Amelia was first introduced to acting through NotaBle Acts and now she’s making her directorial debut with the 10-minute play, ‘Interview For Two’ by Alex McAllister.

Part of what makes each NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival unique is the variety of voices included in each new season. From the actors on stage to the writers, directors and the many behind-the-scenes players who each contribute their own skills and creative voices to the process, no two editions of the festival are the same. Each new year offers artists a chance to be involved and try their hand at exploring new possibilities within the context of theatre creation.

Fredericton actor Amelia Hay got her first taste of acting through NotaBle Acts and has since become a fixture on the local theatre scene. Earlier this summer she pulled double duty acting in both Bard In The Barracks productions (The Comedy of Errors and Richard III) and now she’s trying her hand at directing.

“I started out [with NotaBle Acts] doing the 10-minute scripts,” she said. “Actually, it was a script that took place in a coffee shop just like this play so it feels like I’ve come full circle with my theatre experience now that I’m directing.”

Click the link below to hear the interview and be sure to catch Interview For Two, as part of this year’s Taking It To The Streets: Four 10-minute Plays series. Full performance details below.

Performances:

5 PM, Sunday, July 30, outdoors in Officers’ Square, downtown Fredericton (following site-specific performance of The Marcy Case, Fredericton Public Library)
8:30 PM, Monday, July 31, indoors at the Picaroons Roundhouse, 880 Union Street (following Play Out Loud performance of Both Sides)
8:15 PM, Wednesday, August 2, outdoors in Officers’ Square, downtown Fredericton (following site-specific performance of The Marcy Case, Fredericton Public Library)
3:45 PM, Saturday, August 5, indoors in the Chickadee Room, Main Floor, Fredericton Public Library (following site-specific performance of The Marcy Case, Fredericton Public Library)
Admission: free

Arianna’s play The Marcy Case is this year’s site-specific play which will be performed at the Fredericton Public Library July 30, August 2 and August 5.

Arianna Martinez makes her NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival debut this summer with her play, The Marcy Case.

Marcy’s serving serious time at the library for committing a serious crime. Will she be able to find the man who can restore her Great Expectations and deliver her from one Dickens of a problem?

In advance of the play’s July 30 debut, we caught up with Arianna for a quick chat about the play, playwriting and what it means to be part of this year’s NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival lineup.

How did you first come involved in theatre?

I first became involved in theatre in high school being a part of the musical productions and drama club. I continued my involvement at St. Thomas University by majoring in English with a Concentration in Drama and participating in Theatre St. Thomas.

Your work is this year’s featured site-specific play. Can you tell me a bit about the play and why you chose to set it in a library?

The site-specific pieces are often held outside, highlighting the variety of beautiful and historical parts of Fredericton. I love the public library and thinks it’s a wonderful spot in downtown Fredericton. It’s an amazing resource that I think many people forget about. I thought it would be a fun spot to feature a piece, and ideally would be done indoors, so I wrote The Marcy Case around the idea of it taking place in there.

Have you done a lot of playwriting in the past?

This is only the second play I’ve ever written. The majority of my writing is for film. There’s a huge difference in the way you write for stage and for the screen, so having a location in mind for this piece was essential for me. For both film and theatre, I started out on-stage/on-screen and then jumped into the behind the scenes work.

Finally, let’s have some love for NotaBle Acts. Tell us why you think this festival is so important. 

This festival is INCREDIBLE. It showcases an incredibly wide variety of talent. It gives writers, actors, directors, and stage hands an opportunity to shine and flex their creative muscles. It’s a safe space for people to try new things and be surrounded by supportive artists that want to see the creative community grow.

I can tell you right now if it weren’t for NotaBle Acts, I never would have started writing plays. The Festival is always a summer highlight for me and many others!

Catch Arianna Martinez’s play The Marcy Case, July 30 (4 p.m.), August 2 (7:30 p.m.) and August 5 (3 p.m.) at The Fredericton Public Library. | Admission is free. View Event