Theatre Terrific

Last updated
Theatre Terrific
Formation1985 (1985)
TypeTheatre group
Purpose Disability theatre
Location
Website www.theatreterrific.ca

Theatre Terrific, also known as the Theatre Terrific Society, is a Canadian disability theatre company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is western Canada's oldest disability theatre company. [1]

Contents

History

In 1984, Connie Hargrave began to conceive of a theatre company focussed on disabled performers. [2] : 68  Theatre Terrific was officially founded in 1985 and was one of Canada's first mixed-ability theatre companies. [3] At this time, Sue Lister was hired as an instructor and soon became Artistic Director. Their first show, a musical revue by Leonard Angel titled Dancing on the Head of a Pin with a Mouse in my Pocket, was performed at the 1986 Vancouver Fringe Festival. [2] : 68 

Theatre Terrific launched its outreach program, Direct Access, in 1987. The program was a student-focussed performance group whose ensemble members attended any of Theatre Terrific's drama classes. In 1988, Lister started the process of auditioning and hiring for school tours composed of both abled and disabled actors. They toured across the province of British Columbia, performing commissioned plays at both primary and secondary schools. [2] : 70–72 

In the early 1990s, Theatre Terrific began to receive international attention. [2] : 87  They officially gained membership with the Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance in 1992. [2] : 73 

In 1995, the company appointed its second artistic director, Jamie Norris, [2]:74 and Sue Lister returned home to the UK in 1996. Norris left in 1998 and was replaced by co-artistic directors Elaine Avila and Trevor Found. Avila and Found focussed on artistic education before resigning in 2000. [2] : 74  In 2001, Liesl Lafferty became Theatre Terrific's artistic director. The company had not been active for over one year preceding Lafferty's appointment. She resigned in November 2004. [4]

Susanna Uchatius became artistic director in 2005, at which point the company shifted away from explicitly disability-centred themes. [5] As artistic director, Uchatius has produced some of her own plays, including Hello in 2019, which focussed on the untold story of Arthur Miller's son, Daniel. [6]

Artistic directors

Production history

Awards

YearAwardCategoryWorkResultNotesRef.
1994 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Special Award for "Distinctive Mandate"n/aWon [2] : 66 
Outstanding Script for Young AudiencesGood-Looking FriendsNominatedfor John Lazarus
1995Outstanding ScriptBreeding DoubtsNominated [2] : 73 
Outstanding Ensemble PerformanceNominated
1996Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Lead RoleScraping the SurfaceNominatedfor Lyle Victor Albert
Outstanding Play or MusicalNominated
2020Outstanding Sound Design or Original Composition - Small TheatreHelloNominatedfor Angelo Moroni [14]

Notable performers

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References

  1. ↑ Johnston, Kirsty (2014). "Out of the Box: Comedy in Disability Theatre by Canadian Women". In Dickson, Peter; Higgins, Anne; St. Pierre, Paul Matthew; Solomon, Diana; Zwagerman, Sean (eds.). Women and Comedy: History, Theory, Practice. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 150. ISBN   9781611476446 – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Johnston, Kirsty (2012). "Theatre Terrific". Stage Turns : Canadian Disability Theatre. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN   9780773539945.
  3. ↑ Kuppers, Petra (2017). Theatre and Disability. MacMillan Education. p. 35. ISBN   9781137605726 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Lafferty, Liesl (2005). "Stage Ability: A Terrific Theatre Experience". Canadian Theatre Review (122): 65–66. ISSN   0315-0836.
  5. ↑ McAskill, Ashley (September 2016). ""Come and see Our Art of Being Real": Disabling Inspirational Porn and Rearticulating Affective Productivities". Theatre Research in Canada. 37 (2): 201–216. doi:10.3138/tric.37.2.201. ISSN   1196-1198.
  6. 1 2 Derdeyn, Stuart (2019-03-22). "Theatre Terrific says Hello to a hidden history of Arthur Miller's family". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  7. ↑ Oliver, Kathleen (2004-11-25). "Jumpin' Jack". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  8. 1 2 Oliver, Kathleen (2007-05-09). "doGs". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  9. ↑ Hui, Stephen (2010-04-21). "Theatre Terrific's dirty white at the Cultch's Vancity Culture Lab". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  10. ↑ "17 things to do in Metro Vancouver on Thursday, April 16". The Georgia Straight. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  11. ↑ Oliver, Kathleen (2017-09-13). "Fall arts preview 2017 theatre critics' picks: The fun in dysfunction takes to the stage". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  12. ↑ "Vancouver Fringe announces programming for third mini-festival". The Georgia Straight. 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  13. ↑ Wild, Stephi (2021-08-27). "Theatre Terrific Will Present WINDOWS Beginning Next Month". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  14. ↑ "Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards nominations unveiled amid stage closures, with shows like Kuroko, Noises Off, and Coriolanus leading the way". The Georgia Straight. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
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