Alumni Spotlight: Eva Barrie and program partnership with Tarragon Theatre
The School of Performance is thrilled to announce the beginning of a new partnership between Tarragon Theatre and the School of Performance, to support the development of new work for large ensembles. This partnership begins this year, with Untamed written by Eva Barrie, and Gull by Anton Chekhov in a new version by Cole Lewis.
Eva graduated from the Performance Acting program in 2012. She then trained with The Siti Company (external link) in New York, and has been working as a freelance actor, director, creator, writer, dramaturge, and most recently served as the Artistic Director of Shakespeare in the Ruff (external link) , which she officially stepped down from less than a month ago.
When asked about her memories from her fourth year in the acting program, she particularly notes her experience with the New Voices Festival. She emphasizes the important opportunity for students to “gain skills in directing, writing, and very loose and dirty producing skills. Plus, having agency over the projects you’re working on. That was really wonderful and special for me.”
Now, nearly a decade after graduating from the Performance Acting program, Eva returns as the first playwright featured in the school’s collaboration with Tarragon Theatre. Not only is she returning to an entirely new team of artists in the acting program, but also a new space. “I will always have a soft spot for that asbestos-filled building we used to work in,” Eva remarks with a smile, “but the new space is really wonderful.”
In particular, Eva is enjoying the opportunity to work with Lisa Karen Cox, the director of Untamed with the fourth year acting class. “While I was in school, there was a more rigid way of thinking, and I think Lisa challenges that in a really cool way.” Eva believes the opportunity to “work with new pieces, living playwrights, and different perspectives,” will all contribute to students’ success after graduation. The skill set required to work with a new play “is untapped in a lot of the performance programs across the city,” and this unique opportunity sets our students apart.
Untamed has had many stepping stones in its development. First, it was a part of an incubator program which Eva created at Shakespeare in the Ruff, with her then Co-Artistic Director Kaitlyn Riorden (external link) . This program was "dedicated to using Shakespeare as a stepping stone, as an inspiration for new work.” Shakespeare in the Ruff has since run many programs for young artists and devised work, such as the Young Ruffian program acting student Kiara-Kumail participated in this past summer.
From there, Untamed was a part of the Natural Resources Creation Group at Factory Theatre (external link) , for mid-career artists. It was then selected to be a part of Factory Theatre’s Bedrock Creators’ Initiative (external link) , where projects receive an intensive 2-4 year program of dramaturgy and workshops leading up to a full production as part of the Factory subscription season.
“It’s seen a lot of different institutions,” Eva reflects, “it’s had a long life, which is fun and regular for plays.”
In Eva’s playwriting, she is particularly interested “in the Shakespeare plays we perform over and over again, where we don’t question the implicit values, storylines, and narratives they are pushing culturally.” Eva asks, “what are these [stories] saying about us as a people?” While we collectively like to say “we’ve come so far,” Eva seeks to examine the places in Shakespeare’s plays “where we’re actually exactly the same.”
We tell ourselves Shakespeare is the be all and the end all. And it’s great writing. But if you really honour Shakespeare and love his work, you can be more inspired by the creative audacity of it, not just the simple verse. Be inspired by the fact that they were game-changing pieces, and were challenging how people think.
This perspective allows Eva to move beyond replicating Shakespeare’s text, and into experimentation with form, to find the best way to tell the story.
While Eva graduated into a different world and climate ten years ago than the current fourth years are stepping into, there is still one constant piece of advice she has to offer: “Find your people.” Eva reflects that “a lot of the scripts I worked on at the beginning, I’d make my friends dinner and we would read it around the table.” It’s important to find people who inspire and challenge you, “and maybe they’ve found those people in their ensemble already.”
Celebrate your comrades achievements as you celebrate your own. Even in those inevitable moments where it feels like everyone is moving on and you’re not, celebrate your friends. Because there will be moments where you celebrate, and you’ll want people to celebrate with too.