Pulling back the curtain on theatre

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This article was published 10/09/2021 (1518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A few steps from a bustling street corner and just beyond an emerald-green and golden ticket booth — a scene plucked from a bygone era and dropped in the modern-day West End — lies the romantic-style, cavernous expanse of The Gargoyle Threatre.

Owner Andrew Davidson and his team are putting the finishing touches on the space, which aims to give Winnipeg-based playwrights a stage to workshop original productions.

While working on a musical some time ago, Davidson was struck by how difficult it was to find a physical space to workshop a play. This, he said, was the impetus behind The Gargoyle Theatre.

“In working with my friend and other people, I remembered how deeply enjoyable and satisfying and lovely it is to work in a community, and I can’t wait to work with other people to help them realize their visions on stage,” he said.

“We really want to help people give birth to new things.”

The Gargoyle Theatre will be hosting pitch days. In these workshops, writers of all experience levels and backgrounds can step under the spotlight and impart their vision to a panel of other creators and interested members of the public.

From there, Davidson plans to support playwrights as they shape their productions in-house during a three-week period. The writers will then get the opportunity to showcase their play with a six-show run over a five-day period.

“We’re really looking to get shows that are subversive — a little bit dangerous,” he said. “We really do want to make people think and feel.”  

To make this happen, Davidson bought a more than 100-year-old building at 585 Ellice Ave. and has since renovated almost everything inside, he said.  

The building has undergone a number of costume changes over the years — flip-flopping back and forth between a movie theatre and a place of worship for decades before transforming once again into a home for the arts.

A set of gargoyle statues loom over the roughly 145-seat theatre — a nod to the theatre’s namesake, which was inspired by Davidson’s well-loved 2008 novel, The Gargoyle. For Davidson, the creature is evocative and representative of something that is neither one thing nor another.

“A transitioning creature like the gargoyle really spoke well to what we’re doing here with the plays,” he said.

Open floor space at the back of the theatre will give patrons and crew alike a place to share in conversation over a locally made beverage or snack.

“It’s big enough, but it’s not too big. You really feel a part of something,” he said.

The theatre also features a new lighting grid and sound system. Davidson acknowledged the local technicians who helped with the setup at a time when the pandemic halted theatre productions.

Rebecca Driedger, 24, is the The Gargoyle Theatre’s venue and media tech. Driedger got her start in theatre as a youth, performing in community and high school productions. Her passion for the arts carried through to post-secondary, where she graduated from Brandon University with a dual major in drama and visual art and, more recently, from Red River College, where she studied media production.

“I’ve always wanted to work in theatre,” she said.

Driedger is managing the theatre’s social media and web design and is looking forward to putting her videography skills to use filming the plays that pass through the theatre. As part of the workshop process, Driedger and Davidson want artists to emerge from The Gargoyle Theatre with a record of their hard work.

“We’re also going to be doing talk-backs after the shows as well with the writers, the directors, the actors, and we’re going to be putting that into a podcast,” Driedger said “There’s people who like to see the shows, and there people like me who like to see the behind the scenes and how things work.”

The Gargoyle Theatre is hosting an open house on Fri., Oct. 15 from 7 to 9 p.m. For more information on events and workshops, visit www.thegargoyletheatre.com