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Courses

Artistic Articulation and Authentic Confidence in Audition Spaces

with Lisa Li

Aimed at emerging performers, this course uses the environment of a general audition to begin the building blocks of articulating and conducting oneself as an informed and perceptive artist, and demonstrating authentic confidence “in the room”.

Structured like a mock general audition for the Tarragon Theatre, participants will learn about the experience of a general audition from beginning to end.   Topics covered: audition etiquette, conduct in the room, how to articulate about oneself as an individual, and then as an artist, talk through and discuss ones artistic statement, what you can expect from the panel at a general audition, resume and headshot feedback, as well as pre- and post-audition protocol.  Participants will be asked to prepare two contrasting contemporary monologues from plays written by Canadian Playwrights, bring a hardcopy of resume, and headshot (both will be returned back to the participant for reuse at the end of the class).

Participants will be asked to perform their pieces but will not be critiqued or put through exercises related to their acting work.   The work of this course will focus in on everything BUT the monologues and through the guiding principal that each artist is an entrepreneur and you are the CEO of your own business.

Applications Open – January 6, 2025

Application Deadline – February 8, 2025

How to Enroll

Artists are invited to submit a CV and max 1-page cover letter explaining how the course might be helpful in their artistic development to community@tarragontheatre.com with the subject line ARTICULATION.

For accessibility accommodations or to submit your application in an alternative format, please email or call Heather Caplap at education@tarragontheatre.com |(416) 531-1827 ext 249

Application Deadline – February 8, 2025

All applicants will be contacted by end of February.

Cost

Regular Rate – $55

Dates and Times

Location:  Tarragon Theatre

Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Date: March 6

Instructor

Lisa Li is Tarragon Theatre’s Executive Director. She is a process and results oriented non-profit theatre Executive, Producer, and Educator with over a decade of experience managing and overseeing a breadth of budgets, programming, contracts, agreements, and staff/team of various sizes. Inclusive and collaborative leader who emboldens teams to realize strategic initiatives, artistic vision, and big picture goals. Executive experience includes fostering positive and cooperative partnership with artistic counterparts; responsible managing of multi-million-dollar operational budgets; leading multi-departmental teams, handling and resolving complex HR matters; effective board engagement; overseeing large multi-level, multi-venue performance facilities; and successfully negotiating Collective Bargaining Agreements. Producing work includes medium to large-scale theatrical productions, musicals, concerts, festivals (dance, music, improvisation, literary, family/TYA), tours, cabaret, site specific work, and digital creations. Proficient in the following CBAs: CTA, ADC, PGC, TMA, IATSE. Educator experience includes Sheridan College faculty member since 2021 specializing in Business and Employment Practices for Independent Performing Artists as well as Technical Production workers. In relation to self-employed performing artists, curriculum includes: navigating the business of theatre (finances, budget, cash flow, taxes, associations/unions, contracts/labour agreements), business etiquette, negotiating with producers, navigating agent/manager relationships, marketing/branding, grants/funding, resume construction, networking/relationship maintenance, and building your business holistically as an artist.

Producing Theatre at the End of the World

with Makram Ayache

This weekend intensive is designed for early career and emerging theatre artists eager to create work for the stage and don’t know where to start. Drawing on my experience in writing, acting, directing, and producing for theatre, I’m is excited to offer this two-day intensive to help you navigate the ABCs of creating theatre from scratch.

Curious about grants, but don’t know where to start? Wondering what a producer does? Why do you need to hire a TD or a PM? Where do you find a shop to build your set?! I’ve got you covered. Oh, and we’ll do this all while the world is on fire.

Applications Open – February 3, 2025

Application Deadline – March 2, 2025

How to Enroll

Applicants are asked to submit a short letter of intent for why they wish to take this course, alongside a resume of artistic experience. Both experience and intention will be considered during the selection process, but limited experience should not deter you from applying!

Applications can be submitted to community@tarragontheatre.com with the subject line PRODUCING

For accessibility accommodations or to submit your application in an alternative format, please email or call Heather Caplap at education@tarragontheatre.com |(416) 531-1827 ext 249

Application Deadline – March 2, 2025

All applicants will be contacted by end of March.

