The second annual Tri-University Graduate Student Colloquium for Theatre, Film and Performance Research is taking place on the UBC Vancouver campus on April 29 and 30.
Julia Henderson and Katrina Dunn, who are the UBC heads of the Colloquium Organizing Committee, spoke about the event's intention to build bridges between the UBC, SFU and UVic theatre departments. They believe that creating a conversation between the three universities’ departments is crucial. Since each university has a different approach to their departments, interlacing their different areas of interest is beneficial to each university’s growth.
The Tri-U Colloquium takes on a different approach than a typical professional conference focused on presenting research papers. Instead, it is about analyzing theatre from an academic standpoint, while aiming to be the connection between a research paper and its development into an article that students will publish.
“Taking an academic approach to theatre,” constitutes the analyzing of performances in order to see what they present to a public audience. Through this it may be deciphered whether or not audiences are grasping the themes that the performers or playwrights are hinting at. Henderson added that an example of this could be the analyzing of scripts.
The organizing committee has decided that this year’s conference theme will be “Milestones and (Co)mmemoration," which they felt was fitting, considering that this year is UBC’s centennial, SFU’s 50th anniversary and the UVic theatre department’s 50th anniversary.
Dunn notes that “one of the big things that theatre does is participate in acts of commemoration, both in its content and in its form. Through using those milestones, we can think about how theatre acts and participates in commemoration.”
Something that Henderson and Dunn are especially looking forward to is UBC PhD candidate Tetsuro Shigematsu’s 30-minute excerpt presentation from his well-received Empire of the Son, which “memorializes and discusses his father,” says Dunn.
Dunn and Henderson both vocalize how important and effective it is to not only be able to discuss theatre from an academic standpoint at the event, but also to have Shigematsu’s presentation, which ties into some of the conferences themes, to directly stimulate a discussion about performance.
Upon being asked about the importance of theatre to society, Henderson said, “theatre carries cultural messages of our society. What messages are carried through this art form? What are the covert or hidden messages? And how can theater be mobilized in changing our attitudes about various things?”
She goes on to emphasize that, unlike the common misconception, there are many different opportunities to have jobs in the arts.
“They aren’t always the ones that you traditionally imagined. My biggest message to my students (she taught introduction to theatre to first-years at UBC) is also, do as many things as you can. If you have in your mind that you just want to to be an actor, your likelihood of success and having a career that can support yourself is much smaller than if you’re also interested in writing and maybe directing or maybe sound design,” said Henderson.
Dunn touches on the problematic notion of categorizing skills or jobs into how employable they are.
“I think it’s very important to talk back to what’s a marketable skill and what’s not," added Dunn. "Society is changing so quickly. Our notion of a secure job is completely evaporating. We are in the process of creating our own livelihoods. And everybody is going to have to do that, no matter what you study. There are no sure paths, and you really — especially when you’re young — you need to follow your passion because that’s the time in your life when you get to do that."
In summarizing the necessity of theatre in society, Henderson said, “in crisis and hardship, its very often the arts that is what is inspiring social change and bringing people together.”