Planting the Seeds of Future Theatre
By Taylor Onski
While summer is often the season of festivals, this year Superior Theatre Festival got a head start in March, when they facilitated sold-out first looks of two original productions from Thunder Bay artists: Andrew Paulsen’s play You Paid For It; They’ll Pay For It, and Fae Alexander and Sara Kae’s musical Trading Places.
“It’s so valuable for the community to come together to support artists. I love working with artists who are creating something new,” says Donna Marie Baratta, artistic and managing director of Superior Theatre Festival. “Audiences were sticking around to chat after. They were excited by the prospect of these pieces moving onward and saying they were there when it was performed publicly for the first time.”
As for the summer, the festival will feature four singers performing songs from Canadian songwriters such as Joni Mitchell and Sarah McLachlan in an intimate concert. Yet the positive reception of those original works by Thunder Bay artists inspired Baratta to find the festival’s niche and voice: help emerging artists create something new. Alongside the workshops featured at the festival, performing artists, musicians, singers, dancers, writers, and artists of all kinds are invited to the festival’s pitch event and ice cream social. The pitch event will offer the opportunity to have conversations with Superior Theatre Festival about an idea they are thinking of bringing to life and how to apply for money to do it. The ice cream social will be another opportunity for artists to connect with one another and bounce ideas off each other.
“We’re excited about new work and having the opportunity to help artists apply for money so they can be paid to do the creative work they need to do,” says Baretta. “The idea is to hopefully help support artists so their voices can get further past Thunder Bay and see their work be supported and nurtured in our community.”
Superior Theatre Festival runs from July 24–28 at various locations in Thunder Bay. To purchase tickets and for more information on the many events happening, visit superiortheatrefestival.com.
