Summer’s here: Your Board update
2014 is an exciting year for Rural Root. We will be celebrating our 10th season and 20 successful plays! We have come a long way in the last 10 years, with improvements in our processes and procedures, technical capabilities and especially our name in the community.
Our audiences have been steadily growing, to the point where we have been experimenting with adding more shows to our run. With The Drowsy Chaperone, we exceeded all expectations in terms of audience numbers, and we had capacity crowds at every show. The momentum carried through to Fairground Follies and then to Let’s Murder Marsha, where we had to add overflow seating on several performances. Thanks to all our members who attended the shows, and got their friends and relatives to come out.
On the process front, we have strived to maintain consistency and quality of each show by establishing an Artistic Review Committee (ARC). The ARC is there to assist new directors and provide guidance to ensure quality is maintained. We have significantly improved our box office procedures, which has made the check-in process faster and easier to manage. With our online ticketing system, and assigned seating, we now book very few seats manually. This used to be a significant effort.
To help recruit people to assist with shows, we have created job descriptions and posted them on our web site (http://www.ruralroot.org/volunteering-at-rrtc). Once they decide to volunteer, we have online forms which get volunteers in touch with the right people quickly and effectively. Our technical capabilities have grown as well, with the purchase of a new lighting controller and the use of tablets to drive our sound systems. We will continue to investigate new technologies, such as LED lighting, to see how we can further improve the audience experience.
Stay tuned to this column for future updates about our progress.
Ivo Mokros, RRTC Board President
COMING SOON! Auditions for our Fall 2014 Production
Do you want to take to the stage in Ladies of Harmony this fall? Don’t miss auditions, which are being held on Sunday, June 29th and Wednesday, July 2nd at 7 pm at the Constance and Buckham’s Bay Community Centre (directions). We’re thrilled to have veteran actor and RRTC member, Lee Powell on board as Director. He will be supported on the management team by Ivo Mokros as Stage Manager and Kathy Tassé as Producer. It’s going to be a great show!
The RRTC Website has had a Makeover
Rural Root is pleased to announce that the online archive of all our past shows is now complete! All Rural Root shows since 2005 are included, with descriptions, cast, pictures and even some video. Take a trip down memory lane. You can access the archive here.
Smooth Moves at the RRTC Movement Workshop
Attila Clemann led an outstanding workshop on movement, le jeu, and mask exploration for a highly engaged and very enthusiastic group of participants on Father’s Day. The activities started with some basic strategies on how to make movement convincing—if you are pulling an imaginary rope, form a fist that leaves room for the rope! Attila encouraged us to explore our movements based on audience feedback, a seemingly obvious approach but so validating and helpful.
The participants were especially enthralled with the mask aspect of the workshop, where we performed solo and in pairs, letting the masks speak to us and guide our performance. Sadly the three hours whizzed past far too quickly, but not without discussion of other workshop possibilities. Keep your eyes open for a new offering in the fall.
Summer Workshops in Ottawa
The Ottawa Acting Company has a range of fun summer workshops available. There are so many to choose from: voiceover, directing for stage and film, character development, and much more. Explore the possibilities at www.actingcompany.ca/saturday-workshop.html.
Call for Volunteers: 10th Anniversary Committee
As you know, RRTC is planning our 10th anniversary party for November 1. Do you want to be part of the organizing committee? Let us know by sending us an email at bod@ruralroot.org. We will be holding a planning meeting in the coming weeks.
Feedback or ideas?
Send us a note at bod@ruralroot.org. We’d love to hear from you.
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