For Immediate Release


Posted - July 25th, 2007

so what now?

so what now?
(working title)


Irondale is creating a new theatre piece that looks at community, community needs and development through a youth lens.

Back up…. What do we mean by youth?.....And what on earth do we mean by community anyway!?.

Questions behind questions opened up & explored through theatre.

Our creative process started with a retreat workshop with 21 participants between the ages of 18 – 25. in beautiful Tatamagouche.

The energy, enthusiasm and honesty of this group created a foundation for us to build on.

The creative team:

  • The acting company - Theo Pitsiavas, Stewart Legere , Stephanie MacDonald, Paul Rogers, Natasha Thomas & Sara h Wilbur
  • Director Stephen Cross
  • Producer Andrea Ritchie

so what now? will premiere at a community development conference in Sydney in late September. We want to share the piece with you now. Please join us.

Two preview presentations will take place on July 27 & 30. Admission is FREE.

The piece is about 45minutes long. Both performances will be followed by a brief facilitated discussion (and refreshments!).

Your input will help us to continue to grow and build the piece, so please come out to one of the shows.

See you there!

Friday July 27th 4pm
at The North Preston Community Centre
44 Simmons Road

Monday July 30th 7pm
at The Bus Stop Theatre
2203 Gottingen St.

For more information or to reserve a seat: 429-1370 or Irondale@irondale.ca.



Posted - June 14th, 2007

Seeking 20 people aged 18 to 25

Have your say!

We need you - your ideas, your opinions.

We're looking for 20 people from ages 18 to 25.

This group will take part in a workshop led by members of theatre company The Irondale Ensemble Project. It will engage you in theatre, discussion and games, to look at, to explore what you want and need in your community. The workshop will be full of energy, enthusiasm and fun.

This will be a chance to meet people from all around the province, spend two nights in a beautiful retreat setting in Tatamagouche, contribute your thoughts & ideas toward the creation of a new play, and have a terrific experience learning and sharing your knowledge.

Irondale is creating a play about NS communities from a youth perspective. What we learn in this workshop will be a big part of shaping that new play, which will premiere in Cape Breton in late September.

Details

Wed. July 4th starting at 12noon
Thurs. July 5th all day
Fri. July 6th until noon
At the Tatamagouche Centre

All costs of travel, accommodation and meals are covered. And youth will be paid an honorarium for participating.

To sign up, or if you have questions, contact Andrea Ritchie at 429-1370 or Irondale@irondale.ca

Deadline for registration is June 22nd
(sooner if all spots fill up)



Posted - May 11th, 2007

Irondale presents "deconstructing W O R K" - May 30, 31 & June 1

deconstructing
W O R K

Work is blunt and mechanical, work is poetic and ethereal. It churns and it sweats, it elevates and reflects. It has been here since the first human action, and it will be here when it all ends. It enslaves and it liberates, sustains and eliminates... and on and on.

Under this theme, deconstructing WORK, two new theatre pieces are being forged. New ways of working are fusing with Irondale's long standing traditions. Long time ensemble members and new ones. Physical theatre, music, improvisation, myth and more.

We're excited to welcome you to this night of new theatre.

May 30, 31 & June 1
8pm
in Irondale's studio
(rm 106, 2277Maitland St.)

Call 429-1370 or email irondale@irondale.ca
for tickets and information

Press contact Andrea Ritchie 429-1370 or irondale@irondale.ca.



Posted - May 11th, 2007

Irondale Ensemble project School of Ensemble Theatre


A rigorous 4-week workshop in ensemble and physical theatre


Irondale's long tradition of ensemble theatre comes together with the new infusion of the work of the physical theatre, making a fantastic environment for learning and creation.

The Irondale School of Ensemble Theatre is offering a workshop for emerging and established professional actors.

This summer's 4 week intensive will focus on the actor creator. Daily training will involve Pilates, yoga, conditioning, acrobatics, dance, acting, and ensemble singing. The acting focused workshops will include improvisation and mask work.

