This week we hear from Stage Manager Sandi Becker about TYA touring life in Northern Ontario:
Moose on the loose!
Hello from chilly Thunder Bay! We’ve arrived back from our adventures in the north of the north. This past week, we’ve travelled to Red Lake, Balmertown, Ear Falls and Sioux Lookout. There have been many long drives on windy, somewhat nerve wracking highways, MANY animal sightings (including a HUGE moose just feet from the truck!), and a lot of great shows at wonderful schools.
Our first show in Sioux Lookout will always stand out in my mind. What an amazing privilege to bring a show to students who may have never seen theatre before at all. The school was welcoming and warm to us. But mostly I’ll remember that day because of one audience member. She was a grade 4 student, and she offered to help us set up. She wanted to know what everything was, how everything worked, and why we had chosen to do things the way we did. She was fascinated to learn about what a set designer does, and was a great help with the set up! Before the show, she even brought us some pussy willows to wish us a good show. Afterwards, I asked her how we did, and she declared that this was the BEST SHOW EVER!!!
Sometimes it’s a bit hard to be on the road. You get homesick and lonely, and you get tired and cranky sometimes. To walk into a school that is so welcoming and happy to see you, and to meet a young person like this child and know you’ve touched an imagination and made someone happy – it makes all the hard stuff worth it.
We are so lucky to do what we do.