Alumni Outreach: Making Links

by Christopher DiRaddo

With almost 1,500 fellow alumni scattered throughout Canada and abroad, it is nearly impossible that a fresh-faced National Theatre School grad would not trip over one or two others after graduation. In fact, with most NTS grads finding professional work within the first few months of graduation, it is almost assured that at sometime, somewhere, two of these alumni will find themselves sharing a stage, or working on a production together.

The Stratford Festival would have to be one of these main intersection points: it is a hub of NTS talent. The Journal sat down with two of these alumni, both from different generations, to see how NTS graduates connect.

Enter stage left: Seana McKenna (Acting, 1979). A seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience, McKenna has been recognized for her achievements in acting and directing, receiving both Dora Mavor Moore and Genie awards for her work. She is presently in her 12^th season at the Stratford Festival, playing the lead role of Kate in William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Enter stage right: Paul Dunn (Acting, 1998). Working steadily since his NTS days, Dunn is in his 5^th season at Stratford. Also in The Taming of the Shrew, Dunn plays the role of Biondello.

“It’s not the first time we’ve shared the stage,” says McKenna. Although the two have no scenes together, they do know each other well having also acted in Henry V and Richard III together in past seasons at Stratford.

“I knew Seana had gone to the School,” says Dunn. “When I was at the NTS, Jeanine Pearson was the head of voice and she was very enthusiastic about NTS alumni who were working in Stratford or elsewhere in Canada.” Dunn says Pearson would actually give him assignments. She would ask him if he knew who someone was and, if he didn’t, to go find out and report back.

But not everyone finds out who alumni are through such active research. “Sometimes you find out in conversations,” says McKenna, “but often you don’t find out about other people until you read their bios.”

Different Teaching

With 19 years separating their time at the School, McKenna and Dunn aren’t really able to reminisce together about common teachers or even training. “You can’t always identify with the same actual experiences you had,” says McKenna. “When I was there, the head of the School was Douglas Rain and then Joel Miller, and the coaching staff was entirely different.”

The techniques taught also tend to vary between generations. Dunn even sees a difference between what he learned at the School several years ago and what is being taught now.

The two, however, are able to connect over other things, especially their time spent in Montreal. Throughout the conversation, both McKenna and Dunn are able to take a few strolls down memory lane, mentioning bagels and baguettes, talking about what streets they lived on, their first days of school, and exercises in Room One (now the Pauline McGibbon Studio) — things most NTS alumni are able to relate to.

Finding a Connection

“One of the nicest things about the School is that it is in Montreal,” says Dunn. “It’s not in Toronto and it’s not near where the pressure is going to be. It’s easier to make a connection.”

“You’re always looking for connections,” McKenna chimes in. “That’s part of our work as well. Maybe it is because we’ve all been to the Island somehow. To a certain extent we all cling to each other a little more because we’re Anglophone. You really are in a bit of a sanctuary and you’re immersed in Quebecois theatre and culture. It’s great but it also makes us a little more close-knit.”

McKenna has also come back to the School as a teacher and has other memories of the place as well. “When I was teaching at the NTS,” she says, “I remember saying ‘I will be working with some of you on stage very soon’ and I have been. It’s wonderful.”

Mentoring

Respect for your peers is something both McKenna and Dunn hold in high regard. While both stress the importance of mentoring and communication between generations, they are also careful to make sure that they do not step out of bounds.

“The biggest lesson that young people coming out of any theatre school have to learn is that they’re not in school anymore, says Dunn. “You have to have confidence in yourself and realize that you’re a peer now rather than constantly seek approval, coaching, and teaching. It’s not that the learning stops in any way: it’s that something different is being asked of you.”

“You want to help out, says McKenna, “but you wait for them to ask advice because they’re your peers now. When a younger actor is working with me I’m no longer a teacher or coach. I’m a fellow actor. If they want my advice, I am more than willing to give it but I don’t want to offer unsolicited advice, because it might be intrusive.”

Dunn found the support and encouragement he received coming out of school to be invaluable. “You panic in your first year as a young actor, ‘Who am I going to talk to?’ and all those things,” he says. “Now there’s a more specific mentoring program at Stratford where they actually hook young people up with senior members of the company.”

The National Theatre School’s newly established Alumni Association also hopes to assist new grads in making links with established alumni. One of the main goals of the association’s organizing committee is to set up more of an official network of mentors in order to make that first frightening year a little more welcoming. After all, these new grads are joining the family of NTS alumni already out there, brightening up the dark theatres and screens of Canada.

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