Signal Theatre, Creation, and Actor Training

The editors of CTR Issue 165 “Equity in Theatre” invited Michael Greyeyes, the Artistic Director of Signal Theatre and the Director of the MFA in Acting program at York University in Toronto, to share his perspectives on actor training, actor creation, and indigeneity. The slides in this series feature images from recent Signal Theatre shows, productions that, as he explains, regularly engage and extend Indigenous movement and expressive traditions. More of Michael’s work on actor training can be found in his contribution to the recently launched “Diversities in Acting” website curated by David Fancy: brocku.ca/diversities-in-actor-training.

For the full text and slideshow, see utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/ctr.165.001b.

From thine eyes

Production photos of from thine eyes. Produced by Signal Theatre and Native Earth Performing Arts. Presented by DanceWorks. Text by Yvette Nolan. Choreography and direction by Michael Greyeyes.

from thine eyes is set in the space between the land of the living and that of the dead, where six characters struggle to find meaning at the end of their lives as they confront their deepest fears, most cherished memories, and each other. Signal’s mandate, hewing closely to Indigenous protocols around mentoring, states that the human lies at the centre of our practice; therefore all our production work focuses on the development of our collaborating artists, contrasting significantly with the notion that the “show” is primary. “The show must go on,” is a western idea, privileging a final product/experience over the pathways of those involved in it.

Ceinwen Gobert (foreground) and Michael Caldwell (background), Site #2

Sean Ling (foreground) and Michael Caldwell (background), Site #1

Claudia Moore, Site #4

Michael Caldwell (foreground), Sean Ling (right), and Claudia Moore (background), Site #4

“I am gratified to see how embedded training notions actually are to our creation process. In so doing, we create a community that shares specific knowledges across differing backgrounds and experience....Signal, therefore, remains committed to training and challenging traditions of training entrenched inside western-based institutions across Turtle Island. This has been integral to our company history.” - Michael Greyeyes

A Soldier’s Tale (developmental workshop)

Rehearsal photographs from a developmental workshop for A Soldier’s Tale, York University, 2013. Produced by Signal Theatre and the National Arts Centre. Presented by DanceWorks at the Fleck Dance Theatre in 2014, and opened the Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa in the summer of 2014. Written by Tara Beagan and directed by Michael Greyeyes.

(L to R) Ana Groppler, Jamie Mazcko, and Keith Barker

(L to R) Michael Caldwell (standing), Tamara Podemski (prostrate), Daniel McArthur (standing), and Kate Holden (prostrate)

A Soldier’s Tale is Signal Theatre’s most ambitious, full-length dance theatre work, which examines the aftermath of war on soldiers and their families.

Winter Home

Winter Home examines a Cree family’s wintering history. Programmed subsequently at the 2015 Prismatic Festival with a new performer replacing Greyeyes, Winter Home was reimagined by actor Brandon Oakes....Acknowledging that our shared history of deracination is wide-spread, we realized the form of the work is plastic, with numerous openings for other Indigenous performers to find their way into this examination of memory and collective pasts.

Michael Greyeyes

Photo by Bart Gazzola

A Soldier’s Tale (scenography rehearsal)

Rehearsal photos from A Soldier’s Tale and the bau probe (scenography rehearsal) at Fleck Dance Theatre in January 2014.

(L to R) Jamie Mazcko, Simon Fon, Daniel McArthur, and Michael Greyeyes

Jamie Mazcko (L) and Daniel McArthur (R)

We decided to rent the Fleck Dance Theatre space for a bau probe, a recognized practice in Europe but rare in independent production in North America.” “this was an extraordinary experiment, since the choreography was site specific, and we were...