By Jess Wind (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: October 16, 2013
As the UFV theatre department gears up for its first show of the season, The Little Mermaid, department head Bruce Kirkley is gearing up to submit a proposal for a theatre major.
Although UFV gained exempt status over the summer, meaning adding new majors to the selection will be easier and cheaper than ever before, the process for getting an entire major approved is still long and arduous.
The theatre department has been working on it for years.
The program has grown from offering just a diploma, to having minor and extended minor options as well as a drama concentration in the English major.
However, a theatre major would have been a reality sooner had it not been delayed when UFV gained university status, explains Kirkley.
“Just before UCFV became a university, we had been given the green light to go ahead and develop a major at that point,” he says. “So we were right on the cusp of that and when we became a university, everything changed … we probably would have a major now if we just stayed a university college, ironically enough, but because of all those other changes, this proposal got delayed while all the other governance processes got worked out.”
“We probably would have a major now if we had just stayed a university college, ironically enough.”
Back on track to develop the major, Kirkley has dedicated more of his time this year to the proposal than ever before.
Since being hired nearly 20 years ago, Kirkley has directed a show in UFV’s season of theatre almost every year; this year, he is not.
“The only way [the major was] going to happen is if I create that space of time. Directing a show is [a] huge commitment of time and energy,” he says, noting that the proposal is in its final stages of construction. “We’re really far along. We’re looking at having this done and ready to move forward in early 2014.”
It then passes through a gauntlet of committees before making it to the minister of advanced education for approval.
During the process, the theatre department sought input from theatre students. They were able to voice their opinions on what will make a well-rounded, comprehensive theatre program.
“One of the things that became really clear was the importance of that fourth year capstone course or experience,” explains Kirkley. “Maybe try to find ways that students can have opportunities to do small studio shows or staged readings of plays.”
Some of the challenges of getting the major up and running are the small size of the department and funding. Kirkley notes UFV would ideally hire more full-time faculty and include different streams of study in the program, such as design and branches of study and theory.
Another challenge on the horizon is the potential sale of the theatre’s facility, the old Chilliwack campus on Yale road, casually referred to as Chilliwack North.
“The Chilliwack North situation is really challenging, I think for everybody,” Kirkley says. “It’s a great facility; it’s probably one of the best little post-secondary theatre facilities in the province. It’s a great learning environment for students.”
Kirkley adds that the space was designed specifically with students in mind.
“It’s a thrust theatre: … it allows students to get a really good sense of how the audience is responding to their performance. There’s a lot of really nice interactivity that happens there.”
Should the campus sell, Kirkley is considering other opportunities to ensure theatre can continue to be explored at UFV. Canada Education Park (CEP) has a studio performance space on site and the university is looking into creating other spaces in Abbotsford.
Faced with the problem of finding a suitable performance space, UBC Okanagan, began to look at site-specific performance, taking it outside the theatre to other spaces, explains Kirkley.
“I’m not saying that because I’m suggesting that’s what we need to do,” Kirkley notes. “I’m just saying that I think that kind of creative energy and spirit … will find an outlet whatever might happen.”
No matter what sort of performance spaces linger on the horizon, Kirkley explains the major is instrumental to keeping students studying and developing within the province.
“Bottom line, we’ll find a way to keep doing what we do and offer a solid theatre major no matter what happens. ”
“British Columbians need to wake up because we’re getting left way behind. We’re not too far lost at the moment, but we’re going to be if we don’t recognize there’s exciting new possibilities out there,” he says. “I just think it’s really important for young people to have those opportunities, because if you don’t get them here, you’re going to go to Montreal, you’re going to go to Toronto.”
Despite all the changes and challenges to UFV’s theatre department, Kirkley maintains that the department will endure and thrive.
“I think there’s lots of reasons to be optimistic despite the fact that there are challenges,” he says. “Bottom line, we’ll find a way to keep doing what we do and offer a solid theatre major no matter what happens.”
