School of the Art’s fall major theatrical production explores love and power through a reimagining of Greco-Roman mythology
From Nov. 8 to 17, 2024, the school of the arts presented Woven Hearts, this year’s fall major theatrical production, in the Lyons Family Studio in L.R. Wilson Hall. Divided into two acts, the original production incorporated a series of Greco-Roman mythological figures and stories, drawing from Ovid's poem Metamorphoses.
Woven Hearts was produced by students taking the course iARTS 3MP6 – Devised Theatre Production. Through this course, students get hands on experience with production aspects like set and lighting design, costume and makeup design and choreography. These students also serve in key roles such as stage managers, script supervisors and assistant directors.
The central set piece for Woven Hearts was a loom that stretched from floor to ceiling and across the width of the theatre, splitting the stage in half. The Lyons Family Studio is arranged so that the audience sits on opposite sides of the stage, facing into the centre of the room.
Throughout the show, the actors interacted with the threads of the loom in various ways, pulling them aside to walk through the loom, leaning against them and entangling themselves between them. Different textiles were also woven into the loom to create imagery for certain scenes.
Peter Cockett, a SOTA associate professor who directs the fall major each year, discussed his selected source material.
“I wanted to do something about love, so we turned to a classical source, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, that has all these stories about love. And when we went to that source we discovered that it also had a lot to say about power and it actually was really political in our times, especially around issues of consent around this very patriarchal world of Ovid’s poem,” said Cockett.
Cockett emphasized that the fall major goes beyond just retelling old stories.
“I don’t think they’re important because they’re classical . . . but they’re here. They’re constantly being told and retold. They’re being idolized and idealized. So I think taking them on and seeing what they’re really about and changing them, that feels important still,” said Cockett. “But I think the most important thing is what the audience is responding to, which is this notion of centering love and the potential for a kind of altruistic social love that humans are capable of.”
But I think the most important thing is what the audience are responding to, which is this notion of centering love and the potential for a kind of altruistic social love that humans are capable of.
Peter Cockett, Director and Writer
Woven Hearts
In the spring 2024 term, Cockett taught THTRFLM 3PR3 – Text-based Devising: Research and Development, which is where the devising process for the fall major began. Cockett explained that the process involved studying Metamorphoses before writing and designing the entire production around the themes and stories from the text.
Mikey Gough, a fourth-year theatre and film studies student, described his experience working with Metamorphoses.
“There’s this instinct to have a lot of wonder surrounding the Greek myths, have a lot of positive associations. There was a lot of excitement . . . and when we were really kind of getting into the meat of them, I feel like we were running into these issues . . . it feels like they’re so harmful at times. And I think that friction, that incongruence with the wonder we had surrounding the stories and our problems with them is almost where we found our thesis,” said Gough.
Throughout the devising process, Gough and his peers asked questions like: “What about these stories are we not liking? What do we want to leave behind? And why? And what are these kind of new interpretations which we somehow or we suddenly find super beautiful?” said Gough.
Gough shared that he had heard positive reactions from others who watched the production.
“People in my age group, other students . . . have found it really moving. They’ve really enjoyed the upward arc of the show, which I would say there is . . . and I’ve heard a lot of people saying that the dose of hope it brings in our unprecedented times is really refreshing and important to see,” said Gough.
I've heard a lot of people saying that the dose of hope it brings in our unprecedented times is really refreshing and important to see.
Mikey Gough,fourth-year theatre and film studies student
Woven Hearts Actor
The annual SOTA fall major is a testament to the artistic talent of McMaster’s student body. Each production is creatively designed to convey an important message to its audience. Cockett shared that next year's production will focus on prison abolition, with a research-based devising process set to begin in January 2025.
Julio Diaz / Multimedia Assistant
McMaster introduces new iArts program reflecting diversity among artists and the arts with the first cohort of students having started classes this fall
This fall, McMaster University launched their new Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Integrated Arts (iArts), a level I direct-entry program for students wishing to pursue the arts from an interdisciplinary perspective. The new program allows students to explore the history and theory underlying the arts, from visual arts to performance, media and design and it aims to bridge skills across the arts to provide students with a truly integrated and comprehensive fine arts education.
The program is designed intentionally to explore diversity among people and how this is reflected in the arts by combining techniques, approaches, theories and practices from all domains of the arts. Upper-years in this program will be able to take courses in a variety of artistic disciplines to hone their craft, including classes in acting, devising, drawing, film studies, video production, contemporary art histories, curatorial studies, sculpture, ceramics, painting, mixed-media and printmaking.
The new iArts program also emphasizes a collaborative approach on creating space for both individual artistic expression and exploration of issues in social justice as well as a layered approach to the meanings and histories of the arts on a local, national and international level. It hopes to prepare students for professional careers in the arts by also equipping them with the necessary entrepreneurial skills to enter this broad and competitive field.
This program will allow aspiring artists to build a portfolio reflecting the diversity of their experiences and expertise in a structured yet flexible way, to grow and evolve with the artist.
Students applying to iArts must meet the academic requirements for admission to the faculty of humanities in addition to completing a creative submission selection process. Creative submissions is an electronic submission of the student’s creative work compilation, featuring art they created or developed through their education, at home or in the community.
The art submission may be likened to a portfolio for visual artists or an audition reel for performance artists, but it can also contain works from a multitude of disciplines, as it is not bound to one singular representation of the student’s capabilities.
The iArts has been intentionally designed around the needs of its prospective students. The program’s first cohort of 40 students began classes this past September.
iArts hopes to further develop and expand arts education at McMaster, providing students with a well-rounded and comprehensive experience in a range of disciplines tailored to the student as an individual and as a collaborator. While McMaster is known for excellence in science and medicine, this new program is one that demonstrates the diversity and multi-faceted nature of the school and its students, both current and prospective, and may create more space and funding for the arts at McMaster.