Special Projects
Working for Organized Labour is seldom dull. From time to time, special projects would come up for Ground Zero. Some of these projects were created by like-minded artists, and the company simply offered support.
Rag, Tag & Bobtail [1996]
(l-r) Rob Winslow, Gwen Baillie, Kate Story.
The story of the “father of the Canadian Labour Movement”, Daniel O’Donaghue, told through his letters and fictional dramatic scenes.
In honour of their 125h anniversary, the Metropolitan Toronto and District Labour Council commissioned this show from Ground Zero. It focused on O’Donaghue’s early years with Knights of Labour, organizing the Toronto Typographical Union, and culminating in the Streetcar strike of 1886 The show was presented upstairs at YPT [now the Lorraine Kassa Theatre for Young People].
Script & Direction: Don Bouzek
Songs: Sue Newman & Rob Fortin
Original Stage Design: Allan Watts
Performing Artists: Gwen Baillie, Dennis Balatbat, Jim Gleason, Phil Oakley, Kate Story, Rob Winslow
Stage Manager: Bryan James Asst. S.M.: Victor Wolters
Mime Coach: Jorge Barahona
Costume Coordination: Rhonda Payne
Stage Carpentry: Jim Gleason
Script published in Canadian Theatre Review [#99 Summer 1999]
Fair is Fair [1992-93]
(l-r) Patty Jarvis, Luc Iogna, Helen Claire Tingling, Ron Meetoos, Diane Roberts, Jane Field.
An inter-active Forum Theatre show about Employment Equity created by Rhonda Payne. The show existed as a body of material that could be adapted to different audiences focusing on specific Equity groups, such as Aboriginal Workers or Workers of Colour.
Rhonda, for a number of years GZP’s Associate Director, developed this show using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Popular Theatre system. Originally she researched the material with the support of an Ontario Arts Council’s Artists and the Workplace program working with the Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union. After the NDP election victory, Management Board supported the show for a provincial tour as an educational instrument around the government’s newly introduced Employment Equity legislation.
Script: Rhonda Payne, Andre Alcasid, Marie V. Cruz, Voltaire DeLeon, Jane Field, David Findlay, Luciano Iogna, Patty Jarvis, Steve Kuleshnyk, Yvette Martin, Ron Meetoos, Angela Moore, Susan Newman, Dawn Roach, Diane Roberts, Larry Saidman, Peggy Sample, Susan Spicer, Helen-Claire Tingling, Robert Winslow, Joyce Pate, Jeanne Wood, Anne Marie Wierzbicki
Composers: Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, Jane Field, John Lang
Director: Rhonda Payne
Designer: Ron Meetoos
Performing Artists: Jane Field, Luc Iogna, Patty Jarvis, Ron Meetoos, Diane Roberts, Helen Claire Tingling
Stage Manager: Bryan James / Don Bouzek Asst. S.M.: David Findlay
Glow Boys [1985]
John Blackwood, projection - Condé / Beveridge.
One of Ground Zero’s first multi-diciplinary performances, Catherine MacLeod’s play depicts the lives of nuclear energy workers in her home town of Kincardine, Ontario.
Catherine brought together a distinguished team of artists to create the show. Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge photographed slide projections, Kim Tomsczak edited video and Chris D. Walroth programmed computer graphics, all working with direction from Don Bouzek. Working from two rented cottages on Lake Huron, the team presented the show both at the Canadian Labour Congress Ontario region school in Port Elgin and at the old beachfront dance pavilion in Kincardine.
The material gathered during the production was later transformed into a photo series by Carole and Karl, No Immediate Threat.
Script: Catherine MacLeod
Director: Don Bouzek
Design: Set: Louise Lapointe
Projections: Carole Condé / Karl Beveridge
Video: Kim Tomczak
Computer Graphics: Chris D. Walroth
Performing Artists: Maja Ardal, John Blackwood, Denise
Stage Manager: Chris D. Walroth
