Coming Together

The set for Rockbound is taking shape-we'll be working on our new outdoor stage after Canada Day! A massive wooden Island adjacent to a 30-foot long launch in a secluded forest clearing. It's being put together by our intrepid property manager Mike McMahon and an army of workers who are working feverishly (it's pretty hot) until opening. Here's a sneak peek.

Spaces

Every year I choose a different spot on our 186 acre site to present our Theatre Off The Grid productions- this year it's a spot nestled out of site of the road or the centre- and over time the site reverts to its original overgrown state.

Today I visited the stage from Our Town last year, and there isn't a trace of our production left. How wonderfully transitory the whole thing is- and how strangely sad too.

Over time the fields and forests of this place will fill with the ghosts of Homer, Wilder, Day and McKay- and the people who listened. At the same time the cycle of life here-Coyotes, turtles, birds, deer- comes eating its way through our stages. I think the impermanence of it all makes the drama we stage here more poignant. We're constantly reminded that, no matter how we try, it will all change.

Gatherings

Artists from across Canada are coming to our small corner of the world this week to begin rehearsals for Rockbound. It's incredible how in a few short weeks the Ross Creek Centre is transformed into a bustling hive of creativity in the middle of the forest. 14 performers and 8 other creative artists will gather here in June, along with many other artists-in-residence who are teaching and exploring here over the summer.

Each year we create a family- of sorts. Although for a brief time, artists do become very close while working here-it's a powerful experience very unlike working in a Canadian city, and one we are very proud to create.

Only 36 days until opening-the countdown begins.

Setting Sail

Only 10 days or so until we begin rehearsals for Rockbound, and something wonderful is beginning to happen in the fields behind the Centre complex. A 30-foot long boat-formerly a launch from the HMCS Bonaventure, is being converted into the set for our upcoming production as well as a writer's studio for the Centre.
The notion to convert the boat into a writer's studio came from Chris O'Neill, the Ross Creek Centre's founding executive director- but the idea to utilize this historic craft for a set for Rockbound came from company members who were working on the piece in a workshop situation in December of 2008. It's amazing what happens when artists begin to talk about crazy ideas at three in the morning- but this idea was too good to pass up.