This workshop will be intense and very physical. Full of enthusiasm, inspiration, hope and love for the theatre.

So come. Be engaged mind and body in this dynamic theatre.

But mostly, be ready to move.

Mission Statement The Irondale School of Ensemble Theatre began in the summer of 2004. The school exists to; advocate for the art of ensemble theatre; train actors to be able to carry on the traditions of ensemble theatre; engage in a dynamic involvement with the international ensemble theatre movement and work to establish educational collaborations with other practitioners of ensemble theatre. Fields of study for actors include collective creation, group writing and devising; the history of ensemble theatre, and community arts practice.

Instructors
Stephen Cross – acting, conditioning, mask building
Theo Pitsavas – yoga
Karen Bassett – ensemble singing
Andrea Leigh-Smith – pilates, dance
Andrea Ritchie – mask building
TBA – Tai Chi, Acrobatics

Workshop Fee: $1000
Mask Materials Fee: $100
June 4th - 29th, 2007
Monday - Friday 9:30am - 5pm

Contact us for detailed schedule & course descriptions
(902)429-1370
irondale@irondale.ca

Application Deadline: Monday May 14th 2007 (There are only 10 spots available.)

To apply, send you resume along with a cover letter to irondale@irondale.ca or to Irondale School of Ensemble Theatre Box 31309 Halifax NS B3K 5Y5

Press contact Andrea Ritchie 429-1370 or irondale@irondale.ca.



Posted - April 1st, 2007

Irondale’s Open Workshop Spring 2007

The final Open Workshops for this school year!

As things warm up (slowly!) we start our spring series of Open Workshops, our last ones for the 2006/07 season.

So come out and play at the Thursday Night Open Workshop. Irondale has been offering this free theatre games workshop, 7 till 9, Thursday nights since 1991. It’s one way that we can both contribute to and connect with the larger community.

The workshop is for adults, and is open to youth too. No experience is needed, but all levels of expertise are welcome. Who comes? Everyone - professional actors, teachers, social workers, Raging Grannies, environmental activists, mill wrights, playwrights and people from every walk of life and background have come out over the years to have fun and build skill through improvisational theatre.

The workshop is FREE, but you MUST call or email to register.

irondale@irondale.ca or 429-1370.

The final five-workshop dates are:
April 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th and May 3rd.

From 7 -9pm at Irondale’s workshop space Room 106 of St. Pat's Alexandra School, 2277 Maitland St.

Enter on the Brunswick St. side of the building at the north end…the door will have a sign.

Please note: The voice mail on 429-1370 will be updated on Wednesdays at noon, and will say either that the workshop is on or off for that week. It’s always a good idea to check before you head out for the workshop, just in case.

See you there!

AND...

Watch for details soon about an evening of new theatre, created and presented by The Irondale Ensemble Project at our studio, 2277 Maitland St., 106

7 performers, 2 new works. May 29, 30, 31 & June 1st.

Call 429-1370 or write to irondale@irondale.ca for more info.




Posted - 11/01/07

Sign Up for Irondale’s Winter 2007 Mask & Physical Theatre Workshop


Get into the physical theatre.

The work will begin with the fundamentals of Jacques Lecoq’s proposal for actor training, explore Dell Arte’s image of the actor-creator, and step into the dynamics of masked performance.

Students will learn why masks are used in performance and why they are so much a part of the world of the physical theatre. Not just the technique, but the point. Neutral mask is both a physical object and a way of being. It is a reference point and a starting place for entry into the work of character mask. It is also a destination on the actor’s journey to knowing themselves. Elemental mask is the realm of dynamic event, lines of force, and a route to greater dimension and volume in the actor’s work. The character mask is the promise of transformation, and the actor’s ultimate gift - to surrender the self, to believe and to become, “the other”.

