Schwartz off to Stratford

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

Kings County Advertiser

Thespian Ken Schwartz, based in Canning, is heading to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

The artistic director of Two Planks and a Passion Theatre, Schwartz is heading to Stratford for several months as a participant in the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Text.

He will also be assistant director on the production of Peter Pan, directed by Tim Carroll, opening at the Avon Stage June 12. “Professional development opportunities like this rarely exist for artists in mid-career, and I’m thrilled to be able to participate,” says Schwartz.

Speaking from his office at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, he notes, “I feel privileged to be selected for the inaugural year of this program, which I consider a rare and most welcome opportunity for personal growth as an artist.”

Schwartz has been a founding artistic director of Two Planks and a Passion Theatre since 1992. His work as a director has been recognized with several awards, including the Merritt Award for Outstanding Director and the Established Artist Recognition Award in 2008. His recent directorial credits include 2009’s production of Allen Cole’s Rockbound, which broke box office records for Two Planks.

Schwartz was one of 11 selected to participate in the Straford program from nearly 100 applicants from Canada, the U.S and the U.K.. Overseen by David Latham, theatre training consultant and Dean Gabourie, assistant artistic director; the Michael Langham Workshop is intended for directors in the early and middle stages of their careers who have had some experience working with the classics - but not at a theatre of the complexity and scope of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Trainees also participate in classes in text, voice, movement and other disciplines held by the Festival’s Theatre Training Department; and in specialized classes taught by the theatre training consultant, festival coaches and invited instructors that explore specific textual, vocal and physical skills used in rehearsing a classical play.

Schwartz will be assisting director Tim Carroll, making his Stratford debut. From 1999 to 2005, he was associate director of Shakespeare's Globe, where he directed Twelfth Night, Richard II, Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest; among others. Carroll is the director of two ground-breaking productions, Hamlet and The Seagull, for Factory Theatre in London, England.

Schwartz returns to Nova Scotia June 13, in time to begin rehearsals for the fourth season of Two Planks and a Passion Theatre’s award-winning Theatre Off The Grid series at the Ross Creek Centre, scheduled to open July 10.