Something from Absolutely Nothing: Making Theatre Against the Odds
A blog by Garret M. Ryan - Playwright, Creator and former SPARC Intern
Author’s Note: A version of this piece was originally published within SPARC’s January 2022 newsletter, though significant changes have been made.
Introduction
My name is Garrett M. Ryan and I was born in North Bay in Northeastern Ontario. My father’s family has deep roots in the area, and throughout my life I have been able to experience the region for all it has to offer, from larger urban centres such as Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie to smaller rural towns such as Nipigon and Matheson (where my father’s mother was born and raised). However, I proudly trace my interest in performance through my mother, herself a lover and occasional participant in the performing arts, whose Ukrainian mother and grandfather developed their passion for the theatre from rural Manitoba. Therefore, while I now find myself living in Toronto, which has certainly been kind to me, I will always first and foremost consider myself a Northern Ontarian with proud rural roots through and through.
Image Description: Garrett M. Ryan, a tall white man with a red beard, wearing a green plaid shirt, blue ball cap, blue pants, and water shoes, sits in a canoe holding an ore. Behind him, a view of the lake and an island full of trees with a cloudy sky.
Despite this proud rural lineage, I (like so many others) believed a career in the performing arts necessitated a move to a large urban centre, as if the mark of “true” theatre was its ability to find box office success under the city lights. Certainly, the romanticization of Broadway, the West End, or Mirvish is rooted deep in theatre practitioners, and it's a difficult frame of mind to escape from. I vividly recall each of my aspirations in grade ten involved, as if a given, that I would leave Northern Ontario and never look back. It was almost as if the thought of remaining an artist in the region that had fostered me from the outset hadn’t even occurred to me. However, it was in fact my insatiable desire to create art that would eventually lead me to create my own theatre company, subsequently planting deep roots in the soil from which I came and shifted my outlook on what constituted success in theatre.
Success in theatre isn't geographical or financial. Success in theatre comes from within. Now, with that being said, it should be noted that when I speak of “financial success” in this context, I am not advocating for free labour, rather I wish to highlight that the wealthiest New York theatre makers in their multi-million dollar condos overlooking the city are not inherently more successful than a regional rural playwright living a comfortable life. If a theatre maker somehow quenches their unquenchable thirst for creation, and is happy doing so, that sounds successful to me, but I digress. This is all to say that theatre makers, aspiring theatre makers, or really anyone with a story to tell, should understand that big cities do not have a monopoly on performance. Theatre can (and SHOULD) happen anywhere and everywhere. It unfortunately took a shift in perspective garnered by leaving Northern Ontario for me to grasp this in its entirety, though I am happy to say that I continue to produce much of my work in my home region to this day.
It should be said that producing regional theatre in rural / remote communities can be challenging. The facilities and resources that exist in larger urban centres are often lacking in smaller communities. It often feels as though we must figure out how to create something from absolutely nothing. Thus, I wanted to use this space to speak about a handful of the experiences I have had working with my company and producing no-budget regional theatre in festivals and beyond, in order to help instill some level of confidence in anyone who remains unsure of themselves that despite the odds it can be done. The more of us that take seriously the task of creating theatre in regional / rural/ remote communities, the more we inspire others to do the same, and the more the theatre scenes continue to grow. This is why I am happy to share some of my stories here, because all I can hope for not only as a theatre maker, but as a theatre lover, is for more of it to be made in each and every community, no matter how small.
Welcome to the Rock
Joined by my fellow cast members and our director, I, as the playwright and lead actor of my production company’s latest piece, marched through a forested trail alongside the edge of the lake, scripts and notebooks in hand, searching for a piece of land which most resembled a theatre stage. As previously noted, in a smaller city, rehearsal studios are few and far between, and a theatre creator, especially one early in their career, must make do with any space they can find. On this particular day, it was a large rock overlooking the water which, although picturesque, certainly lacked the acoustics one would find in a traditional venue. However as we undertook the cue to cue of our show about coping with mental illness, which was to be presented to a rural high school in the following days, I recall thinking to myself how beautiful it was and how lucky we were to make art surrounded by nature.
Image Description: Garrett M. Ryan stands with his arms on his hips to the right of the photograph, wearing a patterned shirt with sunglasses and a Blue Jays ball cap. He stands on a large rock on the coast of the lake. Two others lay on the rock next to him, with one standing and reaching his hand in a pile of melting snow.