Cost

Regular Rate – $200

Dates and Times

Location:  Tarragon Theatre

Time: 10am – 6pm

Date:

  • April 5
  • April 6

Instructor

Makram Ayache is a Governor General Literary Award finalist, award-winning playwright, performer, director, and educator based in Toronto. His work centers on representing queer Arab voices, bridging political struggles with the intimate experiences of those most affected. In 2023, he was named one of Toronto’s breakthrough artists by the Toronto Star, and his play The Hooves Belonged to the Deer was listed among Ontario’s 10 best productions by The Globe and Mail. The play also won an Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Outstanding Independent Production in Edmonton. His Governor General-nominated play, The Green Line (Downstage and Chromatic Theatre), earned four Betty Mitchell Award nominations, winning two, including Outstanding New Play.

Beyond writing, Ayache directs and produces, recently helming Small Gods the Musical (Theatre Sheridan and Factory Theatre). He is also working on The Ballad of Rumi and Shams, a graphic novel collaboration supported byVivek Shraya.

Ayache holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta and is the founder of Shajara, a consulting organization advancing equity and anti-oppression. He has taught at the University of Waterloo, the 519 Church Street Community Center, and Workman Arts, specializing in socially conscious pedagogy and curricular design.

Behind the Scenes: Costume Making for the Complete Beginner

with Caroline O’Brien

This amateur costume workshop is designed to introduce patrons and young-in-craft artists to the backstage workings of Tarragon Costume Workshop.  Participants will undertake a project that will focus on traditional hand sewing techniques in order to gain an experience in what goes into costume making at the theatre. 

This opportunity invites participants to examine some costume examples while also employing hand sewing techniques to basic garment making or mending.

Participants will benefit from:

  • A peek into costume storage to examine some examples of garments and their wear patterns
  • Developing practical skills in hand sewing
  • Learning from industry professionals
  • Increased understanding of the workflow behind the curtain
  • Sharing a social setting where sewing skills can be learned and expanded
  • Expand professional network and portfolio
  • This hands-on experience will deepen your understanding of how a theatrical production is created

Applications Open – February 13, 2025

Application Deadline – March 9, 2025

How to Enroll

Applicants are asked to submit a short letter detailing why they wish to take this course and any sewing/costume experience they have.

Applications can be submitted to community@tarragontheatre.com with the subject line BEHIND THE SCENES.

Requirements

Applicants could have a curiosity and interest in theatre and its production applications.  If you have scissors, hand sewing needles, thread, thimble and a favourite garment to mend, please bring them along.

For accessibility accommodations or to submit your application in an alternative format, please email or call Heather Caplap at education@tarragontheatre.com |(416) 531-1827 ext 249

Application Deadline – March 9, 2025

All applicants will be contacted by end of March

Cost

Regular Rate – $100
Subsidized Rate- $50* (limited availability)

*If you are applying for the subsidized rate please note it in the subject line of your application email. You are welcome, but not required, to include a few sentences about why you would like to apply for the subsidized rate.

Dates and Times

Location:  Tarragon Theatre

Time: 10am – 4pm

Date: April 13

Instructor

A native of Ireland, Caroline O’Brien is a costume designer and maker, a writer and educator.  In her freelance career she has worked with major ballet and dance companies collaborating with choreographers from across North America and Europe, and has a long-standing collaborative relationship with Peggy Baker, Artistic Director of Peggy Baker Dance Projects. She worked with Canada’s National Ballet School as resident costume designer and wardrobe supervisor, a position she held for almost twenty years.

In addition to costuming Caroline has worked in large-scale sculpture incorporating industrial metal textiles with fashion fabrics. Her award-winning work is represented in private collections and has been performed and exhibited across Canada and internationally, and her designs were selected for the inaugural World Stage Design, 2005. She curated Sixty Years of Designing the Ballet for The National Ballet of Canada, awarded the Richard Martin citation for excellence in costume curation by the Costume Society of America.

Caroline was appointed Chair of the School of Performance in 2019 where she also teaches courses in tailoring, corsetry, dancewear, and historic costume making. As Chair, Caroline leads the academic, creative and administrative activities within the school. Prior to taking on this role, she worked as Director of Production, with key contributions to teaching, revising curriculum and enhancing the student learning experience.

