CALLING HOME:


STORIES FROM MILITARY FAMILIES. 
​

Calling Home is a documentary play about Canadian Army, Navy and Air Force members stationed in Afghanistan, separated by huge distances and trying to keep the sense of family alive for months at a time. Family members speak about "family being doled out in 15 minute increments" via skype, telephone and snail mail.

In Calling Home, we use the real words of interview participants who contributed to Kris Atwood’s PhD dissertation through the University of Calgary. These verbatim interviews are woven together with projections, music and movement.

Written by Kris Atwood with Dramaturgical support and Direction by Kathleen Greenfield (Little Orange Man, Sleeping Giants at William Head Prison), Calling Home is in its second phase of an ongoing project. ​

A Participant in the Belfry Theatre’s New Incubator Project
Calling Home was completely sold out in 2017.

Written by Kris Atwood
Directed by Kathleen Greenfield
Production Design by Carolyn Moon
Assistant Director Jack Hayes

Performed by
Caitlin Croteau
Claire Diamant
Jeni Luther
Christopher Mackie
Wendy Magahay
Noa Paster
Elysia Tessler
Brianna Wiens

With support from the CRD Arts Council

MEET THE ARTISTS

Writer
​Kristin Atwood is a writer and researcher in Victoria BC. She completed her PhD in Sociology at the University of Calgary in 2014 with specializations in communications technology and family studies. She wrote her dissertation on military families’ experiences with staying in touch during deployment, conducting interviews with military service personnel and their spouses that became the Calling Home source material. She is an active arts supporter in the CRD as a volunteer for the Intrepid There's Uno and Fringe Festivals. Calling Home is her first piece as a playwright.

​Director
​Kathleen Greenfield is dedicated to collective creation, the development of new work and community involvement. Her interests and experience are in site-specific outdoor performance, puppetry, folk stories, and community activism. She holds a BFA in Theatre from the University of Victoria and studied at the Banff Puppet Theatre Intensive in 2012. In 2013, she joined SNAFU Dance Theatre as Co-Artistic Director. She has directed the premiere productions of many new works including The Hunt Workshop (Impulse), Little Orange Man (SNAFU), Kitt & Jane (SNAFU), I Have Seen Beautiful Jim Key (Intrepid Theatre), The Shoes (Humble Wonder Theatre) and Bullfrog Lullaby (head through painting). In 2015, she co-directed the smash-hit-remount of Lieutenant Nun, a site-specific spectacle where the audience moves through an old battlement, pageant style. Kathleen also teaches play building to kids ranging from 3 to 13 at Kate Rubin Theatre and Drama @ SKAM Studios and George Jay Elementary. In 2013, Kathleen joined the artistic team at William Head Prison as a facilitator, workshop leader, assistant director, projection designer, writer and performer for Time Waits for No One: A Prison Play(2014) and HERE: A Captive Odyssey (2015) alongside a team of residents and fellow artists. In 2016, she directed and devised Sleeping Giants with the men at William Head on Stage (WHoS).

Production Designer
​Carolyn Moon is theatre technician, designer, and director, and originally acted in the Intrepid YouShow production of Calling Home.  They asked her to design this time instead.  Recent credits include Antigone (William Head on Stage), the dream collector(s) (Impulse Theatre), Project Mercury (Vino Buono), and Shop Talk (Theatre SKAM).  Carolyn is also part of the instructional team for the new audio/visual technician program at Camosun College.

Assistant Director
Jack Hayes
Jack Hayes is a local actor and creator based in Victoria, BC. Having recently (and finally) completed his time with the University of Victoria's Theatre Program with a focus in Acting, he looks forward to
expanding his horizons beyond traditional theatre-making and performance into new and uncharted territories!

Cast
​Caitlin Croteau
Caitlin is excited to be back for the second stage of Calling Home, having been part of the original workshop. A born and bred Victorian, Caitlin has been poking around the local theatre community for many years and in many capacities. She has worked as a producer, administrator, performer, and photographer for various companies including Intrepid Theatre, Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre and Atomic Vaudeville. Recent projects include performing in Atomic Vaudeville’s cabaret series and producing The Birdmann & Egg’s 2017 BC tour as a member of their new, international touring company Downunderground.

