Theatre Terrific

Theatre Terrific, also known as the Theatre Terrific Society, is a Canadian disability theatre company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is western Canada's oldest disability theatre company.[1]

Theatre Terrific
Formation1985 (1985)
TypeTheatre group
PurposeDisability theatre
Location
Websitewww.theatreterrific.ca

History

In 1984, Connie Hargrave began to conceive of a theatre company focussed on disabled performers.[2]: 68  Theatre Terrific was officially founded in 1985 and was one of Canada's first mixed-ability theatre companies.[3] At this time, Sue Lister was hired as an instructor. Their first show, a musical revue by Leonard Angel titled Dancing on the Head of a Pin with a Mouse in my Pocket, was performed at the 1986 Vancouver Fringe Festival.[2]: 68 

Theatre Terrific launched their outreach program, Direct Access, in 1987. The program was a student-focussed performance group whose ensemble members had graduated from Lister's training program. In 1988, Theatre Terrific launched a touring group composed of both abled and disabled actors. They toured across the province of British Columbia, performing at schools.[2]: 70–72 

In the early 1990s, Theatre Terrific began to receive international attention.[2]: 87  They official gained membership with the Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance in 1992.[2]: 73 

In 1994, the company appointed its first official artistic director: Jamie Norris.[2]: 74  Sue Lister left Theatre Terrific in 1995.[2]: 73  Norris left in 1998 and was replaced by co-artistic directors Elaine Avila and Trevor Found. Avila and Found focussed on artistic education before resigning in 2000.[2]: 74  In 2001, Liesl Lafferty became Theatre Terrific's artistic director. The company had not been active for over one year preceding Lafferty's appointment. She resigned in November 2004.[4]

Susanna Uchatius became artistic director in 2005, at which point the company shifted away from explicitly disability-centred themes.[5] As artistic director, Uchatius has produced some of her own plays, including Hello in 2019, which focussed on the untold story of Arthur Miller's son, Daniel.[6]

Artistic directors
  • Jamie Norris (1994–1998)
  • Elaine Avila and Trevor Found (1998–2000)
  • Liesl Lafferty (2001–2004)
  • Susanna Uchatius (2005–present)

Production history
  • Dancing on the Head of a Pin with a Mouse in my Pocket by Leonard Angel (1986)[2]: 68 
  • One on One (1988)[2]: 71 
  • Syllabub by Kico Gonzalez-Risso (touring 1991)[2]: 71 
  • Good-Looking Friends by John Lazarus (touring 1992)[2]: 71 
  • Breeding Doubts by Sandra Ferens (1995)[2]: 68 
  • Scraping the Surface by Lyle Victor Albert (1996)[2]: 68 
  • Ring of Fire by Margaret Hollingsworth (touring 1996)[2]: 71 
  • Step Right Up by Elaine Avila and Trevor Found (1999)[2]: 75 
  • Spiralling Within by Siobhan McCarthy (2003)[2]: 79 
  • Jumpin' Jack by Lyle Victor Albert (2004)[7]
  • Error of Eros' Arrows (2004)[2]: 81 
  • Ugly (2005)[2]: 81 
  • slowrunning (2006)[2]: 81 
  • Workin' (2007)[2]: 81 
  • doGs by Susanna Uchatius in collaboration with the cast (2007)[8]
  • The Glass Box (2008)[2]: 82 
  • The Secret Son (2009)[2]: 82 
  • dirty white by Susanna Uchatius (2010)[9]
  • I Love Mondays by Susanna Uchatius (2015)[10]
  • The Ridiculous Darkness by Wolfram Lotz - with Alley Theatre and Neworld Theatre (2017)[11]
  • Hello by Susanna Uchatius (2019)[6]
  • Digital Fracture: VOICES (2020)[12]
  • WINDOWS (2021 - online production)[13]

Awards
Year Award Category Work Result Notes Ref.
1994 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Special Award for "Distinctive Mandate" n/a Won [2]: 66 
Outstanding Script for Young Audiences Good-Looking Friends Nominated for John Lazarus
1995 Outstanding Script Breeding Doubts Nominated [2]: 73 
Outstanding Ensemble Performance Nominated
1996 Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role Scraping the Surface Nominated for Lyle Victor Albert
Outstanding Play or Musical Nominated
2020 Outstanding Sound Design or Original Composition - Small Theatre Hello Nominated for Angelo Moroni [14]

Notable performers

References
  1. Johnston, Kirsty (2014). "Out of the Box: Comedy in Disability Theatre by Canadian Women". In Dickson, Peter; Higgins, Anne; St. Pierre, Paul Matthew; Solomon, Diana; Zwagerman, Sean (eds.). Women and Comedy: History, Theory, Practice. p. 150. ISBN 9781611476446 – via Google Books.
  2. Johnston, Kirsty (2012). "Theatre Terrific". Stage Turns : Canadian Disability Theatre. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780773539945.
  3. Kuppers, Petra (2017). Theatre and Disability. MacMillan Education. p. 35. ISBN 9781137605726 – via Google Books.
  4. Lafferty, Liesl (2005). "Stage Ability: A Terrific Theatre Experience". Canadian Theatre Review (122): 65–66. ISSN 0315-0836.
  5. McAskill, Ashley (September 2016). ""Come and see Our Art of Being Real": Disabling Inspirational Porn and Rearticulating Affective Productivities". Theatre Research in Canada. 37 (2): 201–216. ISSN 1196-1198.
  6. Derdeyn, Stuart (2019-03-22). "Theatre Terrific says Hello to a hidden history of Arthur Miller's family". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2021-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. Oliver, Kathleen (2004-11-25). "Jumpin' Jack". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. Oliver, Kathleen (2007-05-09). "doGs". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. Hui, Stephen (2010-04-21). "Theatre Terrific's dirty white at the Cultch's Vancity Culture Lab". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. "17 things to do in Metro Vancouver on Thursday, April 16". The Georgia Straight. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2021-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. Oliver, Kathleen (2017-09-13). "Fall arts preview 2017 theatre critics' picks: The fun in dysfunction takes to the stage". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2021-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. "Vancouver Fringe announces programming for third mini-festival". The Georgia Straight. 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  13. Wild, Stephi (2021-08-27). "Theatre Terrific Will Present WINDOWS Beginning Next Month". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2021-11-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. "Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards nominations unveiled amid stage closures, with shows like Kuroko, Noises Off, and Coriolanus leading the way". The Georgia Straight. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
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