2014 year end review. my year as an old time accident prone heroin addicted rancher.

OVERVIEW

This year has been incredible. Like, for real. I have been so fortunate to have a year and a half straight of artistic work and I can tell you that I have tasted blood. As reality sets in at the beginning of 2015 and I get back to bartending, auditioning and beginning the tv/film thing from the absolute bottom, I now know what I am fighting for.

This year I have had the opportunity to share the stage and green room with some ridiculously talented artists. It has been a year of profound mentorship and I feel like I have grown a ton as an artist (and as a real live person). I have been finding more relaxation and trust in my work as well as a balance between instinct and intellect. Being surrounded by mentors and seasoned artists who are light years ahead of me has made a real impact. I am beyond thankful to have an artistic home at Pacific Theatre, a company with so much integrity, artistic excellence and a real focus on developing their emerging artists. 

Having my family on Vancouver Island has been ideal for days off. The house is always full of company and is the perfect getaway. A quick ferry trip over has found me relaxing at the mountain home, off to Tofino and Horby, skimboarding, playing with all the animals, hiking water falls and learning about 'Island time'. The family is doing well. My Mom has made a bunch of friends through her church and her gym. She is studying theology and keeps busy managing all of the animals. My sister is in her final year of high school, driving all over the place (!) and is always willing to watch movies and go to concerts, score! My dad flies here every two weeks and can be found puttering around the property working on fencing and walking the dogs. Javin is in Alberta working towards getting his Power Engineering ticket, playing drums, and taking care of the rental property. He flies in every few months and thanks me regularly for getting him into heavy music. 

Most importantly, however, John Voth and I figured out the best way to confuse and scare all of our friends: 

THEATRE HIGHLIGHTS

The Seafarer

Pacific Theatre produced Conner McPherson's Irish yarn The Seafarer with some of Vancouver's very best actors and designers. I was an understudy and assistant stage manager which meant that I got to take in the entire rehearsal process up close. It was nothing less than an extended masterclass in acting.

 

Observing the various ways that these actors approached the work, creating a vivid and dynamic world, was unreal. I learned a ton about acting and the type of actor I want to become. I also got to make a bunch of racket backstage and play with special effects. Pacific Theatre showed up at the awards. The Seafarer received eight Jessie Richardson nominations, winning an acting award and the final award of the night for Outstanding Production, Large Theatre. The entire night I couldn't stop thinking "I am in good company." 

Old Time Gospel Radio Hour 

While Ron Reed (Artistic Director) was busy preparing for The Seafarer he asked my buddy Peter Church and I to start putting together material for a show. The three of us found and wrote a bunch of old time radio material: radio plays, ads, sermons, stories etc. At the same time the local bluegrass band Viper Central was working a set list. 

 

When Ron was free we spent a few hours piecing the material together into an Old Time Gospel Radio show! It ended up being a heartwarming evening of exceptional music interspersed with stories, testimonials and silly advertisements. The show went off well and sold out every night. It was fun to see elderly folks grinning from ear to ear while singing and clapping along, often telling us that it transported them back to the time of old radio. My favourite part of the show was synchronizing a radio drama about Charlie Bulldog Wireman, an outlaw turned preacher, with harmonies by Viper Central.

Gruesome Playground Injuries

For our final apprentice project with Pacific Theatre, Pippa Johnstone and I produced and performed in this dark romantic two hander which ended up being the highlight of my year.

 

Chelsea Haberlin, Vancouver's hottest young director, was interested in working with us and this helped us to recruit some top notch designers. I worked my butt off for most of the year on this project and learned how much work my producer friends actually do. It was a tough challenge to balance the task oriented, list making, email crazy role of producer with the emotional vulnerability demanded by performing this material. In the end, however, it was that much more rewarding.

 

The play follows the relationship of two self destructive characters overs three decades. Our characters never leave the stage, stylistically transitioning between the different ages and costumes as a part of the show. It couldn't have turned out any better. Our  opening night was one of the most rewarding nights of my life! It was a great showcase for us as emerging actors as a bunch of artistic directors, theatre professionals and reviewers came out. However, the most rewarding part was hearing personal stories from audience members as they related to the material. Here's a couple of links: Vancouver Sun Article,  Reviews (the good ones), Costume Blog, Set Blog. 

The Rainmaker

During our apprenticeship the play The Rainmaker came up as an ideal fit for the three apprentices. Ron was encouraging us to do it as an apprentice project but later decided to do it as the main stage opener for following season.

