Theatre Program Faculty
Deborah Neville Instructor
| Acting | Play Direction | Production Theatre director, performer and educator Deborah Neville holds a BA in Theatre from the University of British Columbia and a Masters in Dramaturgy from the University of Glasgow where she was awarded the James Arnott Prize for Directing. Deborah taught and directed at The Royal Scottish Conservatoire in Glasgow, Scotland where she lived for 10 years. As a theatre maker, Deborah has collaborated, performed and directed with a range of companies and festivals in Canada, Scotland, Japan, and the USA — including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, New Works-New Worlds, Sounds of Progress, IndepenDance and the Public Dreams Society. She has toured with both Bunraku puppet and circus shows and had the privilege to learn from renowned theatre practitioners Kate Weiss, Stephen Wangh, and Augusto Boal. Deborah is compelled by stories that explore social responsibility, inclusivity, and the environment. Selected directing credits include: The Wolves, A Woman in Berlin, The Maids, The Rez Sisters, Blue Window, Agnes Under the Big Top, The Laramie Project, Light the Way (Climate Change Theatre Action Plan), Unity 1918 and Further Than the Furthest Thing. | ||
Thrasso Petras Instructor 
| Acting | Voice, Speech, and Text | Play Direction
Thrasso is a theatre artist, that is to say, actor, director, teacher and coach of voice, speech, text and movement. He holds a degree in Classical Studies and studied Theatre at UBC, a diploma in Physical Theatre Arts from the TOOBA Physical Theatre Centre and an MFA in Theatre Voice Pedagogy from UAlberta. He is a certified yoga teacher and a member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association, Canadian Actors Equity Association and ACTRA. The focus of Thrasso’s creative research is the responsive relationship between sound and motion and the actor’s ability to manipulate this relationship in order to reveal meaning from text. His work revolves around the integration of physical theatre with the major approaches of voice, speech, and text analysis techniques. Thrasso develops performance training in which the clear, meaningful voice demanded by classical training is simultaneously informed by expressive articulation offered by the body in more avant-garde methodologies. The objective of this work is to provide the performer with the technical tools to fulfill the requirements of fully embodied communication, both in clarity of sound as well as clarity of meaning.
| ||
Christine Dewar Performing & Fine Arts Liaison | Fiction Editor at Event Magazine
| Theatre History | Performing and Fine Arts
Christine Dewar completed both her BA (Honours English) and MA (English) Degrees at the University of British Columbia. Her passion for Theatre History was ignited while studying with historian Peter Loeffler. Christine performed in plays and films at UBC and wrote arts reviews for The Ubyssey. She directed Here We Are by Dorothy Parker, and Cubistique by Tom Cone. Christine has had a long association with the award-winning Douglas College literary journal, Event , where she currently works as Fiction Editor and writes fiction reviews. She has also been active with the Amelia Douglas Gallery, curating a range of art exhibits in including: Valerie Romain, Deep Water; Michael Downs, Mythologies; Sharalee Regehr, Women of Substance and, most recently, Joe Rosenblatt, Magic Gardens. Her recent public lectures include "Sarah Siddons and Edmund Kean: Two Actors in the Age of Jane Austen." Christine has been teaching at Douglas College since 1987. She believes her mission is to encourage all students to see live theatre, dance, music and art, and to explore history as a rich resource for their own creative work. All of her courses are open to University Transfer students seeking imaginative arts electives. Published Works:
Links:
| ||
Tanya Elchuk Instructor 
| Acting | Movement | Voice Tanya Elchuk, BA Cultural Studies (Trent) MFA Acting (York), is a Ukrainian-Canadian theatre artist, writer, and acting teacher, with a specialization in voice, speech, and embodiment. She has taught at Simon Fraser University, York University, Capilano University, The Vancouver Institute for Media Arts (VanArts), and more. As an actor and theatre maker, Tanya has written, performed, and produced original works throughout Canada and the United States. She is an Editorial Board Member for the Voice and Speech Review and was named one of Canada’s Top 5 Storytellers by SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) for her research on the neuroscience of acting. Her current research focuses on gathering and developing resources and best practices for educators toward creating safer, trauma-informed actor training spaces. Two of her unpublished manuscripts were recently longlisted for CANSCAIP’s (the Canadian Society for Authors, Illustrators, and Performers) 2022 Writing for Children Competition. | ||
David MacMurray Smith Retired 
| david@fantasticspace.com Movement | Voice
Over the last 40 years of his career David has worked in Theatre, Ballet, Opera, Mime, and Clown and as a Creator, Performer, Director, Choreographer, and Educator. He is a Movement Specialist, Body worker, Creative and Performance Consultant, and an Experienced Counsellor who has taught at several universities. He was Head Instructor at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre School, Movement Director for the Music Theatre and Opera Programs at the Banff Centre for the Arts, guest resource artist at The People's Light & Theatre Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1987 -2001, training program director for Full Circle: First Nation's Ensemble Training Program, 2003 -2013, and founding faculty and instructor for the Expressive Arts Therapy Training program, Continuing Ed, Langara College, 2005 to present. David is now an independent educator who founded Fantastic Space Enterprises in 1995. The focus there is on cultivating high levels of performance awareness through the development of primary life skills that nurture creative awareness and the ability to embody intuition in a consciously expressive and functional way. His special interest is in how memory moves and patterns itself in our bodies and how this affects our perceptions, behavior, and communication. As a movement specialist, David has drawn upon his broad range of experience and sources to develop his own humanistic approach to performance training. His expertise lies in his ability to facilitate learning environments that promote principle centred self-education and provide strong foundations for continued personal and professional growth. Training: Double Major in Theatre and Dance Univ. of Mass. Amherst Full Scholarship Joffery Ballet, N.Y.C HB Studio, N.Y.C. Advanced Physical Training for Actors, Linda Putnam, Mass. Decroux Mime, Mime Omnibus, Montreal Clown, Richard Pochinko, Mime Unlimited, Montreal and Toronto. Specialities: Physical Training for Actors Emotional Embodiment Ensemble Politics & Creation Clown Mime Dance Performance Psychology.
| ||
Allan Lysell Faculty Emeritus 
|
| ||
Cheryl Swan Faculty Emeritus 
| B.F.A. (Acting) – University of Alberta (With Distinction) B.Ed. (Drama/English) – University of Alberta (With Distinction) Biography: An actor, teacher, director and theatre administrator, Cheryl has many theatre, film and television credits to her name. She has taught voice, movement and acting at a number of post-secondary institutions in Edmonton and Vancouver including The University of Alberta, MacEwan University and U.B.C. She was a full-time faculty member in the Douglas College Theatre Department for 26 years and the Coordinator of the department from 1991 to 2007. She has taught voice, movement, acting and directed over 20 theatre productions in the department including: Love and Information; Subsequent Conversations; Ten Lost Years; Unity (1918); Kindertransport; The Diviners; Agnes of God and A Clockwork Orange. She decided on early retirement in August of 2017 so she could pursue personal and creative interests but her love of teaching brings her back to the college to teach PEFA acting classes each fall. Cheryl continues to work as a professional artist in theatre, film and television. She is a Mentor, Instructor and Company Member with Seacoast Theatre Centre in West Vancouver. Her acting credits with the company include Ten Lost Years and Pioneer Years (5 years of touring); Grapes of Wrath; Love and Dreaming; The “V” Project; The Memory of Water and The Blue Room. She is represented by Performers Management.
|