Theatre artists Ted Witzel and Ker Wells are going about it somewhat differently. They’re the inaugural participants in the 91��ɫ MFA in Theatre – Stage Direction in Collaboration with Canadian Stage, a landmark initiative that’s breaking new ground in Canadian theatre training.

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Launched last fall as a partnership between one of Canada’s preeminent theatre schools and one of the country’s leading not-for-profit contemporary theatre companies, this innovative graduate program offers highly specialized, advanced training in large-scale theatre directing.  Its mission is to support the development of directorial talent for the national and international stage.

“When directors make their mainstage debut, they often feel they’re getting one kick at the can, and if they fail they’ll never get to do a large production again,” said Professor Eric Armstrong, director of 91��ɫ’s MFA theatre programs. “Here, you get to work with large casts on big shows in a mentored setting – something that just doesn't happen in the professional world.”

The collaborative MFA program allows students to develop their creative and technical skills to the highest level, integrating their academic and studio work in 91��ɫ’s Department of Theatre with involvement in artistic projects at . The opportunity to direct a Canadian Stage production and an internship with a major national or international theatre are key elements of the two-year program.

Canadian Stage Artistic and General Director Matthew Jocelyn and Resident Artist Kim Collier serve as personal mentors for the MFA candidates.  Collier, co-founder and artistic director of Vancouver’s Electric Company Theatre and winner of the 2010 Siminovitch Prize for directing, works closely with the students to support their professional development.

The program is customized for each student based on their background, artistic orientation and goals, so Wells and Witzel’s experience over the past year and their plans for the next are highly individual.

Wells assisted Collier in her direction of the Canadian Stage production of Red last fall, and served as assistant director to Richard Rose for , Canadian Stage’s 30th anniversary Shakespeare in the Park presentation, running in Toronto’s High Park until September 2.  This coming season, Witzel will assist Kim Collier on a production for Vancouver's .

On the international front, Wells heads to the Netherlands this fall for an internship with acclaimed director Ivo van Hove at , working on a play by Ingmar Bergman. Witzel has an internship lined up with the renowned Canadian-born, Europe-based opera director Robert Carsen (LLD Hons. '05) for a production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the in Baden-Baden, Germany in March 2013.

Both MFA candidates bring a wealth of experience to their work at 91��ɫ, at Canadian Stage and abroad.

Active in Toronto’s independent theatre scene for the past five years, Witzel is artistic director of , a company he co-founded in 2006. His directing credits include a number of bold, site-specific adaptations of classics in non-traditional venues such the Gladstone Hotel, Drake Underground, Whippersnapper Gallery and Trinity Bellwoods Park. His most recent productions for Red Light District have been La Ronde, an adaptation of the Arthur Schnitzler play, at the downtown club Wicked, and Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly, Last Summer with the Tennessee Project at the Gibson House Museum in North 91��ɫ. Witzel divides his time between Toronto and Germany, where he has worked as assistant to leading directors such as Johanna Schall and Sebastian Baumgarten.

Wells is an actor, director and teacher who has toured across Canada and in the US, England, Denmark, France, Italy and Serbia. He was a founding member of Primus Theatre in Winnipeg, where he worked for nearly a decade before moving to Toronto and co-founding Number Eleven Theatre in 1998. His productions with Number Eleven include Icaria, The Prague Visitor and The Curious History of Peter Schlemihl. Other credits include The Confessions of Punch and Judy for New 91��ɫ State-based NACL Theatre and solo shows Living Tall for Public Energy, Peterborough and Swimmer (68) for Toronto’s Hopscotch Collective.

91��ɫ’s Graduate Program in Theatre is now accepting applications for the next cycle of the MFA program in Theatre - Stage Direction in Collaboration with Canadian Stage. Two new students will be admitted into the program in September 2013. The  application deadline is Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. Directors with extremely strong individual and interpretive voices and substantial professional experience are invited to apply. Candidates should be committed to developing their artistic and technical skills and have a clear interest in working on a large scale.

For more information, visit the Theatre - Stage Direction in Collaboration with Canadian Stage website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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“91��ɫ is pleased to partner with CASRAI and support its initiatives to streamline the research administration process,” said Robert Haché, 91��ɫ’s vice-president research & innovation. “The continued development of these standards will help our researchers save time and improve efficiency during the funding application process.”

CASRAI provides both a forum and the mechanisms required to standardize the data that researchers, their institutions and their funders use to describe research activity.  Key benefits for the research community include saving time for researchers, improving access to quality data for institutions and funders, and clarifying the measurement of research impacts on society.

"We are very pleased to see 91��ɫ joining this initiative," said David Baker, executive director of CASRAI. "Their expertise and innovative contributions to the CASRAI mandate will be highly valued. We look forward to this collaboration."

The 91��ɫ membership with CASRAI provides the University and the Office of Research Services with access to information on standards that will help streamline the grant application process.  The information can also be applied to the way researchers describe their research activities on their CVs.

By standardizing the data that researchers use to describe research activity, the University can further pinpoint its strengths and challenges. This in turn, will help 91��ɫ move forward with research planning.

For more information, contact David Phipps, director, Office of Research Services, at ext. 55813.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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TED, which stands for technology, entertainment and design, is a series of not-for-profit conferences that started in 1984 in Silicon Valley as a way for employees of tech companies to share their ideas and innovations with their contemporaries.

Featuring two official annual conferences, dozens of global TED events and more than 1,000 independently organized TEDx events, TED is a worldwide movement that brings together the “world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers”. Each TED presenter is challenged to give the “talk of their lives”. Previous TED alumni include former US vice-president and current environmental activist , futurist and author and British celebrity chef and food activist .

The mission of TED is simple: spread great ideas. In its second year, TEDx91��ɫU is featuring talks by members of the 91��ɫ community centred on the various ways in which their passions have impacted the world around them.

Driven by a committee comprised of current students, alumni and staff members, this year’s event will be hosted at Theatre Glendon. Key presenters at TEDx91��ɫU are 91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri, Vice-President Academic & Provost Patrick Monahan, Toronto city councillor Mike Layton (MES ’06) and 91��ɫ communiations & culture Professor Barbara Crow.

TEDx91��ɫU is supported by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, the Division of Students, 91��ɫ Alumni, Student Community & Leadership Development and Glendon College.

until 11:59am on Wednesday, Feb. 29. Satellite locations for remote viewing will be available on the Keele and Glendon campuses on March 10. A live webcast will also be available for people who want to watch from off campus locations.

For more information, visit the website, see its or search posts on Twitter using .

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