  

The Rainmaker is a 1950's prairie romance that looks at love, self worth, and faith. Pippa, Ryan, and I played the Curry siblings surrounded by a cast of powerhouse actors: Andrew Wheeler, John Voth, Rob Salvador and Peter Church. Under Ron's direction the process was very natural, honest and an absolute riot. Even though I was playing the grouchy judicial older brother, I laughed the whole way through. The green room was hysterical, Rob and John improvising the most absurd things I have ever heard.

 

Trainspotting 

While we were rehearsing The Rainmaker Pippa and I were also busy working on a completely different sort of show: the gritty Scottish play Trainspotting as a part of Rumble Theatre's Tremors Festival.

Tremors was a kick ass festival that showcased emerging artists in three gritty contemporary plays. Trainspotting was a challenging show. If you've read the novel or watched the film you know that it is a nasty world full of drug abuse, narcissism and misogyny. What I loved about this play was finding the tiny moments of grace and love in the midst of all the filth. I learned a lot about addiction and how our basic human needs are the same, regardless of where we are in society. The dialect was tricky. Goofing around with Brett Harris day after day was a blast as we had to get messy for this world to make any (non)sense. Here's an article about the show in The Province.

Career Accomplishments
For regular updates check out http://kentonklassen.workbooklive.com/

-Completed the Pacific Theatre Apprenticeship
-Actor/Co-creator- Old Time Gospel Radio Hour (Pacific Theatre)
-Understudy/ASM - The Seafarer (Pacific Theatre)
-Actor/Producer - Gruesome Playground Injuries (Stone's Throw Productions)
-Actor - August in the Spring (Satellite Theatre)
-Actor - The Rainmaker (Pacific Theatre)
-Actor - Trainspotting (Rumble Theatre)
-Actor - Three Buddies (Vancouver Fringe Commercial)
-Actor - The First Sip (Johnny Appleseed Cider Commercial)
-Actor (Standardized Patient) - UBC Medical
-Actor - Writing With (PT Playwriting Group)
-Publicist/Poster Designer - Oleanna (Bleeding Heart Theatre) 
-Instructor - PT Theatre Camp
-Box Office Coordinator - Vancouver Fringe Festival
-Student - Advanced Scene Study - John Cooper
-Student - Film Scene Study - Andrew McIlroy
- Various Volunteer work for theatre companies.   

LISTS
I often wonder what people do with their free time. I consume a whole lot of art. Here are a few of my favourites from this past year (in no particular order).

Books
- The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
- Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
- Art & Fear - David Bayles
- The Sisters Brothers - Patrick deWitt

Movies
- 12 Years a Slave
- The Wolf of Wall Street
- Dallas Buyers Club
- Boyhood
- Birdman
- August Osage County
- The Hunt  
- Noah
- Her
- Lone Survivor
- The Raid 2
- Edge of Tomorrow
- Ain't Them Bodies Saints
- Blue Ruin
- Interstellar
- The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies
- Sexy Beast
- Exodus: Gods and Kings
- The F Word

TV
- True Detective - Season 1
- Breaking Bad - Season 5
- Peaky Blinders - Season 1 & 2
- Homeland - Season 4
- Utopia - Season 1 & 2
- Cosmos - Season 1
- The Leftovers - Season 1
- Boardwalk Empire - Season 5
- Downton Abbey - Season 4
- Game of Thrones - Season 4
- Vikings - Season 2
- Rectify - Season 2 

Plays
- Killer Joe (Itsazoo)
- Bug (Hardline)
- Saint Joan (ArtsClub)
- A Midsummer Nights Dream (Bard)
- Espresso (PT)
- Oleanna (Bleeding Heart Theatre)
- Industry: The Food Must Go Out (Fringe)
- Greenland (Tigermilk Collective)
- Magic Unicorn Island (Fringe) 
- Aiden Flynn Lost a Brother So He Made Another (Theatre Howl)

Albums
- Anberlin - Low Born
- Copeland - Ixora
- Bill Evans -Everybody Digs Bill Evans
- Gary Clark Jr. - Self Titled
- Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
- Atoms for Peace - Amok
- Periphery - Periphery II

Concerts
- Brand New
- City & Colour
- Half Moon Run
- Animals as Leaders

Other
- Howl - Poem by Allen Ginsberg
- The Eye of the World - Graphic Novels
- Esao Andrews - Visual Artist