Off the Wall’s Creative Sparks March Break workshops open for registration

Picasso Painters makeup specialist Georgie Steel applies gore makeup to student Caity Hillier at Off the Wall’s Creative Sparks March Break camp for students in grade 9 or older.

High school students interested in the arts can now register for Off the Wall’s Creative Sparks March Break one-day courses, running the week of March 16-20. Each course runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is suitable for mature high school students looking to learn more about what happens backstage.

The March Break camps are supported by a grant from the Community Grants Program Fund, held at the Stratford and Perth County Community Foundation, and are designed to inspire the next generation of theatre artists.

“As we all know, there are many more backstage careers than there are on-stage careers during any production, so we wanted to make them accessible to students,” said Michele Boniface, volunteer at Off the Wall. “We decided to apply for the grant and we were lucky to receive it.”

This year, Boniface said Off the Wall is looking to attract more local students to really showcase to local students what’s available in the theatre town.

“We have people coming from all over. Last year at this Creative Sparks workshop we had people from Ottawa, Windsor, St. Catharines, Aurora,” she said. “They were from all over the place, and we were quite astounded, and yet not as many students were from our local schools. We’d like to attract more young people from our community and make them aware of what’s available in our town.”

These one-day workshops introduce participants to backstage skills. All workshops will be introductory, non-competitive and fun for participants.

“You can sign up for one course or all five courses,” said Boniface. “That way students can choose which courses they’d like to take. If you are interested in working with your hands, or someone may be more interested in makeup, there’s something for everyone.”

On March 16, students will learn about how to make food props. This one-day course is led by award-winning designer Deb Erb. Students practise a variety of techniques and discover commonplace materials used to create lifelike faux food.

“This course will teach you how to fabricate props with the use of the various materials,” said Boniface. “Students will learn how to build small props, but these skills can then be used to fabricate other, larger props too.”

The popular course on special-effects makeup is running on March 17. Students will learn from Picasso Painters makeup specialist Georgie Steel, who will lead participants into gore galore – creating realistic scars, lacerations, burns, bullet holes and bruising.

“Makeup seems to be our most popular workshop,” said Boniface. “Gore makeup, that is lacerations, wounds, scars and bullet holes, really appeals to a high school student, so this course is a great introduction to the whole area of makeup.”

On March 18, Hudson Valley Performing Arts Laboratory founder Elizabeth Dahmen will teach the introduction to stage directing, which focuses on planning, including script analysis, vision-setting and collaboration with a design team.

The March 19 class will teach students about stage management. This class is taught by Stratford Festival company manager Hilary Nichol, who gives students practice calling the show from the booth and other stage-management responsibilities.

Lastly, on March 20, students interested in sound design will learn from composer and designer Joe Lapinski. Students will build a basic sound system, record sound effects, voice-overs and music and assemble the elements into a cohesive design.

For more information or to sign up for the Creative Sparks workshops, visit www.stratfordoffthewall.com