What is "The Berlin Project?"

The Berlin Project is an umbrella term for several activites, all related to performance opportunities for DaPoPo. We've been dreaming and planning for quite awhile, applying for grants and laying the groundwork for a two-week trip to Berlin to take advantage of these opportunities:

* Updating and remounting of Four Actors in Search of a Nation and Apocalypse 2006

The first Four Actors was the inaugural show for DaPoPo and was created specifically for the Just Say It! '04 Festival. In it, the actors play themselves, slipping in and out various characters, in an exploration of the questions: What is a nation? What is Canadian? What is a play? Through prose, poetry, dialogue, movement and sound this personal quest for identity becomes a universal one. Garry was part of the original ensemble that created and performed this show in Halifax and Berlin.

Apocalypse 2006 was created for the Just Say It! '06 Festival. In it, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse retell the story of Icarus in a series of revelations. Driven by pride, Icarus flies too close to the sun, and Apollo melts the wax holding his wings together, and so the story ends... or does it? The show was collectively created by Garry, Eric, Kim and Steven Bourque and was presented only in Germany.

In December, we will have a three day script development workshop through the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC) to re-examine these shows, finesse and update them in preparation for previews in Halifax in the New Year and a run in Berlin at TheaterForum Kreuzberg, February 20 - 21, 2009.

* Original youth show and workshops for Just Say It! '09 Festival at FEZ-Berlin

We will participate in the Festival from February 24-27, 2009. Between now and then, the Youth Ensemble will create a new show -timely, personally important, globally relevant - which they will present at the Festival. The show will evolve through thematic physical and vocal exploration and will be developed with DaPoPo's creation aesthetic in mind.

All of the performers will participate in the daily opening ceremonies at the Festival, which will be attended by hundreds of school-aged children from the greater Berlin area. We will be representing Canada (and Nova Scotia!) at the Festival, which will also feature performers and presenters from other English-speaking countries including USA, Ireland, England, Australia, South Africa and India.

We will also teach workshops for smaller groups of German high school students. The workshops will be in English to give the German students a chance to practice their language skills and to work with people from other countries. Our contribution will be workshops on physical and vocal expression for stage, myth and archetypes, newspaper theatre and political theatre.

*Café DaPoPo premiere at the Fluxus Museum in Potsdam

Café DaPoPo has run in Halifax for almost two years. It is a unique way to both experience and 'deliver' theatre. The Fluxus Museum is hosting the first Café outside of Halifax and we intend to feature mostly Canadian content on the a la carte performance menu we develop for this special occasion. We currently have a call for submissions out to PARC members (or other Canadian artists) who wish to submit monologues, poems, short scenes, songs or performance pieces for consideration. We look forward to promoting these artists by performing their work in a preview Café in Halifax and in Germany.

*Flight Club Art Exhibit

In association with the Flight Club fundraising effort, we will commission new art works for every $100 individual donation received. Visual artists at all points in their careers, from emerging to established, will create and donate a small art work incorporating the Flight Club plane in any way they can imagine. We are finding an exhibit location for the resultant art works and intend to have a week-long showing in Halifax. This will be kicked off by our post-tour celebration which will feature a performance of the Youth Ensemble show, appreciation for donors and sponsors and a photo essay of the experiences on the tour.

The Original Four Actors in Search of a Nation

This photo was taken by John Haney, who was with us on our first FEZ-Berlin adventure in November 2004. Our venue: the Emerson Gallery, courtesy of Russell Radzinski (who would later plant the seed for 13 Ways of Looking at a Madman). The photograph shows the original Four Actors in Search of a Nation: Christopher Cohoon, GaRRy Williams, Amanda Jernigan and Steph Berntson.

Help Us Get There

Email Kim at dapopo@dapopo.org for more details.

Who's Who

Eric Benson

Roles: Death in Apocalypse ; Eric in Four Actors

Eric Benson grew up in northern Saskatchewan, surrounded by snow and ice, in a small city that had no proper theatre. He was still able to find outlets for his desire to perform, working in community theatre and youth performance, getting his stage chops doing English farce. He was accepted to the National Theatre School of Canada, but left it after a short period to pursue his love of philosophy. He has recently performed in productions such as Copenhagen, Seven Days in the Life of Simon Labrosse, Rhinoceros, Arcadia, Rossum's Universal Robots, as well as appearing in Café DaPoPo. He also has helped write and perform in Apocalypse 2006 and The Pirate Show, and has recently directed Krapp's Last Tape, Sunday in the Park with George, and Biography: A Game. He is preparing to direct an environmental production of La Cage Aux Folles in the Spring of 2009.

