‘Daring artist’ takes reins at theatre school
‘It’s a challenge for me on all fronts,’ says Alisa Palmer on becoming director
Alisa Palmer says she’s “absolutely thrilled” to have been appointed artistic director of the English section of the National Theatre School of Canada.
In the announcement Friday, NTS CEO Simon Brault described the bilingual Palmer, who was raised in New Brunswick, as a “daring and astounding theatre artist who has a clear take on Canada’s theatre issues.”
Palmer told The Gazette later that day that the NTS appointment afforded an “incredible” opportunity for her, at this time of her life.
“I’ve had the privilege of working in so many different theatres in so many different contexts,” she said. “I can’t think of a better place than the National Theatre School to be a container for all of the things that I’m passionate about. And also, it’s a challenge for me on all fronts. I feel very fortunate. I’m also very happy to be invited to participate in shaping the next chapter of the National Theatre School’s life because it’s a very formidable organization.”
Widely recognized as one of the country’s top theatre directors, Palmer has served as artistic director of Toronto’s Nightwood Theatre and has just completed her eighth season at the Shaw Festival (A Man and Some Women). During the past 20 years, she has directed at theatre companies across the country, including Tarragon and Soulpepper (Top Girls) theatres in Toronto and Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary. She served as resident director of Mirvish Productions’ Lord of the Rings in Toronto and is the founder of Vita Brevis, a company dedicated to new creations and training projects involving partnerships with other theatre companies. She has won two Chalmers Awards and was shortlisted for the Siminovitch Award three times.
In Palmer’s official statement, she said of her NTS mandate that she wanted to “create a vessel steady enough to hold the vagaries of personal and artistic growth, with teachers and guides who put the goals of the students first. The school needs to be a place where each artist is, above all, a person, unlimited by gender, race or class.”
The outgoing artistic director of the English section of NTS, Sherry Bie, will hand over the reins to Palmer on Jan. 7.
Until then, Palmer will be trying to absorb the lay of the land at the school.
“I’ll be working closely with Sherry to make sure that the shift is almost imperceptible to the students,” she said, “so that they feel increased sup- port, as opposed to radical change.”
Palmer currently lives in Toronto with her spouse, actor/novelist Ann-Marie MacDonald (The Way the Crow Flies) and their two daughters.
Montreal, however, is anything but foreign territory. Palmer earned a history de- gree at McGill University, studied at Montreal’s École du Mime (Omnibus) and l’École nationale du cirque and worked with local improv comedy troupes Theatre Shmeatre and Bouffon de Bullion.
“I’m particularly happy to be coming back to Montreal,” Palmer said. “I lived here for almost 10 years. And it’s really remarkable, the city has grown and changed and I feel like I’m meeting an old friend again.”
Palmer directed the Edward Bond play, Restoration, at NTS in 2007. Coincidentally, another Bond play. Human Cannon, about the struggle against fascism during the Spanish Civil War, opens Tuesday at the Monument National, directed by Alan Dilworth, a noted Canadian expert on the British playwright. It’s the first public performance of the English section of NTS this season.