EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S UPDATE
By Craig Wrotniak
Happy November to everybody! I’m delighted to report that our National Drama Teachers’ Conference, held on the weekend of October 25-27, was a huge success, with a record turnout of 266 Canadian drama teachers. They included 99 teachers from British Columbia, 32 from Alberta, 22 from Saskatchewan, 66 from Ontario, and 18 from Quebec. In fact, all of Canada’s provinces and territories were represented except Prince Edward Island and Nunavut.
As you know, the Conference featured several workshops conducted on Zoom, so that we could reach as many participants across the country as possible. We recorded most of those Zoom workshops, and in response to popular demand, we have published some of those recordings on a secure members’ page on our Vimeo account. If you registered for the conference and did not receive the access code, please email me at craig@educationaltheatre.ca and I will get this over to you directly. Also if you want access to these resources you can always register for a TAEA Annual Professional Membership for $50 HERE and message our Membership Manager Kyle Collins to get the access codes for the video library and our other resources at: membership@educationaltheatre.ca
DTSS – Drama Teacher Support System – Development & Soft Launch:
On the topic of Professional Resources, we are excited to announce that we are doing a soft launch of our DTSS – Drama Teacher Support System this year, and it will be ready for a full launch in September, 2025. The DTSS will provide Canadian Drama Teachers who are TAEA STAR Troupe Directors or Professional Members with the following seven elements of support:
- Teacher Resources
– Play Writing Resources (Completed)
– Performance Resources (Work-In-Progress – Please check back often as we fully set this up)
– Stagecraft Resources (Work-In-Progress – Please check back often as we fully set this up)
– New Teacher Resources (Work-In-Progress – Please check back often as we fully set this up)
– Other Theatrical Arts Resources (Work-In-Progress – Please check back often as we fully set this up)
- Teacher Benefits / Discounts – Completed, but always evolving.
- School Theatre Production Resources (BIG announcements coming soon on this) – these resources will be like nothing the educational theatre community in Canada has ever seen!
- Facebook Private Community Group Forum – Completed and ready to join!
- Vimeo Zoom Workshop Resource Library – Completed and will expand annually
- TAEA National Theatrical Arts Teaching Artists Database – To be built this year for a September 2025 launch
- TAEA Mentorship Matching Network – To be built this Spring in anticipation for September 2025. More information to come this Spring.
We are thrilled to be able to provide such a thoughtful and holistic support system for drama teachers across the country. Whether this is your first year or your 31st year as a drama teacher, this seven-element program will have something for you and your drama program to benefit from!
Regional STAR Festival:
Registration is now open for the Regional STAR Fest events, which will be happening in
26 regions across Canada! Expect to see lots of pictures and excitement coming in from across Canada over the next few months. Starting next year, we will even have a video database of Advanced performances with slates in multiple categories: Solo Musical, Duet Musical, Ensemble Musical, Contrasting Monologues, Duo Scene, Ensemble Scene, Musical Theatre Dance, Devised Theatre and Tech Design Presentations. This will be designed to help new schools that want to participate in the STAR Festival, but have never come before and might not know how to prepare or what to expect. We are thrilled to see so many first-time schools joining our community, and with additional support we expect to see even more next year!
STAR Troupe Membership / Student Inductions:
Schools are currently doing their annual troupe renewals, in order to keep their STAR Troupe numbers and their student festival registration discounts valid. In fact, if you registered for our annual drama teachers’ conference, you can claim your free STAR Troupe start-up grant for your school drama program, and start inducting your most committed drama students to the National STAR Guild honours society, right now. Just click on HERE and complete the “School STAR Troupe – New School Activation” form. When you’re checking out, please enter the following coupon code: TAEAStartup24/25. That’s all it takes. You will then receive an email with your troupe number, and we will mail you a STAR Troupe Charter and Membership Induction Roll for students from your school program whom you have inducted into the National STAR Guild Honours Society. Inducting them provides them with a wide range of lifetime benefits. More information can be found online at our website HERE or by contacting our membership manager Kyle Collins at membership@educationaltheatre.ca
TAPP Programs are open now. Please encourage your students to participate!
Theatrical Arts Pathway Portals are open and accepting submissions until January 31st please highlight this to your students! The opportunities are amazing for students looking for pathways, opportunities and recognition in the performing arts!
a.) Student Short Playwriting Competition – Open to individual students who write a play of 20 minutes or less for adjudication. Winners will get professionally published in our TAEA Student Works Anthology out of TRW Plays (New York / London) and receive an invite to see their play produced, with production fees waived, for the National STAR Fest this Spring. The cost to enter your script is $20.00. More details can be found at: https://taeacanada.ca/star-short-play-program/
b.) National STAR Search – Open to anyone in grades 6 to 12 who wants to present performance material that is recorded and submitted to be viewed by 12 different agents and casting directors from across Canada. You can enter a submission for Film Acting and/or a submission for Voice-Over. The cost to enter your self-tape is $15.00. More details can be found at https://taeacanada.ca/star-search-industry-entrance-portal/
c.) Unified Post-Secondary Auditions – Open to grade 12 students who want to go to a theatre or film school next year in any performance or technical program. Get your self-tape showcased to dozens of schools across Canada and the US. The cost to enter your self-tape is $15.00 More details can be found at: https://taeacanada.ca/unified-post-secondary-entrance-audition-portal/
Conference Prize Announcements Coming Soon:
Raffles and Prize Results Coming Soon! You can expect exciting announcements about schools that have won our Disney Theatricals Musical Theatre Production Giveaway, and TRW Licencing Discounts, conference referral prizes, and local raffle prizes that will be mailed out. We appreciate your patience as we work our way through all of these features, and also prep for our Regional STAR Fest, happening in 26 different locations in the coming months.
Best wishes – Craig Wrotniak, Executive Director, TAEA