It takes a village to bring bilingual theatre to Richmond
Julie Miller says that when she first started running theatre workshops in the Richmond area, it was so that her own children would have access to a creative outlet. Faced with a variety of sports options but very little in the arts, she draw on her own background in the theatre to help offer an alternative. Today, the Ulverton-based “It Takes a Village Theatre/le théâtre Ça Prend Tout un Village,“has a mandate to offer bilingual classes in drama and theatre to the youth population of the Val-saintfrançois area.
“I have been giving theatre lessons to kids in Richmond off and on for years now,” said Miller, explaining that it is only in the last two years that the work has been centered in Ulverton. Although she now spends her days on the family farm, the theatre founder explained that she was once very involved in the Montreal theatre scene including as the founding director of the annual Shakespeare in The Park performances.
According to Miller, the programming of the children’s theatre follows the school year, starting in the fall and
winter by offering children eight to twelve years old the opportunity to discover the world of theatre through a series of workshops intended to work on voice, movement, memory, creativity and improvisation one night per week.
“We do a lot of games,” she said, explaining that the focus is on having fun, building connections, and developing technique.
After a break during the holiday season, the group returns to prepare a springtime production with more focused rehearsals and a final public performance.
“It’s a lot of work.”miller said, adding that all the workshops and the final production are bilingual in an effort to foster openness and understanding between both English and French speaking kids, and to reflect the linguistic diversity of the region.
“We try to (be bilingual) as much as possible without repeating everything,” the theatre founder said. “That can’t happen because it would just be too cumbersome.”
Fitting in with the theme of the group that “it takes a village,” Miller explained that on top of trying to offer young kids an opportunity to express their creativity, the group also has a mandate to offer employment opportunities to older youth. At the moment, for example, the group is benefitting from the services of Isaac Allan-letarte for set design and painting.
“I’m not paying them professional wages, but their work is being recognized,” Miller said, pointing out that artists are often called on to offer their services for free, which can make life difficult.
This year, the theatre group’s spring production will be a collaboration with the Richmond County Historical Society. This coming Sunday, April 29, at the Melbourne Township Community Hall on route 243, the company is presenting a play entitled The Barn Raising/la Joyeuse Corvée, about early pioneer settlers on the Stfrancis River.
The story is set in 1810, twelve years after the arrival of the first Europeans to settle in the Richmond area, the Cushing Family. As the play begins, it is the day before the Cushings have planned a barn raising, but there's still a lot of work to be done.
Miller explained that the story itself is fictional and created specifically for her cast of ten mostly female actors. That said, however, she expressed a deep gratitude to the Healys at the historical society for not just providing her with a detailed list of important local figures, but also taking her on a guided tour of the local countryside to point out landmarks and points of interest that often go unnoticed.
“We’re building a bridge between these kids and local history,” she said, calling the society and its members a treasure trove of information.
Miller explained that she decided to build the story of the play around a barn raising because of the fact that it would have been a big community event that brings everyone together. The audience will get to meet Lydia Cushing and all her children,while also hearing about goings on in the area from other members of the community. At the same time, a mischievous raven's antics will threaten to upset the day’s plans, and a couple of goldfinches try to help out behind the scenes.
The Goldfinches, Miller said, will also help keep the action flowing in French
“They also have a plan to make life easier for the mother,” Miller said, pointing out that the birds are not just narrators, but have their own plot to follow through.
The company will perform their play only one time, and tickets will be available at the door or by reservation at 819-826-3929.