The Valley

Written by Joan MacLeod Directed by Monica Dufault Dates: November 14-30, 2014 Location: Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre Tickets: General Admission $25, Student/Senior $20, Sundays PWYC Connor heads off enthusiastically for his first year at university, but comes home at Thanksgiving refusing to go back Read more

Wings of Wax

Written by Lindsay Price Directed by Monica Dufault Dates: February 20 to March 8, 2015 Location: Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre, 101 King Street, 2nd Floor, St. Catharines Tickets: General $25, Student/Senior $20, Sundays PWYC       In this world premiere of Wings of Wax we encounter the Read more

ECT Announces New Artistic Director

ECT Announces new Artistic Director for 2014/15 Essential Collective Theatre is pleased to announce Monica Dufault will be the next Artistic Director of the company! Monica is no stranger to ECT, directing two of the company’s most successful productions over the Read more
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ECT General Auditions

MDW&R2013

ECT Artistic Director Monica Dufault will hold general auditions for the 2014/2015 season on Wednesday, July 9, 2014, from 10am to 5pm at the Flexspace, 101 King Street, 2nd Floor, St. Catharines. Niagara-based Equity and Non-Equity actors are encouraged to submit a cover letter, photo and resume for consideration via email to monica@ectheatre.ca. Deadline for submissions is July 4, 2014. Actors who are selected for an audition will be contacted by July 7. Please prepare one contemporary monologue of no more than 2 minutes in length. 

ECT Outreach and Educational Activities

Introduction to Acting and Meisner Technique with Stephanie Jones

The Meisner Technique was developed by Sanford Meisner at The Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York.  The focus of this work is to free an actor from self-consciousness that inhibits them creatively, and to be able to connect more authentically and fully to their scene partners. It is all-encompassing and remains one of North America’s most practical acting techniques.  Stephanie Jones is one of Canada’s most recently Neighbourhood Playhouse trained instructors and will introduce the popular repetition exercise in relation to its application to text. For adult actors of all experience levels.
This course will be offered in  May 2015.

Playwriting for Youth

Designed specifically for high school students aged 14-18, this program will offer twice-monthly after school workshops that will lead young playwrights through the process of writing their own 20 minute play. Students will receive regular group workshops, as well as individual feedback with facilitators Monica Dufault and Lindsay Price. The culminating activity will be a reading of excerpts from the students’ plays performed by professional actors at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre in June 2015, as part of the ECT Playwright Weekend.

This program will be offered in January/June 2015.

“Literacy is about more than reading or writing – it is about how we communicate in society. It is about social practices and relationships, about knowledge, language and culture.” -UNESCO, Statement for the United Nations Literacy Decade, 2003 – 2012.

ECT Playwright’s Unit

Beginning in September, 2014, ECT will establish a Playwrights Unit for Niagara area playwrights with some writing experience. The Playwrights Unit will hold monthly meetings in our AMP facility. ECT will provide dramaturgical support and feedback, and organize guest readings by visiting playwrights followed by discussions. Playwrights involved in the ECT Unit will be encouraged to submit their scripts to our annual play development program. If you are interested in participating in the ECT Playwrights Unit, please contact monica@ectheatre.ca.

Post-Show Talkbacks

ECT offers Post-Show Talkbacks at all of our weekday matinee performances, and at our Wednesday night performances. Please stay after the show for this moderated question and answer period to talk with us about the play.