Preparing for River Clyde Pageant
Top artists leading free workshops in preparation for outdoor pageant
“The River Clyde Pageant” is returning to the rolling hills and riverside of New Glasgow this summer, and artistic directors Megan Stewart and Ker Wells are excited to share a reimagined performance and a series of new workshops for the public.
In 2018, “The River Clyde Pageant” will be presented as a single-site performance in the fields of the Little Victory Microfarms, using the natural amphitheatre of the farm and the River Clyde as playing space.
Each performance will conclude with a family-style long-table meal in the field, organized by Emily Wells and the team at The Mill restaurant, featuring food from local farmers. This year’s performance dates are July 28-29 and August 3-5.
Public workshops begin in June and continue through July. These artist-led workshops are free and teach participants skills such as puppetry, stilt-walking, music and more. Workshop participants can then join the pageant as performers, puppeteers and musicians or take on other production roles.
B.C.-based puppeteer, Ian McFarlane, is back to lead the creation of several large-scale puppets that will move on water and land. Puppet building sessions will occur twice a week in July, with Wednesday evenings reserved for small puppet projects and Saturday afternoons for bigger, outdoor puppet-building projects.
Laura Astwood of the Ottawa Stilt Union will be training a group of new stilt walkers alongside alumni stilt performers in early June. Theatre artist and educator Jane Wells is returning to teach a kids’ drama workshop exploring theatre and ecology. These weekly sessions in June will lead to the creation of scenes and stories for the pageant performances.
New Orleans musicians, Kathy Randels and Sean LaRocca, are visiting New Glasgow to present a workshop July 2-8 at Gulf Shore School in North Rustico, exploring vocal songwriting and music improvisation inspired by the natural environment.
This workshop is open to musicians and vocalists of all ages and experience levels, and it aims to gather a group of musical performers to take part in the pageant performances.
Cleveland-based playwright Michael Geither is offering a new take on playwriting with his weeklong workshop, “The Electric Eclectic.” This workshop, for beginner to advanced playwrights, will explore approaches to writing for the stage that will surprise and reward both writer and audience. This workshop runs June 16-23 at The Mill in New Glasgow.
The public is encouraged to take part in these workshops and in the creation of this magical community event. Advanced registration is required for all workshops. For more details and to sign up, visit www. riverclydepageant.com/getinvolved.