Stage North is hosting Improvisational Theatre Workshops on the first three Tuesdays in June. The workshops are in preparation for an Improv Dinner Theatre event with the Improv Group Spontaneous Combustion in November. Potential actors are not the only people who will benefit from the Improv workshops. Anyone interested in gaining confidence in life skills is also invited to attend.

Basic skills learned in Improv can be used in everyday life and at the workplace. Improv teaches listening, clarification, and confidence and helps in responding instinctively and spontaneously. These are important skills for communication and advancement at work.

Professional Instruction

The workshops will be instructed by Clarice Eckford, a professional actress and poet, who has recently moved to Fort St. John. Clarice has a long list of credits on the stage and with Improvisational Theatre. She is a member of Edmonton’s Rapidfire Theatre and performed in the popular Die-Nasty weekly improvised soap opera. She also participated in the Soap-A-Thon, a 53 hour long Improv show which she claims she will experience only once.

Commenting about Improv titles, Clarice said, “ I like the name Spontaneous Combustion. It implies quick thinking and rapid responses.” Both of these elements are part of what makes Improv theatre entertaining and often comical.

Clarice has worked with The Fringe in Edmonton since 1998. She graduated from the BFA Acting Program at the University of Alberta and is co-founder of Pony Productions, an award winning independent company known for producing short new works by Canadian playwrights.

Clarice is making Fort St. John her home and will be instructing theatre classes for children at the Artspace. She is working with Stage North’s Spontaneous Combustion to build a strong and exciting Improv program.

Join in every week

Throughout the summer, Chalene Scott will be conducting Improv practices every Thursday in June and every Monday in July and August. These drop-in sessions from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the previous Fort Motors building on 100 Street are open to everyone.

Chalene is a third year theatre student at Capilano University. She returns to Fort St. John each summer to work with theatre groups. She has been in 25 plays and musicals working in every aspect of theatre except one. She said, “Working behind the scenes gave me a great appreciation for the work it takes to stage a production. In community theatre I have held most every backstage job except operating the lighting board.” Chalene has designed the lighting and sound for productions and, in fact, won the award for Best Sound for Stage North’s The Rabbit Hole at Mainstage 2009 in Maple Ridge.

Chalene will get assistance from Ryan Bolton, another third year theatre student from Capilano University. Ryan’s theatre interests focus on movement on stage. He has an extensive background in the martial arts and a keen interest in acting.

Stage North Spontaneous Combustion has a core membership of about 14 young people. Veterans of the Improv groups who are Stage North members will be working with the group again to prepare for the Nov. 19 Dinner Theatre booked at the Quality Northern Grand. The doors to Improv sessions are open. You are welcome to attend. Registration for the June workshops is required due to limited space. Workshop fee is $25 for non-members.

For further information and registration for the June workshops, contact

Sue Popesku, Executive Director for Stage North: email spopesku@shaw.ca or phone 250-785-6214