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f OC U S Presentation House [heatre Hosts Professional Showcase Ann Macklem he North Shore theatre c een doing much soul-searching about "resentation House Theatre of late. The neatre has been suffering something of an Jentity crisis in the past few years (it has >een a producing company and now, as a ental facility, it serves both professional ind community-based groups). Presentation House trustees are in the jrocess of developing a strategic plan for he theatre, but once they determine its direction, their greatest challenge will be to i l l the theatre. Because the fact of the natter is that Presentation House Theatre-- unlike, its sister organization, the Gallery-- Joes not have a clearly defined, committed audience. organizers at Presentation House are presently taking steps to address that lack. One venture brought forward by Presentation House is the 1993194 West Coast Masterclass Showcase series. The Showcase, a professional development initiative of Canadian Actors's Equity, unfolds between November and March of year, and it features some of the West Coast's foremost actors, instructors and scheme. The Showcase also represents a exceptional artistic opportunity for its participants. Vancouver Playhouse--a total of two female artistic directors in Canada. Likewise, only twenty-three percent of Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance productions in the 1992-93 season were directed by women. 1 shudder to think of what the statistics might be on artists of colour. Because Equity is focussing its energies on the professional development aspect, some of the Showcase productions will have only minimal staging. M y guess is that audiences w i l l be so caught up by the calibre of the actors, the quality of the direction and the novelty of having consistent programming at Presentation House that they won't even notice. A n d hopefully, they'll keep on coming back. Richard Burton and Ava Gardner starred in the film version of Night of the Iguana (directed by John Huston) Normally, actors get cast by a director who is her/himself hired by a theatre company. Jn this instance, however, actors put their own projects together. Actors got to decide who they wanted to work with, and lo choose the piece they would work on (the sole requirement was that it come from the classic repertoire). Because the focus of the Equity initiative is on professional development, the performers had complete artistic freedom. The professional development component is key to the project (hence the Masterclass designation). The funding provides for top calibre directors with solid teaching records as well as specialty voice and movement instructors. Instead of the customary--and customarily frantic--two- to three-week rehearsal period, a whole month has been allotted for training and rehearsals. When timelines are light, actors lend to rely on methods that have worked for them in the past rather than to try new approaches. Projects such as this one. on the other hand, provide them with the lime and resources with which to stretch their craft. The fruits of their training will be presented, in a showcase setting, to their professional udiences. T H E 1993/94 WEST COAST MASTERCLASS SHOWCASE November 16-19,25-27 Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams with John Moffat, Sarah Hayward, Pat Armstrong, Sheila Paterson directed by Kate Weiss January 20-22, 26-29 No Man's Land by Harold Pinter with Peter Howarth, Peter Brockington, Eric Schneider, Matthew Walker directed by John Milton Branton February 17-19,23-26 The Rivals by Richard Sheridan with Tracy Olson, Eric Trask, Robert Naismilh, Manami Hara, and Marcus Youssef directed by Martin Millerchip March 3-5,9-12 A Classic Case of Women with Helen Graham, Judith Maxie, Jacqueline Dandeneau, Sharon Heath, Tammy Bentz, Lucinda Nielsen and Susan Bain directed by M i c k i Maunsell i Moffat, seen here in Bom Yesterday. stars in Night of the Iguana Four projects, all classics, have been scheduled: the first is Tennessee Williams' Sight of the Iguana, slated to run from November 16-27. Longtime Deep Cove resident John Moffat stars in this production, along with Sheila Paterson. Other North Shore-ilcs represented in the Showcase are Peter Brockington and Peter Howarth (in Pinter's No Man stand) and North Shore News theatre critic Martin Millcrchip (who directs The Rivals). Many prominent artists from over town are also involved--Micki Maunsell. Marcus Youssef. John Milton Bran ton. Trish Allen, Sharon Heath. Susan Bain. Pat Armstrong, director Kate Weiss, etc. It has been a long time since Presentation House has been graced with so much senior talent. While the series is clearly a boon for North Shore audiences (despite the high-profile names involved, ticket prices are more than reasonable--admission is by donation), ¡1 is more than just an audience development The Showcase offers professional development in another sense as well. The project is geared to the mid-career actor, particularly those artists who have historically been marginalized--women, artists of colour, and older actors. One production, A Classic Case of Women, is a selection of monologues, dialogues and excerpts from the work of master (female and male) playwrights: it features seven female actresses playing roles spanning 30 years. In all the productions, nontraditional casting has been encouraged. There is no question that providing such access is necessary. O f the large regional theatre companies, there arc now--with the appointment of Susan Cox to the Ar, Acce» NowDcc 1993 s 5