You’re pulling double-duty in the festival, directing one play and acting in another. Tell us a bit about the two plays that you’re involved in?

I am incredibly lucky that in my first year with NotaBle, I’ve been able to direct a site-specific play by a fellow director, the hilarious Alex McAllister, titled The Happiest Day Of Their Lives, as well as star in one of our promising staged readings by a young local author, The Day the Universe Felt a Little Smaller. The Happiest Day follows the couple Mike and Claire, but not quite. It follows a wedding photo of Mike and Claire that comes to life to regale the audience with their love story up to that captured, perfect moment. This show is the perfect mix of laughs and heart, and has been such an incredible experience to be a part of! On acting duty, I am happy to be reading for Riley, a boy on his first date during the Solar Eclipse; no pressure, right? The Day is a fantastic slice-of-life piece that follows a colourful cast of characters on a day unlike any other. I have loved being able to work with a whole new crew of creatives on this show!

Tell us a bit about the differences between how you approach a play as a director and an actor? Is there one you’re more comfortable with?

This year’s festival has been a step back behind the curtain rather than in front of it, which one can imagine is a very different experience. The throughline that I have found has been incredibly important to me throughout the process is making sure both feel collaborative. It is something that I can see my actors have really appreciated in our rehearsal times. While I always want to make sure my actors feel guided, I also cast my actors because of how much I trust their gut instincts. It has been so rewarding to work together and see them truly thrive and get excited about their acting choices and the comedic beats we have built together. I operate as a director in the way I would want a director to work with me as an actor. In that vein, doing both at the same time has been a wonderful mix of watching both sides work and stealing the methods that suit me and my cast best! I have never done a staged reading, so adapting and learning how to act with a script in your hand and making it feel natural has been a fun new frontier on my acting journey.

This is your first NotaBle Acts experience. What’s it been like so far? Anything you haven’t expected, and anything especially exciting about the process for you?

I can tell you one thing: no one can quite articulate the pure joy of that first run through when everything falls into place! As many a director will tell you, there is a natural amount of worry over whether everything is going to pull together, all the bits and ideas you scribbled in a script half asleep at two am. However, that moment when in rehearsal your actors nail their blocking, they are riding off one another’s energy, and the beats are perfect, is a truly euphoric feeling. NotaBle has awakened the old ASM in me that loved the puzzle of creating schedules, doing scene breakdowns, and the fun tradition of character playlist creation, which my actors have seemed to really take to!

What’s your pitch for any theatre-lovers who haven’t been to NB Acts before to come out to the festival?

Leave all expectations at the door! There is nothing quite like NB Acts! If you’re a theater-lover like me, you are always looking for fresh new theater that plays with format, function, and text, and there is no better festival for that! From a bite-sized bit to a one-act wonder, there is truly something for everyone in NotaBle Acts!

As the festival dramaturg, you’ve been working with the writers of most of the plays in the festival, helping them hone and refine their scripts. What’s that process been like? and how would you compare the experience to other dramaturgy you’ve done or other festivals you’ve worked on?

I love dramaturging new work. It’s always a real joy to witness a playwright creating something from nothing. Every writer is an individual and every play is so very different. At NotaBle Acts there are playwrights from all levels of experience, exploring all kinds of wild terrain (literally and figuratively!). I’ve been exposed to some wonderfully imaginative and engaging artists through NotaBle Acts, which is inspiring.

You’re based in Edmonton, so this is your first experience of NotaBle Acts. How would you compare the experience to other dramaturgy you’ve done or other festivals you’ve worked on? How would you describe the festival to someone who’s never attended before, or to one of your colleagues from outside the province?

I think the main difference from the dramaturgy work I’ve done before is the breadth of form and the variety of plays. There are fully staged one acts, readings, site-specific shows, and ten-minute plays. Each type of play has asked for a different approach, so I have needed to adapt and stretch in new and surprising ways. How would I describe the Notable Acts Festival? Well…The NotaBle Acts Festival is action-packed and there is something for everyone. Be ready for anything!

The other part of your work as the festival’s Artist in Residence is that you’re one of the 16 playwrights having a new play staged at the festival. Tell us a bit about your work in progress, Amber Hope Porter?

Amber Hope Porter is a play about a sixteen-year-old girl struggling with unforeseen changes in her life, changes that are unwanted and that she is unable to control. She finds understanding and solace in an unlikely friendship and discovers that human connection can be complicated, even if it does make the world feel a little less lonely.

What’s it meant for you to have the writing time and workshop opportunity for the play that the festival has made possible?

Time is a writer’s best friend. Time allows me to think, imagine, and develop the play I am writing. I am grateful for the many hours that being a writer in residence with NotaBle Acts has given me. I’ve been able to really immerse myself in the new work that I am creating. The workshop and reading opportunity allow me to put what I’m writing to the test as actors read what I’ve written aloud and an audience receives the work for the first time. It’s what it’s all about!

Any favorite discoveries about Fredericton or New Brunswick so far?

Picaroons! Great for fresh air and dog watching. Also, I love the trail along the river. I’m enjoying the many cafés in the city. Oh! And the Dali painting at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery was a treat. Lots to see and do in this fair city.