EQUITY QUARTERLY SPRING 2013 WAR HORSE PUPPETEERS COMEDY ON STAGE EQ FUNNY LADIES What’s so funny? Laughing all the way to the stage COMEDY HAS HAD A LONG hISToRY on ThE STAgE – fRoM ShAkESpEARE’S TIME And BEFORE, TO FRENCH FARCE, POLITICAL SATIRE AND IMPROV. THE THEATRE HAS PROVIDED US WITH RICH AND VARIED WAYS TO FIND HUMOUR IN OUR EVERYDAY EXISTENCE AND THE woRLd ARoUnd US – ALL wITh A LIVE LAUGH TRACK. MAYBE WE ENJOY COMEDY SO MUCH BECAUSE IT REMINDS US THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE. LAUGHTER HELPS US DEAL WITH DARKNESS AND PAIN. AFTER ALL, ISn’T LAUghTER ThE BEST MEDICINE? EQUITY QUARTERLY SPRING 2013 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 1 Robin Duke, Kathryn Greenwood, Teresa Pavlinek and Jayne EQ Eastwood are Women Fully Clothed 6 The actors behind 2 President’s messAGE 3 NOTES FROM ARDEN R. RYSHPAN War Horse 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 5 EQ MOVES 8 Comedy on stage 16 EQ VOICES 17 EQ BACKSTAGE 13 Are women as 18 FONDLY REMEMBERED funny as men? 20 EQ FLASHBACK Equity members can submit letters to the editor via email at [email protected]. The deadline for Coming issue: SUMMER 2013 EQ submissions is Monday, June 3, 2013. EQ reserves the right to edit for length, style and content. Subscriptions are available at an annual rate of $35, including GST. EQ Equity Quarterly (ISSN 1913-2190) is a forum to discuss issues of interest to members concerning their Publications Mail Agreement No. 40038615 WINTER 2013 – volume 7, Number 1 craft, developments in the industry, Equity’s role in the workplace, and the important position live performance EQ is published four times a year by Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. EXECUTIVE EDITOR Lynn McQueen holds in the cultural and social fabric of Canada. It is also used as an advocacy tool to educate others about national offi ce the industry, promote live performance in Canada, and celebrate the achievements of Equity members. 44 Victoria Street, 12th Floor, Toronto, ON M5C 3C4 EDITOR Barb Farwell Tel: 416-867-9165 | Fax: 416-867-9246 | Toll-free: 1-800-387-1856 (members only) Canadian Actors’ equity association (Equity) is the voice of professional artists working in live [email protected] | www.caea.com DESIGN & LAYOUT Chris Simeon, performance in English Canada. We represent more than 6,000 performers, directors, choreographers, September Creative Western offi ce fi ght directors and stage managers working in theatre, opera and dance, and support their creative efforts 736 Granville Street, Suite 510, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1G3 by seeking to improve their working conditions and opportunities by negotiating and administering Tel: 604-682-6173 | 604-682-6174 | Toll free: 1-877-682-6173 (members only) collective agreements, providing benefi t plans, information and support and acting as an advocate. woffi [email protected] Front cover and inside front cover: Herod brought down the house in the 2011 Stratford Shakespeare Festival production of Jesus Christ Superstar. In front of the piano (L to R) Laurin Padolina (kneeling), Mary Antonini, Bruce Dow as Herod, Jacqueline Burtney, Matt Alfano and Ryan Gifford. Behind the piano (L to R) Kaylee Harwood (sitting at piano), Dominique Roy, Katrina Reynolds, Jason Sermonia and Kyle Golemba President’s message It is a humbling assessment of the readership level of this column that so many people were taken by surprise the last time we held a DUES REFERENDUM, despite it being announced here several months before it happened. A good number of members even called the office on the last day of voting to say they’d just heard about it. In hopes of catching the eye of a few more people, I have asked the editor to set the words DUES REFERENDUM in boldface caps every time that it appears in this column. Members will recall that we last held a DUES REFERENDUM in late 2011, when we put forward two proposals for decision. The first was a phased-in increase in basic dues over the course of five years. The second was for smaller pre-approved increases keyed to inflation, to take effect in nine years, and every four years thereafter. While both proposals received majority approval, they did not receive the needed two-thirds support, and both were defeated. The goal of the proposed dues increase was to make up the inflationary loss of 29% of the value of the basic dues level since it was last adjusted. Today, that cumulative loss is around 33%, and the need for an increase has become even more acute. Despite cost-cutting that began even before the DUES REFERENDUM, including the eventual loss of two staff positions, those of you who read or viewed the recent NAGM reports will know that we ran a