This workshop will be intense and very physical. Full of enthusiasm, inspiration, hope and love for the theatre.

So come.

Be engaged, mind and body, in the physical theatre.
But mostly, be ready to move.

Workshop leaders
Stephen Cross
Karen Bassett
Andrea Ritchie
Tai Chi instructor TBA

Fee:
$ 200 for one week
$ 350 for two
$ 450 for all three
(to take part in W3, you must have done W1 or W2)

3 weeks
January 22 – 26
February 12 – 16
February 19 – 23

Monday to Friday
10am – 5pm daily
do one, two or all three.

In Irondale’s studio space
(Rm. 106, 2277 Maitland St.)

To register contact:
Andrea Ritchie
429-1370
irondale@irondale.ca




Posted - 11/01/07

Irondale’s Open Workshop Winter 2007


Happy New Year!!

Whatever else you have resolved to do (or not to do!), we can only imagine that attending a fun, physically and mentally engaging, FREE workshop is on your ‘to-do’ list for the coming year.

Once again, the Irondale Ensemble Project invites you to come out and play at the Thursday Night Open Workshop. Irondale has been offering this free theatre games workshop, 7 till 9, Thursday nights since 1991. It’s one way that we can both contribute to and connect with the larger community.

The workshop is for adults, and is also open to youth. No experience is needed, but all levels of expertise are welcome. Who comes? Everyone - professional actors, teachers, social workers, Raging Grannies, environmental activists, mill wrights, playwrights…and people from every walk of life and background have come out over the years to have fun and build skill through improvisational theatre.

The workshop is FREE, but you MUST call or email to register.

Write irondale@irondale.ca or call 429-1370.

The next four-workshops are:
January 11, 18, 25 & February 1

From 7 -9pm at Irondale’s workshop space
Room 106 of St. Pat's Alexandra School, 2277 Maitland St.
Enter on the Brunswick St. side of the building at the north end… the door will have a sign.

Please note:
The voice mail on 429-1370 will be updated on Wednesdays at noon, and will say either that the workshop is on or off for that week. It’s always a good idea to check before you head out for the workshop, just in case.

See you there!




Posted - 10/09/06

Workshop in Mask & Physical Theatre - September 18 - 22 2006


believe, behave, behold, become!

the pelvis, the spine, the foot, the ground!

effort, risk, momentum, joy!

Get into the physical theatre.

The work will begin with the fundamentals of Jacques Lecoq’s proposal for actor training, explore Dell Arte’s image of the actor-creator, and step into the dynamics of masked performance.

Students will learn why masks are used in performance and why they are so much a part of the world of the physical theatre. Not just the technique, but the point. Neutral mask is both a physical object and a way of being. It is a reference point and a starting place for entry into the work of character mask. It is also a destination on the actor’s journey to knowing themselves. Elemental mask is the realm of dynamic event, lines of force, and a route to greater dimension and volume in the actor’s work. The character mask is the promise of transformation, and the actor’s ultimate gift - to surrender the self, to believe and to become, “the other”.

This workshop will be intense and very physical.

Full of enthusiasm, inspiration, hope and love for the theatre.

So come.

Be engaged, mind and body, in this approach to theatre.

But mostly, be ready to move.

Workshop leader Stephen Cross is the founder and Artistic Director of the Irondale Ensemble Project Canada. This fall, he will complete his work on his MFA at the Dell Arte International School of Physical Theatre, returning to Halifax in the new year.

5 days in September
Monday the 18th to Friday the 22nd
2 – 5pm
Irondale’s studio space
Rm. 106, 2277 Maitland St.

To register, contact Andrea Ritchie at 429-1370 or irondale@irondale.ca.



Posted - 26/07/06

Irondale Presents 3rd Annual Summer Play Workshop: wearing away


Wearing away
August 3rd & 4th
8pm $10
The Bus Stop Theatre

Wearing away is a dynamic play that fuses physical theatre, melodrama and mask to entice us with the alluring possibility that we might yet live in a moral universe.

