Pushing the Envelope
by MIRA FISHER
Westmount resident Gabrielle Soskin is the artistic director of Persephone Productions which she launched in 2000. "I just felt that we were losing so many graduates", says Soskin who taught in the professional theatre department at John Abbot College for 27 years. She responded by creating a small company that could give these young actors some needed experience. "I did not think at the time that it would continue, but Anna Karenina did incredibly well and I was forced to go on."
Persephone Production's mandate is to produce works that are innovative and have literary and social significance. This season, the mandate will be met by Eric Bogosian's SubUrbia. "While I was at John Abbott, a student showed me the script and I read it. He thought that it was wonderful, and I said alright, I'll try it as a student exercise." Seeing what a success it was with young people, in both the cast and the audience, Soskin told herself that someday she'd like to do it on the main stage. SubUrbia is socially significant, she says, because it reflects the alienation, frustration and darkness experienced by young people in small town North America whose lives are being wasted. "This is very tragic in an affluent and progressive country. The American dream, family and career and patriarchy or power is simply not for them. They become frustrated, angry and disconnected."
SubUrbia takes a powerful provocative, often humorous, course but is a very moving reflection, says the director. "It's very satirical." She finds that even though it was written in 1994, "It's still quite relevant today with incidents such as Columbine. It does pose the question of why is this happening? You could say that Columbine was an exception, but I'm not sure that it is." She also wonders what kind of role model for 18 and 19 year olds President Bush is.
For those who know Gabrielle Soskin, staging SubUrbia might come as a surprise as it is very different from her past productions. The play's dialogue is gritty and contemporary. "If you were watching the rehearsals, you would find it a bit odd, that this rather eloquent articulate English lady is dealing with a text that has four letter words. Sometimes I think to myself. `What am I doing? This is so far away from me! I come from a completely different background"'. As a director she has honed her expertise primarily in classical British drama. On the other hand, she does enjoy pushing the envelope and seems quite delighted with the rehearsals.
The art of directing
With the unexpected success of Persephone Productions, Soskin regretfully left her teaching job to concentrate on the company. She views herself as a faithful director. "I think I've been very true to the story he tells and the characters. I have a good artistic eye, I know how to make characters move in a meaningful way to the story and to the audience", she says. "I do empower the cast and the actors. I receive their ideas with gratitude and enthusiasm but I make it clear that when it comes to the final decision, they're not watching it... I am. I do encourage them to speak up if they find there is a way of resolving something that hasn't been resolved. I feel secure enough to say `oh right I didn't see it that way"' Gabrielle Soskin believes that trying out suggestions is the mark of a good director. "When their ideas are really good, why would I shut those out?"
The survival of Persephone Productions
While Persephone Productions is growing in reputation, so are its costs. "The budget is now twice what it was when I staited" says the 62 year-old. Most of the time it breaks even, but she strongly believes that she needs a good fundraiser to ensure the survival of the company. "I don't know how to do it. I need the expertise of somebody who knows which grants (to pursue) or which corporations might look favorably on the mandate and the objective of my company. There must be people who can do that!" Charging $15 to $20 for a ticket is not enough to finance the current play. But since these are emerging artists, one cannot ask for much more.
Gabrielle Soskin has decided meet the challenge with a one-woman show in the spring. She plans to honor the company's mandate by hiring a young director to stage Virginia Wolfe's A Room of One's Own. "I'm hoping that if I get all my friends, all my fans to come, I might raise $1000 without mounting a big show." She judged it would be very good for her as a teacher and director to go back, as she does from time to time and perform. She will still be pushing her own envelope by rising to the challenge of holding an audience for an hour and fifteen minutes. "It will hurt a bit if I don't come out as successful as I'd wish, but one of the comforts of getting older, is that I doesn't really matter. Life will go on."
Soskin guarantees that those who go see SubUrbia can expect a wonderful evening of theatre, whether it is to their taste or not.
