Theatre Terrific

Theatre Terrific, also known as the Theatre Terrific Society, is a Canadian disability theatre company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is western Canada's oldest disability theatre company.[1]

Theatre Terrific
Formation1985 (1985)
TypeTheatre group
PurposeDisability theatre
Location
Websitewww.theatreterrific.ca

History

In 1984, Connie Hargrave began to conceive of a theatre company focussed on disabled performers.[2]: 68  Theatre Terrific was officially founded in 1985 and was one of Canada's first mixed-ability theatre companies.[3] At this time, Sue Lister was hired as an instructor and soon became Artistic Director. Their first show, a musical revue by Leonard Angel titled Dancing on the Head of a Pin with a Mouse in my Pocket, was performed at the 1986 Vancouver Fringe Festival.[2]: 68 

Theatre Terrific launched its outreach program, Direct Access, in 1987. The program was a student-focussed performance group whose ensemble members attended any of Theatre Terrific's drama classes. In 1988, Lister started the process of auditioning and hiring for school tours composed of both abled and disabled actors. They toured across the province of British Columbia, performing commissioned plays at both primary and secondary schools.[2]: 70–72 

In the early 1990s, Theatre Terrific began to receive international attention.[2]: 87  They officially gained membership with the Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance in 1992.[2]: 73 

In 1995, the company appointed its second artistic director, Jamie Norris, [2]:74 and Sue Lister returned home to the UK in 1996. Norris left in 1998 and was replaced by co-artistic directors Elaine Avila and Trevor Found. Avila and Found focussed on artistic education before resigning in 2000.[2]: 74  In 2001, Liesl Lafferty became Theatre Terrific's artistic director. The company had not been active for over one year preceding Lafferty's appointment. She resigned in November 2004.[4]

Susanna Uchatius became artistic director in 2005, at which point the company shifted away from explicitly disability-centred themes.[5] As artistic director, Uchatius has produced some of her own plays, including Hello in 2019, which focussed on the untold story of Arthur Miller's son, Daniel.[6]

Artistic directors
  • Sue Lister (1986-95)
  • Jamie Norris (1995–1998)
  • Elaine Avila and Trevor Found (1998–2000)
  • Liesl Lafferty (2001–2004)
  • Susanna Uchatius (2005–present)

Production history
  • Dancing on the Head of a Pin with a Mouse in my Pocket by Leonard Angel (Fringe 1986)[2]: 68 
  • Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On (cast collaboration for the Fringe 1987)
  • One on One (forum theatre touring secondary schools 1988/9)[2]: 71 
  • Syllabub by Kico Gonzalez-Risso (touring primary schools 1990/91)[2]: 71 
  • Good-Looking Friends by John Lazarus (touring secondary schools 1992/93)[2]: 71 
  • Ring of Fire by Margaret Hollingsworth (touring primary schools 1994/95)
  • Breeding Doubts by Sandra Ferens (Fringe 1995)[2]: 68 
  • Scraping the Surface by Lyle Victor Albert (1996)[2]: 68 
  • Step Right Up by Elaine Avila and Trevor Found (1999)[2]: 75 
  • Spiralling Within by Siobhan McCarthy (2003)[2]: 79 
  • Jumpin' Jack by Lyle Victor Albert (2004)[7]
  • Error of Eros' Arrows (2004)[2]: 81 
  • Ugly (2005)[2]: 81 
  • slowrunning (2006)[2]: 81 
  • Workin' (2007)[2]: 81 
  • doGs by Susanna Uchatius in collaboration with the cast (2007)[8]
  • The Glass Box (2008)[2]: 82 
  • The Secret Son (2009)[2]: 82 
  • dirty white by Susanna Uchatius (2010)[9]
  • I Love Mondays by Susanna Uchatius (2015)[10]
  • The Ridiculous Darkness by Wolfram Lotz - with Alley Theatre and Neworld Theatre (2017)[11]
  • Hello by Susanna Uchatius (2019)[6]
  • Digital Fracture: VOICES (2020)[12]
  • WINDOWS (2021 - online production)[13]

Awards
Year Award Category Work Result Notes Ref.
1994 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Special Award for "Distinctive Mandate" n/a Won [2]: 66 
Outstanding Script for Young Audiences Good-Looking Friends Nominated for John Lazarus
1995 Outstanding Script Breeding Doubts Nominated [2]: 73 
Outstanding Ensemble Performance Nominated
1996 Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role Scraping the Surface Nominated for Lyle Victor Albert
Outstanding Play or Musical Nominated
2020 Outstanding Sound Design or Original Composition - Small Theatre Hello Nominated for Angelo Moroni [14]

Notable performers

References
  1. Johnston, Kirsty (2014). "Out of the Box: Comedy in Disability Theatre by Canadian Women". In Dickson, Peter; Higgins, Anne; St. Pierre, Paul Matthew; Solomon, Diana; Zwagerman, Sean (eds.). Women and Comedy: History, Theory, Practice. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 150. ISBN 9781611476446 – via Google Books.
  2. Johnston, Kirsty (2012). "Theatre Terrific". Stage Turns : Canadian Disability Theatre. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780773539945.
  3. Kuppers, Petra (2017). Theatre and Disability. MacMillan Education. p. 35. ISBN 9781137605726 – via Google Books.
  4. Lafferty, Liesl (2005). "Stage Ability: A Terrific Theatre Experience". Canadian Theatre Review (122): 65–66. ISSN 0315-0836.
  5. McAskill, Ashley (September 2016). ""Come and see Our Art of Being Real": Disabling Inspirational Porn and Rearticulating Affective Productivities". Theatre Research in Canada. 37 (2): 201–216. doi:10.3138/tric.37.2.201. ISSN 1196-1198.
  6. Derdeyn, Stuart (2019-03-22). "Theatre Terrific says Hello to a hidden history of Arthur Miller's family". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  7. Oliver, Kathleen (2004-11-25). "Jumpin' Jack". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  8. Oliver, Kathleen (2007-05-09). "doGs". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  9. Hui, Stephen (2010-04-21). "Theatre Terrific's dirty white at the Cultch's Vancity Culture Lab". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  10. "17 things to do in Metro Vancouver on Thursday, April 16". The Georgia Straight. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  11. Oliver, Kathleen (2017-09-13). "Fall arts preview 2017 theatre critics' picks: The fun in dysfunction takes to the stage". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  12. "Vancouver Fringe announces programming for third mini-festival". The Georgia Straight. 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  13. Wild, Stephi (2021-08-27). "Theatre Terrific Will Present WINDOWS Beginning Next Month". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  14. "Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards nominations unveiled amid stage closures, with shows like Kuroko, Noises Off, and Coriolanus leading the way". The Georgia Straight. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
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