31 Dec 2014
December 31, 2014

Holiday Newsletter

Newsletters

It’s hard to believe that 2014, and Rural Root’s 10th season, is drawing to a close. It’s been a good year, and we have 2 more great shows under our belt. We have had some wonderful celebrations, and we welcome new board members to the fold. It’s been fun, and it’s been a lot of hard work. Thank you to everyone of you who helped out this year, we really appreciate it.

As we look toward 2015, I can’t help but feel excited because we have have great things coming up. Of course, we are gearing up for our spring show, That Darn Plot, but we are also gearing up for the changes to our venue. The constructions at the community centre has started, and Rural Root has a great opportunity to rework the the theatre space to make it even better for our volunteers and audiences. We will be putting out more communication on this in the next few months, so stay tuned!

Happy New Year!
Ivo Mokros, RRTC Board President

December 7th AGM Results

The RRTC held its annual AGM on December 7. Thanks to all members who joined us for some social time and an update on our activities in 2014. President Ivo Mokros outlined Rural Root’s achievements and plans for 2015. Board elections were held. Your new Board of Directors includes:

President Ivo Mokros
Secretary Lee Powell
Treasurer Elizabeth Sweetnam
Box Office Mandy Sauvé
Technical Martin Weeden
Artistic Director Kellie Shrimpton
Publicity Jenn McMillan
Membership/Training Judy Puritt
Director at Large Kathy Tasse

The new board will meet for the first time with the outgoing board on Sunday, January 4. Congratulations to everyone.

Rural Root Celebrates the Holidays

A huge thanks to our members who put their hearts into creating a fantasy-like Alice in Wonderland themed float for the Constance Bay and Carp Santa Claus parades in December. Featuring nine characters from the classic story, the costumes, trees, caterpillar and float were all handcrafted by Rural Root’s dedicated volunteers. Weather for both parades couldn’t have been more cooperative. The six walking playing cards that accompanied the float were the source of many puns from the crowds that lined the streets in Constance Bay and Carp: “Can’t you get your cards in order?” or after the long, long walk, “We see you’re starting to fold!” Congratulations to everyone for showing such great community spirit, including Pat Weir, who hosted a fun-filled float-building day at her home. The float was awarded “best float” at the Constance Bay parade.

 

Thank You to Our Sponsors

As another year comes to a close, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to our sponsors who supported us in 2014:

Platinum: Askari Solutions, Xquisit Communications, and Delta Printing

Gold: Ottawa City Councillor Eli El-Chantiry, John Roberts Broker – Remax Metro Realty, Nancy Atchison – Royal Lepage Gale Real Estate, Sandee’s Country Kitchen, Jorgensen’s Roofing, Carpe Caelum Consulting (Mike and Diane Brown), Deka Home Hardware, IDS Systems, The Mokros Family, and Suzart Productions

Silver: Gagnon Plumbing, The Smith Family, The Walsh Family, Waterwood Communications, and Vera and Ivo Mokros

Bronze: All About You Spa

Be sure to visit the sponsor page and support our sponsors!

Spring 2015 Play Updates: That Darn Plot

Mark W. Transom, one of the world’s greatest playwrights, is at the end of his rope. In order to fulfill his contract to artistic director and old friend Jo Harber, he has to create a play in one night or lose everything.

Half asleep and half drunk, Transom starts putting theatrical personalities he knows into a simple comedy about putting on a play. As the characters come to life before his eyes the play seems to be progressing well until, unbidden and without warning, Transom’s son Lloyd appears as a character and the play takes on a life of its own.

As the playwright struggles to maintain the upper hand, the out of control writing process brings him closer and closer to the heart of his estrangement with his son. Hilarious and heartfelt, That Darn Plot is a comedy about playwriting, rehearsals, rewriting and rehabilitating reality as well as a sympathetic look at a creative writer who is unable to connect with the people around him, including his only child.

That Darn Plot was originally produced by Shadow Theatre at the 1998 Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival directed by James DeFelice.

Public Read Through

January 11 at 7 pm

Auditions dates

January 14, 2015 and January 18, 2015

Interested in auditioning or helping out? Please visit the show page for more information!

Technical Committee – A Call for Members

In 2017, we will host up to nine theatre groups for the annual Eastern Ontario Drama League (EODL) One-Act-Play festival. Between now and then, there is much work to do – not only for the festival, but also in support of Project Sandhills (the Community Centre expansion) and the related changes to the interior of the existing building.

To manage the impact these activities are likely to have on the technical facilities for our productions over the next two years and beyond, we are forming a Technical Committee, under the leadership of Martin Weeden.  The group will meet to discuss lighting, sound, stage-monitoring, equipment procurement and maintenance, storage, set-construction, the stage, the new Green Room, production support, training and more.

Knowledge of, or experience with, all these areas is not mandatory for each committee member. In fact, we value the input from the ‘users’ – such as stage managers, leads of props or costumes – of the performance space and its facilities, as well.

To join the Technical Committee, please send an e-mail to Martin Weeden via tech@ruralroot.org or phone: 613-839-3595.

Our first meeting will be scheduled for late January, 2015.

Play Readings and Play Selection

Attention all members – Is there a play you would like to see Rural Root put on, or perhaps you’ve been longing to try something new? We are always planning for upcoming shows, and would love your input! We will be holding play readings in the coming weeks to select our Fall 2015 and 2016 productions.

If you are interested in hosting or attending a play reading, please contact Kellie at plays@ruralroot.org or 613-623-4888.

Feedback or ideas?

Send us a note at bod@ruralroot.org. We’d love to hear from you.