The Village Conservatory for Music Theatre – or the ViC for short – provides high-quality post-secondary performing arts training to aspiring actors and singers.
This week, they present Inhibition Exhibition: A Community Celebration. In its fourth offering, what began as a year-end student showcase has grown into a full-blown, 5-day festival.
“This year, our theme is ‘untethered,’” says artistic director Simon Miron. “It’s really about releasing the bonds that are holding us together.”
The title program runs March 7-10 and features student-created works exploring the ideas of relationships, connections and what being tethered to a person or thing can do for the individuals involved.
“All the of the pieces in Untethered this year have a taste of the good and the bad, of relationships” explains Miron. “Which really, to me, is what storytelling is all about.”
Working alongside ‘creation coaches,’ students in the program have produced a variety of original musicals, songs, dances and sketches exploring the theme.
The festival kicks off with a community cabaret on Wednesday, March 6, welcoming other artists – some graduates of the program; others, performers in the community – to celebrate the arts in its many forms.
“We thought that this was a great opportunity to feature those (performers and works) so that Manitobans can get an idea of what’s coming,” says Miron. “(It’s an opportunity) to see the incredible art that’s being produced outside of the ViC.”
Speaking of new works, a recently commissioned script titled “How They’ll Tell It.”
Penned by Sophie Guillas working alongside director/dramaturge Cali Sproule, the work gets a staged reading on Sunday afternoon.
“They're a really interesting team who have written a really, really interesting script,” says Miron. “It’s a fun, fascinating, kind of dark tale dealing with some really wonderful and kind of spooky themes.”
Inhibition Exhibition takes place at the Crescent Arts Centre - 525 Wardlaw Avenue.
To learn more about the festival and to purchase tickets, visit: www.villageconservatory.com