THE GOAD AND THE HIVE

The Goad

We invite like-minded artists to share their knowledge and skills in the service of creating performance that is daring and visceral, wide-ranging, relevant, compelling and enticing to audiences. What’s in it for the artists? Thistle will act as a goad, driving its artists to branch out locally, nationally and internationally. And it will be the hive to which we will return to share the products of our outside endeavours.

Matthew Romantini
Matthew Romantini has been a theatre-maker in Canada for the past fourteen years. He received his training in the Acting Conservatory at York University, and is the co-founder of two theatre companies: Ottawa-based Planet Productions, and The Thistle Project. He has appeared in The Stronger Variations and April 14, 1912 with Theatre Rusticle, Gorey Story, and in Out of the Box Productions' Prior Engagement.

Dance works include Almost Night with Kinesis Dance, To-Morrow & To-Morrow & To-Morrow, and Sunyata with Vancouver’s Kokoro Dance, Adamantium, created in collaboration with Vancouver-based choreographer Ronya Jade Lake, and What To Do, choreographed by Holly Holt.

Upcoming projects include Happy Endings Are Still Endings with Blue Ceiling Dance, Just Out of Reach with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Peer Gynt with The Thistle Project, director for Rhizome Productions' 10 Nights of Dream, and InVariance with composer Keiren Richard MacMillan.

In his theatrical pursuits, Matthew attempts to marry naturalistic acting with heightened physicality to positively highlight both.

Christine Horne
A Toronto-based actor and producer, Christine's recent stage credits include Nina in The Seagull and Antony in Julius Caesar (Wordsmyth Theatre), Viola in Twelfth Night and a Weird Sister in Macbeth (Classical Theatre Project), Absolution, The Vic, Where's My Money? (Column 13 Actors Company), Summit Conference (Umbrella Projects), Secondary Wishes (Toronto Fringe), and Interior (Summerworks). She co-created and performed in Thistle's inaugural production, Gorey Story, which was nominated for four Dora Mavor Moore Awards, including Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Production. Her only feature film credit to date is The Stone Angel, in which she shared the role of Hagar Shipley with Ellen Burstyn. Christine studied classical piano with the Royal Conservatory of Music and holds a BFA in Acting from York University.

Associate artists
Cole J. Alvis, Whitney Barris, Erika Batdorf, Rae Ellen Bodie, Laura Gardner, Jason Hand, Tom Kerr, Ronya Lake, Ginette Mohr, Siobhan Power, Jessie Shearer, Ming Wong, Nathan Younger.

Artistic Co-Director Matthew Romantini has received a Chalmers Grant, administered by the Ontario Arts Council, and a Canada Council Professional Development Grant to further his study with his mentor Erika Batdorf.

The program of work is a 24-week mentorship using Erika's Decroux-based technique to develop skill as an independent creator. The work focuses on range of muscular dynamics, on what Decroux called "orational movement" and on kinaesthetic transference, or consciously moulding the audience's emotional reactions to a piece with the use of breath, physicality and emotional authenticity.

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Artistic Co-Director Christine Horne recently participated in a workshop with Theatre de Complicité, on their recent visit to Toronto. On Complicité:

Founded in 1983 by Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, and Marcello Magni, Complicite is a constantly evolving ensemble of performers and collaborators, now led by Artistic Director Simon McBurney.
Complicite's work has ranged from entirely devised work to theatrical adaptations and revivals of classic texts. The Company has also worked in other media; radio productions of Mnemonic and John Berger's To The Wedding, a collaboration with The Pet Shop Boys in Trafalgar Square and The Vertical Line, a multi-disciplinary installation performed in a disused tube station.
Always changing and moving forward to incorporate new stimuli, the principles of the work have remained close to the original impulses: seeking what is most alive, integrating text, music, image and action to create surprising, disruptive theatre.
There is no Complicite method. What is essential is collaboration.
Complicite researches and trains through exploratory workshops. This long process of experimentation has resulted in some of our most successful, ground-breaking productions.
The Company is currently developing several new projects including its first original screenplay.