A Heart Named Weingarten
Friday, February 19, 2010 at 10:28PM by Jamie
ATTN ALUMNI OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY DEPT. OF DRAMA
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You may have heard that the University of Calgary recently had a major surgery. You see, it had a really bad heart. This heart was pumping all sorts of filth into the student body in the past couple of years, but I tend to think think it was just a little defective from the start. Small, maybe with some sort of hairy, fungal infection. So this heart had to go, and thank god, it left on its own accord in the fall of '09. It's been replaced with a temporary heart (like the one Captain Picard had), but they're going to have a transplant brought in very soon. It's all very exciting. It's an opportunity for change, to clean up some of the crap spewed across the body by the old heart.
The problem is, the old heart did some major damage to the brain while it was there. In particular, it wasn't pumping much oxygen into the right side of the brain, the creative side. No, it preferred to pump oxygen and nutrients to the left side, the side for things like logic and...math. And oil. And money. In fact, some parts of the right side are now completely dead, destroyed. Brain cells just wiped away. I don't mean to be dramatic, but lately, I get the sense that it's hanging on for dear life.
Oh! It's worse than I thought. I just used "dramatic" as a negative synonym for "reactionary." Looks like I was infected while I was there.
So what's the solution? How can we cure the right side of the UofC's brain? Here is my three step plan:
1) It needs some new blood. Or...maybe it needs stem cells. Choose your metaphor. Either way, it needs new growth both in the infrastructure and in procedure. There are some amazing brain cells that have been wanting to leave for years, but can't because they know they won't be replaced. We need to let them retire knowing it won't result in the end of the program.
So: new brain cells. The problem is that:
2) There's no oxygen to support new growth. No sense in bringing in new brain cells or growing tissues if you can't pay for them.
Oxygen.
I feel like I'm mixing metaphors. Oxygen = money, right? ...Let's continue.
3) The corpus callosum - the tissue that connects the right side of the brain to the left side and brings all of the body's activities together - is completely degraded. At this point, the left side barely knows the right side exists. No wonder. Craigie Hall is a dump. This tissue needs to be rebuilt, but it also needs to connect more proactively with its left brain sister.
Man, I wish I hadn't tied myself into this heart/brain thing. It's exhausting to keep up. Time for a picture:
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Woah! Look at the size of that cat!
Ah, much better. The point is, the arts faculties need permission (and the funds) to hire fresh faces to revitalize the programs, and to allow the older profs to retire as many of them so want to.
"Why bother?" some people might be asking. Mount Royal was just granted University status, why not leave that artsy stuff to them? Why not give the UofC a right brain lobotomy?
Here's why not:
1) Arts are important. Duh.
2) The UofC needs the arts in the same way human beings need both sides of their brain. There can be no ideological growth without both sides. Where would business be without creative advertising? Where would music be without math? Both voices need to be present in any place that claims to be a centre for higher thought.
3) The UofC's drama department is unique and important. Unlike the conservatory-style programs, of which there are several in the province, the UofC drama department focusses on diversity of education. Yes, there is a conservatory-style component, but there is so much more. Students are not only encouraged to create their own work, but expected to as part of their artistic training. They're expected to think outside the black box theatre and find new methods for creation and performance. Some cool projects that have happened in the department over the past few years: Eric Rose works with the entire senior acting class in a semester-long creation project; Denise Clark leads a movement piece based on the music of RadioHead; David Owen directs a DaDa performance of The Adventures of Mr. Antipyrine, Fire Extinguisher; playwright Meg Braem receives her Alberta premiere of Potentilla, and goes on to write the award-winning, Blood; John Turner leads a group of students in a bouffon clown exhibtion; Patrick Finn directs the world premiere of The Humorous Magistrate, a lost script from the 1600s; Ayla Stephen and Christopher Duthie give us This is Our Solar System; sexy Phaedre; all-female Hamlet; the western premiere of Hello...Hello; Brecht's Baal... and that is all since 2006. There more, but I won't go on.
I'm not saying the UofC doesn't have its problems, it does. I would even argue that the Drama Dept. seasons are sometimes a bit too experimental. But we need artists who are trained in this tradition of creation and experimentation and...weird stuff... to diversify the kind of work we see on Calgary's professional stages in the future. Some amazing artists have come from the UofC, and not just "creators" but actors and directors and writers as well. Don't believe me? Take a look around the community and you'll find that many of our most respected and important artists are UofC alum.
In fact, I'm going to make a list so I can send it to the big guys at the UofC, to show them how important the department really is. ATTN: UofC Alum. If you are a graduate from the department of drama, and are still working in the industry, please send me an email or leave a comment below with your name, your graduating year, the program (BFA, MFA), and your current position. Here's an example:
Meg Braem, plawright, MFA '09. Winner of the 2009 Alberta Playwrighting Competition for Blood: A Scientific Romance.
Stephen Massicotte, playwright, BFA...etc.
I just hope the Fine Arts Faculty doesn't die from complications in the meantime...
Reader Comments (20)
David van Belle, co-Artistic Director, Ghost River Theatre; playwright-in-residence, Alberta Theatre Projects; MFA '01
Anton de Groot, Artistic Director of (Parenthesis) Company, member of the Downstage Creative Ensemble, Freelance Theatre Artist; BFA '04
Ayla Stephen, House Company, co-founder; The Shakespeare Company, Artistic Associate and Ensemble Member; BFA '08
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