Caroline holds a PhD from The National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland where she completed her thesis on the design and making process in a professional ballet company, engaging The National Ballet of Canada as a case study.  She has held artist residencies at Artscape Gibraltar Point in Toronto, Banff Centre for the Arts, several locations in Ireland and the UK, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and MEC (Maison des Etudiants Canadiens) in Paris.  She has presented her work across the world, from Aalto University, UCLA, and New York in the U.S. to Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, Dublin, London, Nottingham, Paris, Auckland, Osaka, to name a few.  She has served as a guest instructor at University of the Arts London, L’Ecole Supérieure de Ballet du Québec, Dalhousie University and has offered numerous independent costume workshops for beginners through seasoned professionals.  Caroline is passionate about sharing her experience of the creative process as it applies to textile arts and live performance.  Her workshops focus on applied learning in costume making, hand finished details and movement-added patternmaking while participants are encouraged to connect with one another and share industry and personal experience.

Caroline works with Metcalf Foundation and serves as Chair of the Tarragon Theatre Board of Directors.

Writer's Room

with Paula Wing

Writer’s Room

The Writer’s Room is a course that will feature you, your writing, what you want to work on. The course meets once a week to write, share ideas, and talk about points of craft. The instructor brings prompts and exercises, and ideas. The majority of class time is given to writing, with some sharing of your work and discussion in small groups added. If you have a project you want to dedicate time to, this class is for you. If you want to explore your voice as a writer, this class is for you. If you want to learn a few new ways to approach your work, this class is for you. Any and all levels welcome. 

PLEASE NOTE: This course will be offered virtually over Zoom.

Applications Open – February 17, 2025

Application Deadline – March 16, 2025

How to Enroll

Artists are invited to a cover letter explaining how the course might be helpful in their artistic development and EITHER a one page synopsis of their script idea OR a MAX 5-page script sample to community@tarragontheatre.com with the subject line WRITER’S ROOM

For accessibility accommodations or to submit your application in an alternative format, please email or call Heather Caplap at education@tarragontheatre.com |(416) 531-1827 ext 249

Application Deadline – March 16, 2025

All applicants will be contacted by end of March.

Cost

Regular Rate – $120

Dates and Times

Location:  VIRTUAL via Zoom

Time: Thursdays, 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Dates:

  • April 17
  • April 24
  • May 1
  • WRITING BREAK
  • May 15
  • May 22
  • May 29

Instructor

Paula Wing is a playwright, translator, dramaturge, and teacher. Upcoming plays (on stage in 2025) are: Wicked Nix, an adaptation of the book by Lena Coakley, at Young People’s Theatre; a translation of Stefano Massini’s Intractable Woman at Brandeis University; and Roadkill, a play for teen audiences for Roseneath Theatre. Paula has been a story consultant for the Calgary Stampede Museum, and she writes program notes for productions at Soulpepper Theatre. Her teaching takes her across the province with the Gryffon Trio’s Listen Up program. She has taught playwriting at Tarragon Theatre for more than 10 years, most recently she facilitated the National Young Playwrights Unit. Paula is a Sessional Professor at the University of Windsor and the University of Waterloo and for the past twelve years she has been the creative writing instructor at the Native Men’s Residence in Toronto.

Creating Queer Theatre

with Makram Ayache

This online course provides an affinity group space for 2SLGBTQIA+ (2 Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual+) identified individuals who want to explore creating theatre.

Designed for emerging and early-career theatre artists, this intensive focuses on creating queer theatre. What does queer theatre even mean? Is it something that can be defined? Together, we’ll delve into the history and contemporary practices of queer theatre on Turtle Island. Through this exploration, we’ll consider aesthetics, politics, topics, and forms unique to queer theatre, all while engaging in creation and performance activities. Come ready to learn, play, and collaborate.

PLEASE NOTE: This course will be offered virtually over Zoom.

Applications Open – March 10, 2025

Application Deadline – April 13, 2025

How to Enroll

Applicants are asked to submit a short letter of intent for why they wish to take this course, a resume of artistic experience, and 3-5 pages max of a script sample. Both experience and intention will be considered during the selection process, but limited experience should not deter you from applying!

Applications can be submitted to community@tarragontheatre.com with the subject line QUEER THEATRE

For accessibility accommodations or to submit your application in an alternative format, please email or call Heather Caplap at education@tarragontheatre.com |(416) 531-1827 ext 249

Application Deadline – April 13, 2025

All applicants will be contacted by end of April.

