Bringing Playwrights into Communities at our Summer Theatre Intensive

By Cornelia Persich, Education Coordinator

As part of our Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive, participants and guests were enriched with a special reading given by Maja Ardal from two of her plays.  Playwright-in-Person is made possible by a grant from the Playwrights Guild of Canada, funded by the Canada Council.

The audience sat transfixed as we heard the characters come to life in Maja's play called You Fancy Yourself.  The main character Elsa spans in ages from four to eleven, and is a very optimistic and imaginative child.  She arrives in the new city of Edinburgh, Scotland (in post-Second World War time) to discover her new school, boys, the "cool girls," and a new best friend.  Maja read each role in character seamlessly, giving us the pleasure of imagining the scene played out in front of us.

We heard from Elsa again as a teenager when Maja read from The Cure for Everything.  Elsa has a big crush on Brian Baxter who barely notices her.  While she is not one of the popular girls, she happens to befriend Sheena, the leader of the cool girls, while sneaking off to have a smoke on a found cigarette butt and wearing the latest in "Beatles tights."  With Sheena at her side to coach her, she knows that Brian Baxter will fall in love with her.

Both plays are available through Playwrights Canada Press.  Playwright-in-Person has been part of Theatre Ontario Festival and Theatre Ontario Summer Courses for nearly fifteen years, featuring playwrights like Norm Foster, Yvette Nolan, David S. Craig, and Allan Stratton.

Read more about Theatre Ontario’s Courses and Workshops on our website