​Cast
Claire Diamant
Claire has been performing since elementary school. At the age of 5, she sang onstage with country legend Kenny Rogers. Claire has acted in and written for numerous performances with Kate Rubin/SKAM and Kaleidoscope classes. She was also in Kaleidoscope Theatre’s The Neverending Story (2013).

Cast
​Jeni Luther 
Jeni Luther is an active participant in the William Head on Stage theatre group, assisting with set design, puppet making and choreography.  She acted in the energetic 2015 production of Here: A Captive Odyssey and teamed up with SNAFU as a tricky Sprite in 2016's Sleeping Giants. She is very proud to be a part of Calling Home.

Cast
​Christopher Mackie
Christopher Mackie is a local Victoria actor who performs both on stage and on screen. His most recent stage appearance was in Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre's It’s a Wonderful Life. On screen, he's appeared most recently in the local Webseries, Ollie & Emma, by Less Bland Productions.

Cast
​Wendy Magahay
​Wendy holds a BA in Theatre from McGill and completed 2 years of stage training at each of Dalhousie University, and Montreal’s Dome Theatre.  And while an actor’s life was Plan A, a full and rewarding career as an educator became a valued Plan B.  A relocation from the other side of the mountains in her 40s, provided a rediscovery of the stage. Wendy has since performed with Theatre Inconnu (Jocasta Regina, A Lie of the Mind), Outpost 31 (LEER, Casino Royale), Langham Court Theatre (favourites include Humble Boy, Small Room at the Top of the Stairs, Lady Windermere’s Fan), Vino Buono (Snowfrog), and Bēma Productions (Old Lady’s Guide to Survival).  Her performances in the Victoria Fringe Festival earned Pick of the Fringe Drama Awards in both 2016 and 2017.  Wendy is a regular as Married Girl on CVTV’s Girls on Grapesairing on Shaw TV. Wendy is proud to be a SNAFU Company Artist working on Calling Home and looks forward to continuing to develop as an emerging artist in her 60s and beyond.

Cast
​Noa Paster
Born to perform! A drama student at Theatre SKAM this past year, Noa loves to act. Just 7 years old, she has already performed in the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival (Harp, Piano & Tap Dance) where she also won numerous awards for her performances in Violin, Fiddle & Composition. Noa spends her spare time writing new music, reading & busking. She is excited for this opportunity to act in a professional setting!

Cast 
​Elysia Tessler
Hailing originally from Toronto, theatre helped raise Elysia. Her late father taught her most of what she knows about acting, and led her through learning Shakespeare monologues as well as introducing her to Ibsen and Chekhov at an early age. In her teenage years, she participated in the Spring Training Project and the Young Playwrights Unit at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, where her love for devised theatre emerged. She wrote, directed and starred in her own play The Interview at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. She pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at Uvic, which she completed in 2010, with a specialization in directing and applied theatre. In 2013, she participated in From the Heart: Enter Into the Journey of Reconciliation, a devised performance led by Will Weigler, exploring the themes of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada. In more recent years, her focus has shifted to the healing arts, and she just completed her three year training as a Medical Herbalist, and is loving to see how these two worlds of hers are finding the dance together in her life. She is thrilled, after several years, to be participating in theatre again, and especially to be a part of such an incredible story, with such a talented team of artists. She dedicates this performance to her dad, Jerry Tessler.

Cast
​Brianna Wiens 
Brianna is an actor, producer, writer, and director originally from Cobble Hill. A graduate of the Bachelor of Performing Arts program at Capilano University, Brianna has spent the last decade working in theatre and film in Vancouver and has just recently come home to the island.

Her collaborative spirit has driven the course of her career and she is always keen to work on new and devised pieces. This has lead her from stage to screen, and everywhere inbetween, and she continues to push her creative boundaries in the best possible ways.

Recent acting credits include Carly in Reasons to be Pretty (Western Edge), Sam Sawyer in Leftovers (Dark Matter) and Female Actor in This is a Play (Ode Movements).

An advocate for women’s voices in comedy, Brianna is co-producer and co-writer of a new web series called Girls vs. The City. The first season has just been released on YouTube and Season two will be appearing on Telus Optik in the summer of 2018.