Cost

Regular Rate – $250
Subsidized Rate- $100* (limited availability)

*If you are applying for the subsidized rate please note it in the subject line of your application email. You are welcome, but not required, to include a few sentences about why you would like to apply for the subsidized rate.

Dates and Times

Location:  Virtually via ZOOM

Time: Mondays, 12pm – 3pm EST

Dates:

  • May 12
  • May 19
  • May 26
  • June 2
  • June 9

Instructor

Makram Ayache is a Governor General Literary Award finalist, award-winning playwright, performer, director, and educator based in Toronto. His work centers on representing queer Arab voices, bridging political struggles with the intimate experiences of those most affected. In 2023, he was named one of Toronto’s breakthrough artists by the Toronto Star, and his play The Hooves Belonged to the Deer was listed among Ontario’s 10 best productions by The Globe and Mail. The play also won an Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Outstanding Independent Production in Edmonton. His Governor General-nominated play, The Green Line (Downstage and Chromatic Theatre), earned four Betty Mitchell Award nominations, winning two, including Outstanding New Play.

Beyond writing, Ayache directs and produces, recently helming Small Gods the Musical (Theatre Sheridan and Factory Theatre). He is also working on The Ballad of Rumi and Shams, a graphic novel collaboration supported byVivek Shraya.

Ayache holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta and is the founder of Shajara, a consulting organization advancing equity and anti-oppression. He has taught at the University of Waterloo, the 519 Church Street Community Center, and Workman Arts, specializing in socially conscious pedagogy and curricular design.

Enhanced Costume Making

with Caroline O’Brien

PLEASE NOTE: This course will take place at Toronto Metropolitan University

This professional costume workshop is designed to expand on existing professional skills for an emerging artist in costuming.  Participants will undertake a project that will focus on cutting and traditional making techniques in order to gain hands-on experience in the essential aspects of professional costume making.

This program provides opportunities to enhance specialized skill sets and gain experience in a professional costume workshop.

Participants will benefit from:

  • Developing practical skills in costume construction 
  • Gaining experience in pattern cutting and costume making in a professional setting
  • Greater understanding of the workflow and collaborative nature of the costume workshop
  • Completion of a garment employing enhanced problem solving skills
  • Expanded understanding of time management and time constraints of live performance
  • Collaborative learning from industry professionals and peers
  • Expand professional network and portfolio
  • This hands-on experience will deepen your expertise and readiness for a career in costume making

Applications Open – March 3, 2025

Application Deadline – March 30, 2025

How to Enroll

Applicants are asked to submit a short letter detailing why they wish to take this course and relevant experience. CVs are invited but not required.

Applications can be submitted to community@tarragontheatre.com with the subject line COSTUME.

Requirements

Requirements

Applicants should have a combination of formal training and/or relevant professional experience in costume design, theatre production, or fashion, as well as strong creative ability. Required skills include:

  •   Basic sewing skills and familiarity with sewing machines.
  •   Ability to work collaboratively and adapt to a dynamic and fast-paced environment

For accessibility accommodations or to submit your application in an alternative format, please email or call Heather Caplap at education@tarragontheatre.com |(416) 531-1827 ext 249

Application Deadline – March 30, 2025

All applicants will be contacted by mid-April

Cost

Regular Rate – $250
Subsidized Rate- $150* (limited availability)

*If you are applying for the subsidized rate please note it in the subject line of your application email. You are welcome, but not required, to include a few sentences about why you would like to apply for the subsidized rate.

Dates and Times

Location: TMU – 345 Yonge St

Time: 10am – 4pm

Date: May 3 & 4

Instructor

A native of Ireland, Caroline O’Brien is a costume designer and maker, a writer and educator.  In her freelance career she has worked with major ballet and dance companies collaborating with choreographers from across North America and Europe, and has a long-standing collaborative relationship with Peggy Baker, Artistic Director of Peggy Baker Dance Projects. She worked with Canada’s National Ballet School as resident costume designer and wardrobe supervisor, a position she held for almost twenty years.

In addition to costuming Caroline has worked in large-scale sculpture incorporating industrial metal textiles with fashion fabrics. Her award-winning work is represented in private collections and has been performed and exhibited across Canada and internationally, and her designs were selected for the inaugural World Stage Design, 2005. She curated Sixty Years of Designing the Ballet for The National Ballet of Canada, awarded the Richard Martin citation for excellence in costume curation by the Costume Society of America.