Anything can be a rehearsal space (maybe even a performance space) if you think outside the box enough. In my time working on independent shows, some of my more eclectic examples have included a basketball court, the basement of my parent’s house (a frequent favourite), a parking lot, a moving vehicle, a series of empty classrooms, and even a functioning elevator. What I can say additionally is that you will appreciate the use of even the most run down theatre venue once you’ve rehearsed in some of these more challenging spaces.
Pellet Guns, Walkie Talkies, and Yarn.
To a reasonable extent, my advice to any theatre creator (especially the playwrights) is to not concern themselves over what they can and cannot do on stage budget wise. Do not let a lack of money hinder the creative process. Write the script and worry about the “how” at a later time. The first show my company ever produced was in 2017 and took place in a small shack in the middle of Antarctica. We likely spent a grand total of twenty to thirty dollars on the set and the costumes. The script called for a character to use a military grade radio system? Tape together some walkie talkies to an old clock radio with some wires sticking out. The script called for a baby? Wrap together a bundle of blankets. You would be surprised how much sound and lighting, as well as the inherent perspective shift that occurs while watching live theatre, can transform some scrap materials and a set of tables and chairs into the Antarctic tundra in the 1940s. In another production, the script called for a character to be draped with a grotesque creature made of human intestines and leaves. Following some cheap yard, dye, and fake plants from Michael’s, we had exactly what we needed. It should also be noted that you need to reuse, reuse, reuse! I have a rather realistic looking (though broken) pellet gun which has now appeared in several productions of mine! Not every show needed to spend thousands of dollars on props. Trust the imaginations of your audience!
In terms of costumes, you would be shocked at how many people in smaller communities love to contribute to theatre. We have spent almost nothing on costumes over the course of nearly ten productions in Northern Ontario, because we have approached fabric stores, high schools, thrift stores, and more requesting to borrow wardrobe items for our shows. So many people love theatre and love to help in any way. One of the best parts of living in a smaller community is that people are more friendly towards one another. If you don’t have something you need to put on a production, ask around! Make community oriented theatre come from the community! It never hurts to ask for help. More often than not, people will try their best to contribute if they are able. The same is true for set pieces. Find scrap wood or old furniture items on digital marketplaces and get crafty!
Multi-Show Drifting
If you visit my theatre company’s social media page (Instagram: @birdonstage), you will find a video record of perhaps one of the most chaotic theatrical experiences I have had as a creator. Through a (mostly) fortunate series of events, my company came into the possession of two slots at our local fringe festival and thus produced two separate shows with two separate casts / crews, which both went up on the same night with a run of five shows each. As the director of one of the shows and a producer of the other, I moved back and forth between the last minute preparations of both shows occurring in my parent’s basement in adjacent rooms. At this time, we were working with absolutely no budget as well. I note this example not only because it’s a hilarious (after the fact) story of the chaos that can manifest in the theatrical creation process, but as a recognition that surrounding yourself with other artists that share your passion for creation can lead to even the most messy of development processes to come together in the end. As a regional artist, your greatest asset is going to be your collaborators. Each and every one of the members of the cast / crew wanted to be there for the sake of the art itself. If a single person in one of those two rooms didn’t have their heart in it, the entire foundation would have crumbled to the ground. This is to say that if you find the right people, you can do just about anything.
Conclusion
Everyone’s paths are different in life. For some theatre makers, their careers may take them out of their smaller communities and into urban centres, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. For me, it’s just so important for folks to understand that this is not the only way to have a fulfilling career as a performance creator, and no matter how little resources you have to get started, there’s always a way to make theatre happen. I should note that even in the several years following my graduation from high school, I have seen massive growth in opportunities in smaller Northern Ontario communities for aspiring theatre makers. I want a day to come where people from these communities can have the support systems in place to tell their stories and make their art, without having to struggle. But the takeaway I want from this piece is that it CAN be done, even coming from a starting point of absolutely nothing. For some, they may not want to (or may not be able to) struggle and work in this no / low budget world of theatre creation. But to those who have a passion for both theatre and for their home communities outside of the traditional theatre sphere, I encourage you to give it a shot and make some theatre with whatever you have at your disposal. Let’s be the pioneers of a more geographically inclusive world of theatre.