Reprinted from The Westmount Times September 8, 2004
Westmount resident Gabrielle Soskin is the artistic director of Persephone Productions which she launched in 2000. "I just felt that we were losing so many graduates", says Soskin who taught in the professional theatre department at John Abbot College for 27 years. She responded by creating a small company that could give these young actors some needed experience. "I did not think at the time that it would continue, but Anna Karenina did incredibly well and I was forced to go on."
Persephone Production's mandate is to produce works that are innovative and have literary and social significance. This season, the mandate will be met by Eric Bogosian's SubUrbia. "While I was at John Abbott, a student showed me the script and I read it. He thought that it was wonderful, and I said alright, I'll try it as a student exercise." Seeing what a success it was with young people, in both the cast and the audience, Soskin told herself that someday she'd like to do it on the main stage. SubUrbia is socially significant, she says, because it reflects the alienation, frustration and darkness experienced by young people in small town North America whose lives are being wasted. "This is very tragic in an affluent and progressive country. The American dream, family and career and patriarchy or power is simply not for them. They become frustrated, angry and disconnected."
SubUrbia takes a powerful provocative, often humorous, course but is a very moving reflection, says the director. "It's very satirical." She finds that even though it was written in 1994, "It's still quite relevant today with incidents such as Columbine. It does pose the question of why is this happening? You could say that Columbine was an exception, but I'm not sure that it is." She also wonders what kind of role model for 18 and 19 year olds President Bush is.
For those who know Gabrielle Soskin, staging SubUrbia might come as a surprise as it is very different from her past productions. The play's dialogue is gritty and contemporary. "If you were watching the rehearsals, you would find it a bit odd, that this rather eloquent articulate English lady is dealing with a text that has four letter words. Sometimes I think to myself. `What am I doing? This is so far away from me! I come from a completely different background"'. As a director she has honed her expertise primarily in classical British drama. On the other hand, she does enjoy pushing the envelope and seems quite delighted with the rehearsals.
The art of directing
With the unexpected success of Persephone Productions, Soskin regretfully left her teaching job to concentrate on the company. She views herself as a faithful director. "I think I've been very true to the story he tells and the characters. I have a good artistic eye, I know how to make characters move in a meaningful way to the story and to the audience", she says. "I do empower the cast and the actors. I receive their ideas with gratitude and enthusiasm but I make it clear that when it comes to the final decision, they're not watching it... I am. I do encourage them to speak up if they find there is a way of resolving something that hasn't been resolved. I feel secure enough to say `oh right I didn't see it that way"' Gabrielle Soskin believes that trying out suggestions is the mark of a good director. "When their ideas are really good, why would I shut those out?"
The survival of Persephone Productions
While Persephone Productions is growing in reputation, so are its costs. "The budget is now twice what it was when I staited" says the 62 year-old. Most of the time it breaks even, but she strongly believes that she needs a good fundraiser to ensure the survival of the company. "I don't know how to do it. I need the expertise of somebody who knows which grants (to pursue) or which corporations might look favorably on the mandate and the objective of my company. There must be people who can do that!" Charging $15 to $20 for a ticket is not enough to finance the current play. But since these are emerging artists, one cannot ask for much more.
Gabrielle Soskin has decided meet the challenge with a one-woman show in the spring. She plans to honor the company's mandate by hiring a young director to stage Virginia Wolfe's A Room of One's Own. "I'm hoping that if I get all my friends, all my fans to come, I might raise $1000 without mounting a big show." She judged it would be very good for her as a teacher and director to go back, as she does from time to time and perform. She will still be pushing her own envelope by rising to the challenge of holding an audience for an hour and fifteen minutes. "It will hurt a bit if I don't come out as successful as I'd wish, but one of the comforts of getting older, is that I doesn't really matter. Life will go on."
Soskin guarantees that those who go see SubUrbia can expect a wonderful evening of theatre, whether it is to their taste or not.
Reprinted from The Westmount Times September 8, 2004