This week, I have the first part of my discussion with Kevin Lamotte, the director of lighting designer at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario. We discuss his original training and dig into his early years at the festival as well as his design philosophy.
#2 Michelle Ramsay Part 2 /
In this second installment of my chat with lighting designer Michelle Ramsay, we spoke about some of her favourite shows, her work on festival designs and collaboration between designers.
Some further reading from the show
Rough House - Nightswimming Theatre
April 14th, 1912 - Theatre Rusticle
#1 Michelle Ramsay Part 1 /
Michelle Ramsay, a Toronto-based lighting designer, agreed to be my guinea pig for episode one of the podcast. This is the first of two 30 min sessions we taped. Here is Michelle's bio (updated March 18 2014)
Michelle is a lighting designer for dance and theatre based in Toronto.
Companies she has designed with include: Modern Times, Cahoots Theatre Company, Blue Ceiling Dance, fu-Gen, The Theatre Centre, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Stand Up Dance, New Harlem, Shaw Festival, Human Cargo, Theatre Rusticle, National Arts Centre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts, Mirvish Productions, Theatre Passe Muraille and Tarragon Theatre. She has received several Dora Mavor Moore Awards, a SATAward, and in 2008 she received the Pauline McGibbon Award.
The beginning has a few rough audio spots, with some "peakyness" but I should be able to iron out the problems in the future.
In the interview we refer to "Wonderland" and failed to give any context. Canada's Wonderland is an amusement park north of Toronto, ON, and was a training ground for many young technicians just out of school.
Other things we glanced over:
Canadian Theatre Design /
Design for the theatre is a unique endeavour. A theatrical designer is tasked with not only creating an original expression of their understanding of other people's ideas, but must communicate these ideas within a team of artists all vying for their own voice. A willingness to set one's ego aside, or know when to push it, is essential, and risk taking achieves an entire new urgency when budgets and resources are tight and opening night looms large.
This podcast will talk to designers in Canada who, despite all the travails and trials, have stuck with their first instincts and worked hard to make Canadian Theatre what it is. It opens a window onto an obscure craft that is not readily appreciated by the theatre going public. It will allow the new student of theatre to learn from established designers and help them hone their craft. It will, finally, help capture a neglected part of Canadian theatre history: the lives of Canadian designers.
Chicago, Mayfield Hotel, 2011, Photo by Ed Ellis, Set and Costumes by Cory Laframboise, Lighting by Michael Kruse, centre is Sara-Jeane Hosie as Velma Kelly