Canada doesn't have a big theatre centre like London or New York. There's no city that has a permanent set of shows running along with fall and spring seasons. But there are the Stratford and Shaw festivals which run for about half the year. Add to that rehearsal times and that's pretty steady work! It's where you want to be as a Canadian. And I was talking to Nick about the audition, and he said how impressive it was to even be auditioning. We were thinking about it, and there are really, it seems, only four big Shakespeare companies around the world: The Globe, RSC, Portland Shakespeare and Stratford. I'm auditioning for one of them. Big deal.
More than the practicalities though, there's something dreamlike about working there. It doesn't seem possible even. Growing up in London, Ontario, Stratford was a stone's throw away. We would go every year with my elementary school to see some age appropriate show. In high school, we tried to do the same. When I was that age, I didn't think I would be pursuing acting as a career. But I loved to act and of course I would dream about what it would be like to perform on the Festival Stage. To play Juliet up on her balcony.
And here I am, that much closer to making that a reality.
It's a year's paid training with a contract for that summer's season. I mean, you probably play maids and fairies, but who knows! If you're really good, maybe they'd give you a line or two... And after, they tend to hire back alumni from the program.
They gave me a week and a half's notice. I was going to bed and checked my email one last time before falling into a dead sleep. And there the invitation sat. I read it over and over again. I was so convinced that I didn't get it! Knowing when abouts the auditions were, I thought they had passed on me. But nope, they wanted to see me.
I scrambled. Could I find the money for a flight home? Could I get the time off from school? Could I get three pieces ready in a week in a half? Everyone came through for me... yes, I could have the time off. By luck, I could have a full week off at home, with my family. Yes, my pieces could be shaped and sharpened, and Leon Rubin, the director of my school who used to work at Stratford and knows the head of the conservatory, met with me and gave me direction. And grandma, and loving grandma, paid for my flight, saying that this was my dream and I had to at least try for it.
Flash forward to the waiting area, just outside a rehearsal hall of the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. Mom came with me to the city. God love her. She'd been carrying on a conversation by herself for about an hour, being so cheerful and loving and trying to get me to laugh. And I did! But I had the shakes, the kind that live on the outside and set your whole body tingling. The closer and closer it got to my call time, I just smiled at her and said, "Ok, now, I just need a bit of quiet."
"Ok, ok, ok," she replied quickly, giving my hand one last squeeze and then giving me my space.
And then, my name was called.
I went in and met Beth Russel, the casting director at Stratford, and Martha Henry, the head of the conservatory who Leon knows. I said, "Oh yes, I've heard a lot about you!" and went on to drop Leon's name in the room. For some reason, that put me right at ease, haha! she gave me a big smile at hearing his name and told me to give him a big hug next time I saw him.
I introduced my pieces and then went through them one after the other. I felt good about all of it, feeling like I was hitting every note Leon had given me and mentally going "YEA! GOOD JOB!" every time one of those moments came and went. I was breathing, not rushing, hitting important rules of verse theory.
Martha gave me a bit of direction on the Hermione speech I did, which I think is a good sign. It's almost like you passed stage one and are one to stage two; they like you well enough to see if you can take direction. It felt quite different, which I think is a good sign. Martha came up to me after, and we had a conversation about the character: an actual duologue where she got to hear some of my insights into the character. She was agreeing with me and adding more, saying that you could play her very gruff and very angry. "But you didn't do that," she said. "You did very well. Very very good work."
Well. That made me feel pretty damn good.
They take 12 people from across Canada. Only six of them are girls. The odds are so, so so so slim that I'll get it. All I wanted was to be able to say that I walked out of the audition having done my very best. That my nerves didn't get the best of me. And I absolutely accomplished that. The rest is out of my hands! Of course I'll still be disappointed if I don't get it, but there won't be questions of, "what if I did something differently." It's done!
I walked out of the audition room and gave my mom a big smile. I told her the whole story. She said that it sounded really good from out in the hall; she could hear me and all the pitches I was using. She also heard us laughing together. A lot.
As congratulations, she presented me with a red velvet cupcake, and we began our two our drive home.