Kim Parkhill

Roles: Pestilence in Apocalypse; Kim in Four Actors

Kim grew up in New Brunswick, spent several years working as a traveling nurse in the USA, and eventually settled in Halifax. She studied performance at Neptune Theatre (Preprofessional Training Program) and with Peggy Redmond (Actors' Boot Camp) as well as in numerous workshops and intensives. Most recently she trained under Sergey Ostrenko in the IUGTE Performers Village and Physical Theatre Laboratory in Latvia. She has worked in capacities of performer, co-creator, writer, producer, publicist and/or assistant director for many companies in Halifax including MorganaSeven, The SkitWits, Metamorphic Theatre, TAG, Gilbert & Sullivan Society and her own short-lived company, The Play Group. She has been with DaPoPo since 2005 (R.U.R.; The Sex Play; 13 Ways of Looking at a Madman; Apocalypse 2006; Biography: A Game; and Cafe DaPoPo) and is now an Associate Director. She has traveled extensively, touring to Berlin with DaPoPo and in the Maritimes with the Young Neptune Touring Company. She is currently writing a play for ThreeSome, a collection of one-acts, slated for performance in mid-2009 under the direction of Lee J. Campbell.

Annie Valentina

Roles: Famine in Apocalypse; Annie in Four Actors

Annie Valentina was born into a family of actor/directors in Sofia, Bulgaria, but raised in Norway until she made her move to Nova Scotia as a young adult. She spent much of her youth traveling Europe, feeding her innate love for the performing arts, and deconstructing her sense of national identity. Meanwhile, she was involved in various stage productions with Norwegian production company Teater Laboratoriet and worked at the Bergen Theatre School through the late 90's. In the year 2000, she landed in Halifax to attend Dalhousie University, where she obtained a BA in Theatre. She has since made Halifax her primary home base and collaborated with many local theatre companies in the capacity of actor, director, playwright and dramaturg. Some of the projects she remembers most fondly include a critically acclaimed one-woman-show she wrote and self-produced under the 'shoes on a wire' label - a now dormant independent company she helped start - as well as performing with Angels and Heroes, Left Foot First Productions, and directing Open Concept's debut show Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love.

Garry Williams

Roles: War in Apocalypse; Garry in Four Actors

Garry Williams was born in Halifax, but grew up largely in Berlin. He traveled extensively, and attended theatre training programs in Williamstown, Mass.; Stratford-upon-Avon; Barcelona; New York; and Berlin. After High School, he apprenticed with the Berliner Grundtheater for several years, and performed with several music ensembles including das neue chor berlin, The Shower Show Tunes and the Fourtunes Barbershop Quartet. He studied Musicology, Comp. Lit. and Drama at the FU-Berlin and Manhattanville College, NY, and took a B. Mus. and an Engl. Min. at Mt. Allison University. He has worked as translator, songwriter, improv director, actor, director, playwright, acting coach, singer, keyboardist and voice instructor. He founded DaPoPo Theatre in 2004, and has been running the company since. In Halifax, he has also worked with the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, the Halifax Summer Opera Workshop, Metamorphic Theatre, OneLight Theatre, Angels and Heroes, the Irondale Ensemble, Playwright's Atlantic Resource Centre, Two Planks and a Passion and teaches the Neptune Theatre School. He will be directing Humperdinck's opera Hansel and Gretel at Acadia University in the Spring of '09.

Aaron Andreino

DaPoPo Academy Youth Ensemble

Aaron recently moved to Dartmouth from Ottawa and is currently completing grade 12 at NSCC in Cole Harbor. He has studied theatre at Neptune Theatre School and through Centre Stage summer program. He also enjoys playing basketball, going to the gym and hanging out with his little brother. This will be Aaron's first time traveling outside of North America.

Sophie Fong

DaPoPo Academy Youth Ensemble

Sophie Fong is a grade 12 student at JL Ilsley High School in Spryfield, NS. This is her first trip to Europe and her first time creating for theatre. However, she loves the arts, draws constantly, plays viola, sings in two choirs, studies tango and is learning the silks at circus school.

Ali Richardson
DaPoPo Academy Youth Ensemble

Ali Richardson was born in Halifax and has spent her life on Canada’s East Coast. She’s studied music from a young age and has always had theatre and dance in her life. Her theatre career began humbly with the role of the mute sister in a Jr. High production of Fiddler on the Roof. In high school Ali discovered Improv and competed with Dartmouth High’s team in the National Tournament of the Canadian Improv games. She appeared in Dartmouth High’s West Side Story, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and several eclectic student productions. Last spring she traveled Atlantic Canada with Broken Leg Act Theatre performing A Taste of Honey. She’s tried her hand at playwriting, and earned 1st place in the Eastern Front Ten-Minute Play Competition with her script about rebellious mannequins. Currently, Ali has returned to modern dance and continues playing piano and saxophone. She assistant coaches DHS’s Improv Team and is learning to sing. Ali hopes to study theatre outside the province next year, but has a feeling she’ll return to the Maritimes.

