University of Toronto | Pqemerging2023

The Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies offers broad, rich, and rigorous academic programs for undergraduate and graduate students. We are located in the downtown core of Canada’s largest city, the perfect place to experience and to become involved in all kinds of performance. We are a part of Canada’s largest university, with one of the best research libraries in North America and one of the finest faculties. We have three performance venues available for use by students and faculty in their creative and intellectual exploration, all supported by our technical and production staff.

The undergraduate program at the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies offers a unique combination of rich and rigorous scholarship with high standards of practical training. The program provides students with an integrated set of critical and artistic skills through which to engage with broader intellectual, social, and political issues in the Humanities and beyond. Along with courses in theatre and performance theory and history, dramatic literature, dramaturgy, technology, and practice-based lab courses, the Centre offers introductory and advanced studio courses in acting, production, design, directing, and playwriting. The Digital Dramaturgy Lab (squared) (DDL) 2 and the newly founded BMO Lab in Creative Research in the Arts, Performance, Emerging Technologies and AI, with their international scope and interdisciplinary approach, present the students with a unique opportunity to develop projects exploring the use of new technologies in the context of the performing arts.

Students graduating from our program have combined majors in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences, including English, Women and Gender Studies, Cinema Studies, Sexual Diversity Studies, Art History, Classics, Religion, Anthropology, Canadian Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Human Biology, Computer Science, and Cognitive Science. The Centre’s undergraduate program has access to two theatres and a number of performance and rehearsal spaces available to students.

The program’s mandate:

Mounting courses on the historical, theoretical and practical aspects of drama, theatre and performance
Integrating academic and practical dimensions of study in each course
Involving undergraduates in the planning and execution of program activities
Introducing students to the demands and expectations of a professional theatre career
Fostering an environment that ensures individual growth as well as shared responsibility for the development of others

Names of participating students:

Benny Soave, Selina Jia, Liz So

Names of School Supervisors: Snezana Pesic

More Info Here

Participating Artists

Benny Soave

Benny Soave is a fourth-year student at the University of Toronto double majoring in Theatre and Cinema Studies. He was raised in Cuba where he adopted a unique perspective on performance studies. Throughout his studies Benny discovered a passion for theatrical design and eventually fell in love with the art of directing. He continues to investigate the importance of Cuban performance practices and how it manifests in his work.

SELINA JIA

Selina is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto who specialises in costume design. Selina’s skills lie in illustrations and dressmaking. She has designed shows for University of Toronto’s Director Showcase as well as assisted in the Mainstage show Don’t Cry When Constellations Beg to Burn. Additionally, she has worked with companies such as Theatre by the Bay, Hart House, The Howland Company and Assembly Theatre. Aside from theatre, Selina was also a dresser for Toronto and New York Fashion Week.

Liz So

To me water is a lifesource. When we astronomers discover a new planet or are exploring a planet or object in space, one of their priorities is to find a source of water which signifies life. In my eyes, water is something that sustains humans. It keeps us alive and when access to water is cut off or in danger, people go to many lengths to prevent that from happening. No matter how developed our world is, there are still many places without access to clean water including in Canada. Water brings people together from different ethnicities and backgrounds, of different social status, and of different identities because everyone relies on water to survive. Inaccessibility to water or clean water can lead to death. I think that water is significant because it can bring people together or even fray relationships between two parties. People advocate for clean water together, and people deny others’ demands for clean water. Water is a lifesource, therefore everyone is reliant on it whether it is accessible or not. Clean or unclean.

What does water mean to you?

Selina:

Water is powerful. It is rich in nutrients and beneficial to the health of all species on this planet. It makes up a huge portion of Earth and many parts of it remain unexplored. While it sparkles under the Sun and hydrates our body and skin, its size and depth makes it a mysterious entity that can endanger many of us. Water is to be loved and hated, feared and cherished.

