Springboard - Twelfth Night - Entry #1

Yes, it's true. Lost & Found Theatre is working in conjunction with UW Drama to produce this year's Springboard production of "Twelfth Night". For many of us, it is a dream come true to finally produce our own Shakespeare. Thanks to all who are making this possible

Bill Chesney, whose idea it was to launch the Springboard program last year, has done the Waterloo-Wellington area a great service. This is a chance for students to work with a local producing theatre company, and in turn, the University is providing rehearsal and performance space, free of charge. Because of this, Lost & Found is able to supply the students with a modest stipend. The end result being that audiences of this area get to reap the benefits by becoming a part an imaginative and stimulating evening of theatre.

I am excited about the prospect of working with students, some of whom I have taught at the university over the course of the last three years, on this production. Not only that, but I'll be working in conjunction with two of my Lost & Found cohorts, Kathleen Sheehy and Andrew Lakin. Kathleen will be the crusty Sir Toby Belch, and Andrew gets to play the actor's dream role of Malvolio.

I have wanted to do a Shakespeare for a long, long time, since the day I trained with an incredible mentor, Bob Strane, during the late 70's. I have seen a great deal of Shakespeare in my life, and been a cast member of three productions. Recently, I began teaching at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, where I have my grade 10 students working on scenes or speeches from "Twelfth NIght".

In working with students, some who will just be graduating, we are hoping to help with the bridge between the academic and the professional world. Often, academia can be very protected, and unrealistic. But to be thrown into the shock of trying to "get work", if indeed one is pursuing a career in the theatre, can be overwhelming. This is an opportunity for students to see how a local collective of actors are pursuing their careers, and how self-producing is often the only way an actor can realize their dreams. And they are learning through life's best teaching tool - experience.

So, if any of you interested in being a part of this project are reading this, pay close attention.

I am not the kind of director (oh, did I mention that I was directing the show??), who likes to take credit for the work. I was first an actor. I know what it's like to put your emotional, physical, and spiritual life on the line. Because that is precisely what an actor does. And so, the production will be all about the actors, and the text of Shakespeare.

We will be using some techniques created by a professional company in England, who has done extensive research on how Shakespeare's actors worked, and the keys and clues that they looked for. At the same time, I hope to give the actors ample time in rehearsal to explore (actors of Shakespeare's day had very, very, very little rehearsal time), and be comfortable with, the language.

If you have a question about the process, as it is here articulated, please send a reply. All for now.


Alan K. Sapp