A loving family is torn apart by the hardships of their life in rural Nova Scotia. They stand resolute; stoic in their determination to live according to the traditions and values of their ancestors, but they’re no match for the raging tides of change. Like a stone hurled into the depths of the ocean they are tossed and separated by social currents they can’t understand, only to be thrown up on an unfamiliar shore, stranded, desolate and alone.

Their hope and ultimate redemption lies in the realm of the genuine support of a caring community, the goodness of the human spirit, and their own passionate desire to live.

Work on this play began this past spring at the Dell’arte International School. In its first incarnation, it was the culminating work of Stephen Cross’ thesis for his Master’s of Fine art. Some of the artists involved in the current production were in California to work on the original piece (Leigh-Smith, Ritchie & Langille). Back in halifax now, members of The Irondale Ensemble Project have been leading a group of six talented young actors through a 4-week training program. The training involves physical theatre, improvisation, dance, gymnastics, Pilates, research, and singing. Work on the new phase of wearing away is the core of all of this training. This is Irondale’s third annual Summer Play Workshop, which is the inaugural program of our School of Ensemble Theatre. This fall, Irondale is making a version of this play available to communities and organizations focused on literacy, inequity and social justice.

Join us for the halifax premiere of wearing away.

The Ensemble

The acting Company: Nadiya Chettiar, Emily Shute, Stephanie MacDonald, Kristin Langille, Stewart Legere, Margaret Smith

Karen Bassett, Stephen Cross, Andrea Leigh-Smith, Andrea Ritchie


Press contact:
Andrea Ritchie
429-1370
irondale@irondale.ca



Posted - 03/06/06

Irondale Announces Thursday Night Open Workshop Spring Schedule


Spring Sessions: March 23, 30, april 6, 13 and april 20, 27, May 4, 11

It’s a FREE 2-hour theatre games workshop. Theatre games are fun, engaging exercises & games. They can be used by actors and others to build skills as improvisers, have fun, become more comfortable speaking/presenting in public, build confidence, develop awareness, strengthen communication skills, and did we say have fun?

Irondale has been offering this workshop, 7 till 9, Thursday nights since 1991. It’s one way that we can both contribute to and connect with the larger community.

You should know:

  • The workshops are intended for adults.
  • No experience is needed, but all levels of expertise are welcome.
  • It’s best (for you & for us) if you can commit to coming to 4 workshops in a row.
  • We need to have a minimum number of participants registered each week to make the workshops a success.
  • Call or email between Monday morning and Wednesday at 12noon to sign up.
  • Then call 429-1370 the day-of and check the message to make sure that it’s on.

Thursdays 7-9 at Irondale’s workshop space
(room 106 of St. Pat's alexandra School, 2277 Maitland St.)
You enter on the Brunswick St. side of the building.

Register by writing: irondale@irondale.ca or calling 429-1370.


Press contact:
Andrea Ritchie
429-1370
irondale@irondale.ca



Posted - 01/11/06

Irondale’s Open Workshop starts up for the 05/06 Season


Once again, the Irondale Ensemble Project opens the doors of the rehearsal room to one and all for our Thursday Night Open Workshop. Irondale has been offering this free theatre games workshop, 7 till 9, Thursday nights since 1991. It’s one way that we can both contribute to and connect with the larger community.

The workshops are open to adults, and to youth.

No experience is needed, but all levels of expertise are welcome.

The workshop is FREE, but you MUST call or email to register at least 24 hours before the workshop.

The first four-workshop session of the season will take place on four consecutive Thursday’s

January 19th, 26th, February 2nd & 9th

at Irondale’s workshop space (room 106 of St. Pat's alexandra School, 2277 Maitland St.

Register by writing: irondale@irondale.ca or calling 429-1370.


Press contact:
Andrea Ritchie
429-1370
irondale@irondale.ca



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