Review: (Ottawa) Collapsible

Theatre On Many Levels
by Jim Murchison

There are a few things that Mi Casa Theatre does that you really don't get to see anywhere else. For one, there is a boldness in their choices as to staging. At the Fringe Festival, We Glow was done entirely in a Boardroom and every inch of the space was used to great effect. 

Collapsible is set at the New Edinburgh Community and Arts Centre which is really just a big old house and again every inch of five rooms and the hallways are used as performance areas. Sometimes the audience splits up; one part of it going on one adventure, the remainder staying behind, but in a play that is entirely about choices neither staying where you are or venturing forth is necessarily more right or more safe.

The Question... Laurel Green, Dramaturg (playRites) on Collapsible

Collapsible playwright Emily Pearlman and dramaturg Laurel Green (left)

The Cheerleader/Drill Sergeant
by Estelle Rosen

Laurel Green is the Artistic Associate at Alberta Theatre Projects (ATP) in Calgary where she works in new play development and literary management for the company. As Production Dramaturg at ATP’s Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays, Laurel’s credits include: a two-hander Bollywood musical (Same Same But Different), a new translation (You Will Remember Me), a hip hop musical (Ash Rizin), a Bacchanalian rock 'n roll cabaret (The God That Comes), and a new play by Joan MacLeod (The Valley). As a freelance dramaturg, she’s currently working on: The Distance Between You and I with Humble Wonder Theatre, and Attack of the Pine Beetles! with Evergreen Theatre. Laurel is an active board member for the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. You can follow her on Twitter @LGYYC 

CHARPO: How would you describe what a dramaturg does, and specifically related to this production?

GREEN: A dramaturg can serve many functions on a production, but a new play dramaturg (like me) works closely with the playwright while they are developing their piece. We read drafts, ask questions, listen closely and offer feedback to help the playwright realize their vision. This isn’t always an easy process so we are cheerleaders, therapists, drill sergeants, editors and drinking buddies, depending on what the project needs.