Careers in the Arts Youth Mentorship Program
In 2021, One Trunk Theatre partnered up with Creative Manitoba for a new opportunity for students interested in a career in the arts!
One Trunk and Creative Manitoba worked together to create The Theatre Design Lab. The Theatre Design Lab is a design course for high school students aged 16-19 that took place in the Spring of 2021.
About the Program
Theatre is a team effort! It takes visual artists, musicians, writers, directors and performers. This 8 week introductory course was meant for students who want to learn about design for theatre. The course included classes on set, costume, lighting and sound design, led by renowned local and national professional designers Joseph Abetria, MJ Dandeneau, Nalo Soyini Bruce and another guest designer.
Throughout the course the students learned about four major areas of theatre design: working with a professional director (Andraea Sartison) to analyze a new play in development by a local emerging playwright, creating a design concept for the play in their chosen design area, and being coached through a presentation of the design for the playwright and director. The course was facilitated by One Trunk Theatre Artistic Producer Andraea Sartison and Artistic Administrator Kara Joseph.
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MJ Dandeneau
Sound Design
MJ DANDENEAU is a French Métis / Anishinaabe woman born on Treaty 1 Territory. She is an accomplished bassist, sound designer, composer and producer. Through her business, MJ Entertainment Canada Inc, she has worked and toured with various artists worldwide for the past 15 years. MJ’s extensive music career includes booking agent for Europe and Australia, Artistic & Musical Director, industry board member and funding assessor. MJ’s key focus and passion are supporting and empowering indigenous artists in successfully navigating the national and international market. MJ has also had the opportunity to expand her musical reach by taking on roles as a Composer/Sound Design for musical theatres such as Royal MTC, MTYP, Prairie Theatre, Sarasvati Theatre and Theatre and Cercle Molière.
MJ’s Website: www.mjentertainment.ca -
Nalo Soyini Bruce
Set Design
NALO SOYINI BRUCE is a Montreal-based artist, set, costume and prop designer of Caribbean origin. Her designs evoke rich associations through vibrant colour relationships, textured surfaces and varied materials. She uses this vocabulary to express underlying historical, cultural and psychological dimensions of stories enacted on screen and stage. As set elements are introduced or reoriented, or as outer and inner layers of costumes are revealed, the audience discovers the deeper layers of people, places and things. Since she emerged from the Black Theatre Workshop Artist Mentorship Program’s 2017-2018 ensemble, Nalo has worked with numerous theatre companies that include Black Theatre Workshop, Geordie Theatre and Tableau D’Hôte Theatre on productions that explore themes of cultural identity, tolerance, acceptance, and hopeful futures. Recent projects include Simone Half and Half, directed by Quincy Armorer (Black Theatre Workshop’s Black History Month school tour presentation, February 2020); The Negroes are Congregating, directed by Natasha Adiyana Morris(A Piece of Mine Arts & Theatre Passe Muraille co-production, March 2020); Da Kink in my Hair, directed by Ray Hogg(An Arts Club Theatre Company production, April 2020 opening cancelled due to Covid-19).
Nalo’s Website: https://www.nalosoyini.com -
Joseph Abetria
Costume Design
JOSEPH ABETRIA is a queer Filipino theatre designer based in Winnipeg. He was born and raised in Manila, and moved to Canada when he was 15. Joseph holds a BA Honours in Design and Production from the University of Winnipeg. Some of his select costume design credits include: Spelling 2-5-5 (MTYP); Bang Bang, Last Train to Nibroc (RMTC); Women of the Fur Trade (The Vault Projects); Mary’s Wedding, Iceland (TPM); Love’s Labour’s Lost, Concord Floral, Vinegar Tom (UofW). When Joseph is away from Winnipeg, he works with the Stratford Festival as an Assistant Costume Designer on various productions such as Othello, The Neverending Story, The Rocky Horror Show, and Romeo & Juliet
Joseph’s Website: https://josephabetria.weebly.com/