T HEATRE P ROSPERO A SSOCIATION S H ISTORY AND M ANDATE AND C OMPANY A RTISTS B IOGRAPHIES

(as provided by the company): Theatre Prospero has been incorporating students into our professional classical and poetry based theatre since 1996. From 1998 to the present we have gone to schools doing 1-15 day artist-in-residence programs that have incorporated thousands of students at hundreds of schools across Alberta. Although our primary programming for and with young people is Shakespeare, we have also produced Greek plays, adaptations of Charles Dickens and Dylan Thomas works, as well as a modern play by Ted Hughes. In addition to our mandate of working with and performing for young people, we have developed the new Canadian productions of Maggie Now Parts 1-4, and Blood Opera: The Raven Tango Poems at the Fringe, Canoe and Serca Festivals. We have started two new theatre festivals in Edmonton. In 2009 we premiered the launch of the Serca Festival of Irish Theatre, which has since become its own independent company. In 2011 we launched the first annual Thousand Faces Festival of Mythic Art, which is dedicated to presenting mythic works from around the world.

Theatre Prospero 9210 118 Ave. Edmonton, AB T5G 0N2

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H ISTORY
2011/2012
R O M E O A N D J U L I E T : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Fall special request residency

2010/2011
M A C B E T H : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances T H E T E M P E S T : Spring residencies and Edmonton performances A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Fall special residency request C O M I N G O F T H E K I N G S : December residency special request A C H I L D S C H R I S T M A S I N W A L E S : December residency special request

2009/2010
A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances K I N G L E A R : Spring residencies and Edmonton performances

2008/2009
R O M E O A N D J U L I E T : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances M U C H A D O A B O U T N O T H I N G : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances T H E C O M I N G O F T H E K I N G S : Edmonton performance

2007/2008
R O M E O A N D J U L I E T : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances K I N G L E A R : Fall Residency

2006/2007
R O C K A R O U N D T H E B L O C K : musical residency M A C B E T H : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Spring residencies and Edmonton performances H A M L E T : Spring residencies and Edmonton performances

2005/2006
A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Fall/Spring and Edmonton performances H A M L E T : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performance M A C B E T H : Spring residencies and Edmonton performances T H E F R O G S : Fall residency

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2004/2005
A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances M A C B E T H : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances

2003/2004
A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Fall/Spring and Edmonton performances

2002/2003
Year off : Professional Development for Artistic Director

2001/2002
A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances

2000/2001
T H E T A M I N G O F T H E S H R E W : Fall/Spring residencies and Edmonton performances T H E B A C C H A E : Spring residency in Edmonton

1999-2000
T H E B A C C H A E : Spring residency in Edmonton and Edmonton performances A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Spring residency in Edmonton T H E S E C O N D S H E P H E R D S P L A Y : Edmonton performance

1998/1999
M U C H A D O A B O U T N O T H I N G : Fall Edmonton repertory performances H A M L E T (adaptation): Fall Edmonton repertory performances T H E L I F E A N D A D V E N T U R E S O F N I C H O L A S N I C K L E B Y : December residency

1997/1998
T H E T E M P E S T : Fall Edmonton performances

1996-1997
A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T S D R E A M : Fall Edmonton performances

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O UR M ANDATE
To create, and to foster the creation of, classical, mythic and poetic Theatre by students, professionals and community members.

W HERE W E A RE , W HOM W E S ERVE

We are based in Edmonton, Alberta, with office and performance spaces on 118th Avenue. We provide single- and multi-day and multi-week Artist-in-Residence programs for schools around the province. We perform school matinees for Edmonton students as well as providing performances for the general public and for festivals such as the Canoe and Serca Festivals. We also produce and encourage festivals which celebrate the richness and diversity of Edmontons cultural scene, such as the Thousand Faces Festival of Mythic Art.

O UR M AIN G OALS AND A RTISTIC O BJECTIVES

To keep Shakespeares works alive as a tool people can use to explore and celebrate what it means to be human. To make them accessible to modern audiences in their local cultures without watering down the content. To celebrate and bring to immediate life other works that deal with great themes about humans as individuals and societies.

O UR R OLE IN THE A RTS C OMMUNITY

Our primary role is in arts education and audience development. We like to give young performers a chance to fly. Many of our student performers keep coming back to our projects in increasingly challenging roles. We believe that putting faith in youth can only have positive psychological and sociological repercussions.

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A RTISTIC L EADERS OF THE C OMPANY

Mark Henderson: A RTISTIC D IRECTOR AND P ERFORMANCE D IRECTOR : BA, MFA
Mark is an Edmonton Actor, Director and Producer. As Artistic director of Theatre Prospero, he has directed Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, King Lear, A Midsummer Nights Dream, The Bacchae, The Coming of the Kings, Blood Opera: The Raven Tango Poems, and The Taming of The Shrew. Other credits include Spokesong, Pentecost, Agamemnon, The Unveiling, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Julius Caesar, and Winners. Recent acting credits include Patrick, Otto, and The Big Boss in Jennifer Spencers Maggie Now Series, and roles for Theatre Prospero including Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Alonso in The Tempest, the title role in Macbeth, Oberon, Puck, Quince and Theseus in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Claudius and the Ghost in Hamlet. Mark is the founder of Theatre Prospero, The Serca Festival of Irish Theatre and the Thousand Faces Festival of Mythic Art, and a founding member of The Alberta Avenue Mummers Collective. Mark has sat on the boards of Rapid Fire Theatre, Workshop West Theatre, and Arts on the Ave. He has taught at the Citadel Theatre School and the University of Alberta, from which he holds an M.F.A. in Directing.

Elizabeth Hobbs: A SSOCIATE A RTISTIC D IRECTOR : L EAD A RTIST BA DOUBLE HONOURS

WITH

M ULTI D AY R ESIDENCIES :

Elizabeth Hobbs is a graduate of the University of Alberta with a double major in drama and psychology. She is the Associate Artistic Director of Theatre Prospero and the artistic director of Punctuate! Theatre. She has been acting with Theatre Prospero since she was 13 years old and has appeared in their productions of A Midsummer Nights Dream, The Bacchae, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet. She also directed their 2010/11 production of Macbeth. Other directing credits include Judith and The End of Civilization (Punctuate! Theatre), The Secrets of Immortality (Serca Festival), The Importance of Being Earnest and Impulse (Edmonton Fringe),13 Encounters and Fish at the Bottom the Sea (NextFest).

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