Liz:

To me water is a lifesource. When we astronomers discover a new planet or are exploring a planet or object in space, one of their priorities is to find a source of water which signifies life. In my eyes, water is something that sustains humans. It keeps us alive and when access to water is cut off or in danger, people go to many lengths to prevent that from happening. No matter how developed our world is, there are still many places without access to clean water including in Canada. Water brings people together from different ethnicities and backgrounds, of different social status, and of different identities because everyone relies on water to survive. Inaccessibility to water or clean water can lead to death. I think that water is significant because it can bring people together or even fray relationships between two parties. People advocate for clean water together, and people deny others’ demands for clean water. Water is a lifesource, therefore everyone is reliant on it whether it is accessible or not. Clean or unclean.

Benny:

Growing up in a city where water was all around me it began to represent the unknown to me, endless possibilities after embarking across a body of water. Somehow, I always end up close to the water regardless of where I am in the world. To me, large bodies of waters are personified minds in a constant state of meditation. While a glass of water, is a single thought.

Selected Work

Writer: Charles Bukowski Director: Bo Hong Fu Production Team: Set Designer: Snezana Pesic Costume Designer: Selina Jia Lighting Designer: Cass Iacovelli Sound Designer: Lynn-Noémie Tremblay Movement Coordinator: Kimia Karachi Cast:  Maria-Fedra Archimandriti, Timothy-Paul Chevalier Photo by: Jae Yang	Written by: Anne Carson Directed by: Sydnie Phillips Production Team: Set Design by Benny Soave Lighting Design by Tara Costello Costume Design by Abigail Lewis Projection and Sound Design by Sydnie Phillips Cast: Taranjot Bamrah Photo by: by Tianna Dang Image 03- Director’s Showcase 2021	Written by: Harold Pinter Directed by: Darcy Gerhart Production Team: Set & Projection Designer: Brad Gira Costume Designer: Gabe Woo Lighting Designer: Madeleine King Sound Designer: Uri Livne-Bar Cast: Ayesha Khan, Bohong Fu, Liam Donovan Photo by: Jae Yang	Design, execution, and photography by Selina Jia	Based on the Myths of Ovid Written and originally directed by Mary Zimmerman Directed by Miriam Fernandes Set, Costume, and Projection Design - Snezana Pesic Lighting Design - Andrew Leeke Sound Design - Thomas Ryder Payne Associate Projection Designer/ Head of Animation- Benny Soave Assistant Costume Designer and Prop Master - Aylin Salahshoor Assistant Projection and Assistant Costume Designer - Zoey Lu
Written by Sarah Ruhl Directed by William Dao DESIGN AND PRODUCTION TEAM: Set Design: Abby Esteireiro & Brad Gira Props Design: Brad Gira Costume Design: Abby Esteireiro Lighting Design: Beka Morrison Sound Design: Matt Lalonde Projection Design: Christy Feng Stage Manager: Lauren Lacey Assistant Stage Managers: Abby Esteireiro & Rida Ahmad Cast: Margaret Rose ,Stephanie Zeit, Sid Srikanth ,Jacob Kay ,Eileanor O’Halloran ,Tuhi Sen, Jamie Fiuza Photo: Brad Gira

Participating Artists

What does water mean to you?

Selected Work

Written by: Anne Carson Directed by: Sydnie Phillips Production Team: Set Design by Benny Soave Lighting Design by Tara Costello Costume Design by Abigail Lewis Projection and Sound Design by Sydnie Phillips Cast: Taranjot Bamrah Photo by: by Tianna Dang Image 03- Director’s Showcase 2021

Written by: Harold Pinter Directed by: Darcy Gerhart Production Team: Set & Projection Designer: Brad Gira Costume Designer: Gabe Woo Lighting Designer: Madeleine King Sound Designer: Uri Livne-Bar Cast: Ayesha Khan, Bohong Fu, Liam Donovan Photo by: Jae Yang

Design, execution, and photography by Selina Jia