Caroline was appointed Chair of the School of Performance in 2019 where she also teaches courses in tailoring, corsetry, dancewear, and historic costume making. As Chair, Caroline leads the academic, creative and administrative activities within the school. Prior to taking on this role, she worked as Director of Production, with key contributions to teaching, revising curriculum and enhancing the student learning experience.

Caroline holds a PhD from The National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland where she completed her thesis on the design and making process in a professional ballet company, engaging The National Ballet of Canada as a case study.  She has held artist residencies at Artscape Gibraltar Point in Toronto, Banff Centre for the Arts, several locations in Ireland and the UK, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and MEC (Maison des Etudiants Canadiens) in Paris.  She has presented her work across the world, from Aalto University, UCLA, and New York in the U.S. to Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, Dublin, London, Nottingham, Paris, Auckland, Osaka, to name a few.  She has served as a guest instructor at University of the Arts London, L’Ecole Supérieure de Ballet du Québec, Dalhousie University and has offered numerous independent costume workshops for beginners through seasoned professionals.  Caroline is passionate about sharing her experience of the creative process as it applies to textile arts and live performance.  Her workshops focus on applied learning in costume making, hand finished details and movement-added patternmaking while participants are encouraged to connect with one another and share industry and personal experience.

Caroline works with Metcalf Foundation and serves as Chair of the Tarragon Theatre Board of Directors.

Other educational opportunities in our building

IN STUDIO SCENE STUDY

with Karen Ivany

A great introduction to on camera acting for theatre-trained actors.
A rewarding work out for returning and advanced students wishing to sharpen and expand their screen acting skills.
Drawing from the methodologies of SANFORD MEISNER, STELLA ADLER, LEE STRASBERG, UTA HAGEN, MICHAEL CHEKHOV and STEPHAN PERDEKAMP, scene partners create authentic interactions, internalize core emotions and follow physical impulse within master, medium and close-up frames.
Scene explorations focus on committed State(s)-Of-Being, character development through Behaviour, interaction with Objects, beat Transitions, action/dialogue/movement/stillness/posture/gesture/eyeline and breath as extensions of Thought.
Actors create by doing. Most of class time is dedicated to acting practice with live feedback between takes. Notes focus on WHAT IS WORKING WELL and WHAT MAY BE CLARIFIED in portrayals. As well as adapting to notes in real time, participants also learn to self-evaluate their work, an essential skill for the working actors submitting selftpes to casting. After each class, students receive all their class footage with additional notes for further review at home.

How to Enroll

Those  interested in registering for a class may submit a form via the website, or email directly: karen@karenivany.ca

Cost

There are 3 levels of In Studio Scene Study classes;
INTRO (4 weeks) – For Beginners with little or no previous on camera acting training – Reg FEE: $300+HST
RETURNING STUDENTS (INTERMEDIATE) (6 weeks)  – Please submit resume for assessment – Reg FEE: $440+HST
ADVANCED (4 weeks) – By invitation only or submit resume for assessment – Reg FEE: $360+HST
I propose a 15% discount on all class fees above for CAEA full and apprentice members.

Instructor

Karen Ivany is a theatre-trained actor who transitioned to screen acting early in her career. Her twenty-five years of activism with ACTRA lead to her first teaching contracts for working and aspiring actors. Ms.Ivany was commissioned by The Second City Training Centre in Toronto to expand the Acting Program curriculum in 2010. During her tenure at Second City, she also established on camera acting classes and was the exclusive instructor of those popular specialty offerings. Karen has been teaching Respect On Set for both ACTRA and DGC members as well as students of the College of Makeup Art & Design (CMU) for over a decade. Ms. Ivany is a member of Acting Coaches and Educators (AACE), adhering to a strict code of ethics to keep actors safe and respected while practicing their craft.
EQ Training includes the following certificates;
Mental Health First Aid – Mental Health Commision of Canada
Emotional Intelligence In The workplace – Julie Freedman
How To Be An Effective Trans Ally – The 519 Community Centre Group, Toronto
Conflict Resolution and De-escalation Techniques – The St Stephen Community Centre, Toronto
Intimacy In The Acting Classroom – ACTRA (2018) and AACE (2022) – Siobahn Richardson, Intimacy Coordinator, Canada