this show made you think about with regards to our impact on the environment and people's cultures? My background is Japanese-Canadian, so the Second World War and the atomic bomb and Hiroshima and internment camps are all very much a part of my personal history. So that impact of the play was obvious to me going in. The surprise was the aspect of how Canada mined the uranium for the bomb. I had never heard of that before. It makes me think of our involvement in the war in a whole new way.

What has been the biggest challenge of working on this show? The most enjoyable aspect?  Being new to everything was a little scary. Learning the sound cue software took some getting used to. The sheer volume of the number of sound cues was a bit of a challenge. But the most enjoyable aspect was working with the great production team and crew to cobble together a show that was hard to do, but comes off as very impressive. That, and making the sound of a bomb that scares the shit out of everyone was pretty damn satisfying, too!

Spotlight on Yvonne Trethart - Costume, Make-up and Hair Designer for Burning Vision

What is your role on this production?  I am the costume, makeup and hair/wig designer. I am in charge of designing the whole aspect of costumes for the show. I do renderings of my vision for what the costumes, the makeup and the hair will be. I also add a photo collage as reference. After discussing it with the director, I then set a building schedule in which I help with construction and answer any questions pertaining to costumes. Also, I buy costume pieces for the show as well as any needed makeup and wigs. I solve any problems that arise during the dress rehearsals. I make sure that every costume is fully finished and have them ready in time for opening night.

What drew you to this production?  I like the idea of the play being a historical piece. I get to do lots of research about the time and learn why they wore clothing they did. Then I make that moment in time come alive on stage with the costumes.

What is your background in theatre? I started in Santa Barbara, California, taking lots of theatre classes and volunteering to be head of wardrobe for shows. Slowly but surely, every show I worked in taught me a little bit more about costumes than the classes could teach like makeup tricks, caring for wigs, doing fast changes and rigging costumes to fit the blocking. Soon enough, I was designing costumes for shows and getting recognition for my work. After graduating with three Theatre Arts degrees, I came to see my husband’s hometown and began to look for theatre here. I was drawn to a costume building workshop that Geri Dittrich was hosting at Walterdale. I asked how I could volunteer at this theatre and right away I started helping to build costumes for some shows.

What have you learned from working on this particular show? It is sad for me to see how the indigenous people were treated and currently are treated here and in my country. With such rich cultures struggling to survive, one assumes that everyone is doing what they can to preserve them, just like when they have historical findings. However, they still use cultures’ ignorance in order to deteriorate it. I guess the damage caused in hardly noticed until it has happened and then we look back on it. 

What were your biggest challenges on this show?  The most enjoyable aspect?  One of my biggest challenges was beading and building the hide jacket. I had not built anything with real leather before and I found that beading is really time consuming. What I enjoyed from working in this show was working with a bunch of great crew and actors and seeing the whole show coming together.

Check out Burning Vision and Yvonne's wonderful designs onstage now at Walterdale (show runs to April 20th).

Spotlight on Lee Boyes - The Miner in Burning Vision

What is your role in this production? I play the Miner.  He is an idealistic young man who simply want to make enough money to support himself and find someone to share his love. 

What drew you to this production? I've been acting for quite some time and I wanted to get to know the scene in Edmonton and challenge myself with the type of character I don't normally play. 

What is your background in theatre? This is my first Walterdale show, but I have a BFA in theatre performance .   I also spend a lot of time following my real passion: Improv.  I perform with Rapid Fire Theatre, which allows me great opportunity to practice and home my one man improv show: Legion. 

What have you learned from being involved in this production? Every country has moments in it's history that are not very flattering, but none the less, need to be recognized and explored.  The subjects touched upon in this production are a perfect example of events that we don't necessarily need to be proud of, but we do need to understand and embrace them as much as the triumphs. 

What has been the greatest challenge for you? The greatest challenge for me has been playing a character that i don't usually get to play: a man who travels from optimism to despair in a very short time.  It is not a linear narrative, and his character arc progresses quite quickly.  The juxtaposition of characters and scenes don't necessarily relate directly to each other and this is very difficult, yet it is what makes the piece so unique and powerful.  

What has been the most enjoyable? Being able to play with such a fun and supportive cast.  The enthusiasm involved makes working on such a challenging play extremely rewarding. 

Stunning Images of Burning Vision - Opens Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

Burning Vision, by Marie Clements and directed by Artistic Director Sarah Van Tassel, is the next production up on our decks.  It opens next week.  Here are a few of the images from this week's media call.  Photos by Douglas Stewart.

You can see all of the photos here.