deficit last year, and will do the same again this year. Knowing full well that nobody wants to pay more dues (including me), but in recognition of the fact that Council has a responsibility to manage the finances of the association in a prudent manner, we will be conducting a new DUES REFERENDUM later this year, or early next year. Some members have asked why we are conducting a DUES REFERENDUM so soon after the last one. The answer is simple: we need to – our current basic dues rate is 14 years old now, and it no longer pays for what it used to. In fact, we have recently had to dip into emergency funds to pay the bills. Council cannot responsibly ignore this situation, and neither can the membership. We will be giving this plenty of discussion time, and listening carefully to what you have to say. If you have questions, now is the time to ask them. Talk to your regional Councillor, or write to me at [email protected]. In completely related news, four of Council’s major projects from last term have recently taken effect: a rebuilding of the advisory structure, a complete overhaul of the joining process, the final two independent/small-scale theatre agreements, and a brand new insurance plan. Info on these is all over the website, Council Connection blog (councilconnection.blogspot.ca) and recent issues of the Council Link. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with these updates to your association. Going forward, Council will be going back to our diversity discussions from a couple of years ago, assessing progress, and refining our course forward. We’ll also be taking a good, long look at dance represen- tation, and how we can improve it. And lots more, because there is never nothing that needs work. If you want to see these and other improvements continue to happen, we need the resources to do it. DUES REFERENDUM. ‘Nuff said. Allan Teichman President SPRING 2013 2 EQUITY QUARTERLY Notes from Arden R. Ryshpan When Vanity Fair magazine published an article in their January 2013 issue entitled “Of Moose and Men,” about whether or not Canada and Canadians were funny, it prompted a vehement response from both readers and other journalists. Given that editor Graydon Carter is Canadian, one might have expected more from him – a relevant article, instead of a rehash of boring tropes about our dour, polite nature, with liberal mentions of Tim Hortons thrown in for good measure. This is particularly surprising since the same issue contained an article about Martin Short, generally considered by his peers to be the most naturally and genuinely funny person in the business – and, might I add, Canadian. Given that half the funny people in Hollywood are Canadians, it seems passing strange that there remains any debate about whether or not we have sense of humour up here. Comedy, as anyone who has ever watched a dubbed film can tell you, usually doesn’t translate well, literally and figuratively. Which is a shame because you can tell a hell of a lot about a country by what makes its people laugh until they cry. Canadians seem to be better known for the comedic talent we export (like the above mentioned Short and all of his Second City/SCTV colleagues, just to name a few) than the humour that stays at home. This issue presents only a very small selection of the people who have chosen to stay in Canada and work in the comedic vein – and proves without a doubt that the article in Vanity Fair is just plain wrong. You’ll also see how humour, when combined with drama (or even tragedy) becomes even more potent, reinforcing the old adage that comedy is serious business. We hope that this issue of EQ offers you some new ways of thinking about the live performances you are laughing hysterically about. On that note, we asked some performers to tell us about the funniest theatre production they ever saw. You’ll find their answers on Page 16. As for me, the funniest piece of theatre I ever saw was a gibberish clown version of the Scottish play called MöcShplat, done by a small group of crazily talented people in Montreal back in the late 1990s. I don’t ever remember laughing as hard in the theatre as I did while watching that show. The nonsense language and visual humour mixed extremely clever with slightly demented in a way that has stayed with me all these years. Arden R. Ryshpan Executive Director SPRING 2013 EQUITY QUARTERLY 3 Letters to the editor LETTERS on subjects of concern to Equity members will be UPDate Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) considered for publication. Letters must be signed, but names will be withheld on request for those letters that may affect members’ A caretaker Board has been in place since late November 2012 following the employment.