Holly Winter

DaPoPo Academy Youth Ensemble

Holly was born one snowy morning in March 1990 in Toronto, Ontario. It was there that she discovered her first performance opportunity. We're going to ignore the fact that it was lip-syncing to the spice girls with her friends. (She was Baby Spice) Since then her thirst for art has been unquenchable. She brought this thirst with her to Halifax in 1998. In Elementary and Junior High School she was in Choir, Band, Strings, Art club and participated heavily in various school drama productions. But that wasn't enough. She started taking classes at Neptune Theatre School in Halifax. It became her second home. In 2005 she was accepted into Soundtrax, a very talented high school choir under the direction of Frances Farrel. It was with this choir that she was able to travel to Banff Alberta, New Glasgow NS, and Sackville NB and meet some of the most amazing people. Since then she's continued on with her passion in varying forms. Some highlights include; Saints Alive's productions of "The Secret Garden: That Musical" and "Suessical: The Musical", Placing in the top ten of Eastern Fronts Ten-Minute Play Competition, Voice Lessons with The DaPoPo man himself GaRRY Williams, Dance Captain in Queen Elizabeth High Schools production of "Guys and Dolls" and Citadel High School's Productions of "West Side Story." Holly ended her High School Career by receiving Citadel Highs Grade 12 Drama award. Holly aspires to continue her work in all fields of art with emphasis on movement and voice work, directing and combining interests in other fields (math, spirituality and physics to name a few) with her artistic endeavours. Holly hopes that one day her creations will inspire others to create and express themselves.

The Youth Ensemble: In the beginning...

Posted by Kim

If this was the beginning of this project, the really real beginning, the date would read somewhere in the vicinity of December 2006. Let's go there briefly. DaPoPo's ensemble-of-the-moment: Garry W., Eric B., Steven B. and I, Kim P., had just returned from premiering our newly created show "Apocalypse 2006" at the FEZ-Berlin's biennial "Just Say It" Festival in Berlin, Germany.

Michael Kunsmann, programmer at the FEZ, had extended another invitation to DaPoPo - our third - for the next Just Say It! planned for November 2008 (later bumped to February 2009). This Festival is a celebration of English-language cultures and countries from around the world and draws hundreds of school-aged children and families from the greater Berlin area. Our show performances are typically for high school students, although we do participate in the daily opening ceremonies for all ages.

Leaving Berlin then, and considering the next festival, I wondered aloud to the DaPoPoli about an alternative to our adult-perspective creations. How potent would it be to have an ensemble of young performers create and present a show about issues important to them - telling their own stories and sharing with their peers?

Let's fast forward to tonight, almost two years later. An invited audience sat on the floor in a studio of the Halifax Ballet Theatre to watch the created performance of six emerging theatre artists aged 17-19: Aaron Andreino, Dylan Aucoin, Kaleigh Fleming, Sophie Fong, Ali Richarson and Holly Winter. They all had applied for and been invited to participate in an intensive workshop with DaPoPo. Garry and I introduced them to various physical theatre styles, vocal techniques and the DaPoPo aesthetic under the umbrella of ensemble training and collective creation. We spent almost sixty hours working over three weekends, using these tools in exploration and creation, and culminating with this presentation.

Tonight - the bar set high and boundaries challenged - we watched, along with gathered family, friends and DaPoPoli, as these young performers communicated their ideas in a way new and exciting to them - beautifully and enigmatically, humourously and profoundly. We are very proud of how each of them, in their own way, crossed thresholds... x

And while this is not the really real beginning of this project, it is a beginning of the next phase. Four of these workshop participants will join DaPoPo for our aptly-named "Berlin Project."

From now until February, the new youth ensemble will continue to work with Garry and I, as well as Eric and Annie V. (DaPoPo's ensemble-of-the-now), to prepare for a two week tour to Berlin. As dreamed in 2006, they will create a show for performance at the Just Say It '09 Festival .

They'll assist with workshops the veteran DaPoPoli facilitate at the festival. They'll also be assisting with behind-the-scenes work as we present two original shows "Four Actors in Search of a Nation" and "Apocalypse 2009" at TheaterForum Kreuzberg. AND they will be performing with us as cast for a special presentation of Cafe DaPoPo at The Fluxus Museum in Potsdam. Plus experiencing the wonderfulness of life, art, history and culture in Germany.

There are goals and there are obstacles ahead of us. We're going to lay it all out here as we go through it. So keep checking back. We'll introduce the ensemble members and you can see how things go for us from rehearsing to fundraising, work and social time, applying for passports and getting married (yup), planning the trip and actually being there... this blog goes on til the Berlin Project ends...