Seeking Puppeteers Under 30 for new TYA puppet play by Josh Languedoc, to debut during the 2021 Thousand Faces Festival
The Production
The Thousand Faces Ensemble is bringing together a team of renowned Edmonton puppetry artists to develop and produce a brand new play for young audiences. It will premiere digitally during the festival in fall 2021, and be livestreamed to schools at that time. A further in-person school tour is tentatively scheduled in early 2022. The show, currently with the working title Puppet Dreams and Other Tales, is being developed in the coming months and will employ a variety of puppetry styles. The show will be developed to be performed digitally and toured in person to schools across the province. The core creative team consists of:
Playwright: Josh Languedoc
Directors: Maralyn Ryan and Mark Henderson
Puppetry Mentor: Gomathi Boorada
Puppet Designer: Randall Fraser
The Role
The Thousand Faces Festival is seeking two (2) emerging artists to operate puppets for this production. Since this play is in development, there are not yet defined roles for the show. One of our goals with this project is to build puppetry talent in the Edmonton area. In addition to working with the above puppetry artists, successful candidates will have the opportunity to participate in paid workshops with other local puppet artists.
For the past 10 years, The Thousand Faces Festival has celebrated the myths and stories at the roots of Edmonton’s many cultures through theatre, music, dance, and other artistic disciplines. We are committed to ensuring that our staff, crew and artistic teams also reflect the diversity we see on our stages. We strongly encourage submissions from people of all backgrounds and look forward to continuing our tradition of discovering what connects us all through art. To encourage a diversity of applications, we ask that this audition notice be shared as widely as possible with potential applicants. Please send it to anyone you think may be interested!
Both positions are funded by the Canada Summer Jobs program. All applicants must be under the age of 30, and either Canadian Citizens, permanent residents, or refugees.
The Commitment
Fall Festival Production*
Rehearsal Start Date: September 20, 2021
Opening Date: October 27, 2021
Closing Date: November 9, 2021
Compensation: $19/hour, 35 hours per week, Monday-Friday**
* Please note that our live streaming studio rehearsal and performance space is not easily accessible by Edmonton transit. The nearest bus stop is over a 10 minute walk away without sidewalks.
** Working hours will be full time weekdays during the day, with potential additional weekend requirements which will be communicated ahead of time.
Tentative Winter School Tour
Contract Start Date: January 10, 2022
Contract End Date: February 26, 2022
32 hours per week, Monday-Friday*
*Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, details of the winter school tour are very preliminary and will evolve as the situation clarifies in the new school year
The Submission
Please prepare and record a video with a 1 minute introduction about yourself, and a 1-2 minute monologue using a sock puppet OR a 1-2 minute scene featuring 2 sock puppets.
Video Submission Deadline: July 4, 2021
Videos will be reviewed by the festival’s artistic director Mark Henderson, director Maralyn Ryan, and puppetry mentor Gomathi Boorada.
Select candidates will be contacted for a follow up virtual interview with the creative team between July 7-9, 2021.
Submission Process
Please email producer@thousandfaces.ca with the subject line “Puppet Play Audition”. Include in your email a short letter of interest and your artistic CV. Upon receipt of your email, you will be sent the link to upload your video and technical requirements for your recording.
