If you’re good at reading faces, discover a person at UVic today
Actor, director, producer, lights — Ideafest’s Human Library of theatre offers borrowers a chance to see something of the dramatic arts from beyond the audience chair.
With the University of Victoria’s Phoenix Theatre celebrating its 50th anniversary, the institution is stepping up today to present personal looks beyond stage performances.
Richard Lucas, a UVic graduate student of theatre and organizer of the “Human Library: Borrow a Book, Discover a Person,” explained the library works by having volunteer theatre folk become “books” arranged in categories such as actor, director, producer, playwright, theatre historian, critic or lights and stagecraft.
A borrower comes in, signs out a human book and can have a 20-minute, one-on-one conversation about that person’s professional or personal life.
People interested in the life of an actor/playwright might wish to sign out someone like Deborah Williams, actor and playwright of Taking Off, playing at the Belfry Theatre Feb. 21 to March 12.
For a personal look at acting, sign out someone like Sandra Webster-Worthy, the “Mom-ager.” Webster-Worthy’s son, Calum Worthy, spent childhood and adolescence as a child actor with companies such as the Disney Channel before heading on to adult life as a professional performer.
Those interested in the more technical side of theatre production can look to people like Michael J. Whitfield, who has decades of experience shining lights on stage, including 25 years as lighting designer at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
Or, those interested in the history of theatre in B.C. could sign out a person like James Hoffman, professor of theatre history at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, with a specialty in B.C. stage works.
For an up-close look at the life of the Phoenix Theatre, sign out someone like John Kirch, whose involvement with UVic drama goes back to 1968 when theatre was still performed in old army huts.
“Every [human] book has a story and a title, so a borrower can come in, look at the title, read the biography and figure out if the story interests them,” Lucas said.
“We are celebrating the history of the Phoenix Theatre,” he said. “But we are not just looking back at 50 years ago.”
“We are looking back and we are looking forward, and it’s all related to theatre,” Lucas said.
Phoenix Theatre’s Human Library is today, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Show up in the lobby of the Phoenix Theatre to sign out a “book.”
• Ideafest is an annual festival showcasing the work of students and staff at the University of Victoria. It started on March 6 and concludes today. Go to uvic.ca/ideafest for the full schedule.