KELTIE FORSYTH
“The day after closing a three-production Edmonton Fringe Festival, my husband and I packed our 1998 Corolla and drove to Vancouver just in time to start the MFA in Directing at UBC.
I had no idea what I was getting into.
For two years, I focused on developing my craft. What a luxury! For two years, I didn’t have to fund my own productions. I didn’t have to worry about insurance or co-op contracts or ticket sales. Instead, I refreshed my academic study of theatre, read theory and took classes with some of the most thoughtful, rigorous directors in the country. They helped me to look at my own practice, tear out what wasn’t serving me and build on what was.
And of course I had the opportunity to direct in the beautiful Frederic Wood Theatre. That process was one of the most positive, artistically productive and satisfying experiences of my career. As I rehearsed with UBC’s enthusiastic, open and engaged students, I developed a new way of working that feeds on my strengths. Knowing that I have a thought-out practice that works has emboldened me as an artist, encouraging me to take greater risks.
The program has opened doors for me already. I am now the Associate Artistic Director at Pi Theatre in part because Richard Wolfe – Pi’s Artistic Director – sat on my thesis committee. I am directing a production of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play at Ensemble Theatre this summer because Tariq Leslie – Ensemble’s Artistic Director – enjoyed my thesis production.
I took a huge risk moving to a new city and a new community for my MFA, and while it hasn’t always been easy, I can look back confident that I am a stronger artist for it.”
Keltie Forsyth
http://www.pitheatre.com
Keltie’s Biography:
Keltie is a Vancouver based theatre instructor, producer, director and creator.
She holds a Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia and a BA from the University of Alberta’s Department of Drama. She is also a participant in the 2013 Citadel Theatre / Banff Centre’s Robbin’s Academy Professional Theatre Program.
Recent directing credits include Eurydice, The Dumb Waiter, Marion Bridge (UBC), Juice, All in the Timing, Closer, Bedlam (Junior Jester Cap award), Kafka’s Metamorphosis (K.I.A. Productions), Minding Dad (Sterling nomination), Love and Death (THEATrePUBLIC), and Passages (Ribbit Republic).
Keltie is currently the Associate Artistic Director at Pi Theatre and a sessional instructor in the department of Theatre and Film at the University of British Columbia.
Upcoming: Ensemble Theatre, Summer 2017, Jericho Arts Centre, In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play, both by Pulitzer prize-winner Sarah Ruhl.
