Fredericton’s Next Folding Theatre Company Continue to Grow and Embrace the Work of Emerging Artists
Recent years have seen Fredericton’s Next Folding Theatre Company firmly establish their position as one of the province’s most creative and forward-thinking theatre companies. Over the course of their young history, NFTC has become known for their eclectic style of theatre programming, embracing the work of local and emerging artists and continuing to think outside the realm of traditional theatre.
If the company’s recent season announcement is any indication, it’s probably safe to say NFTC are in it for the long haul.
“We held auditions last week and were blown away by the turnout,” said Jake Martin, NFTC’s newly appointment Artistic Director. “We didn’t expect to see so many people interested. It was great.”
Martin’s appointment as Artistic Director accompanied this year’s season announcement. Together with long-time Artistic Producer Ryan Griffith, the two will oversee the new season and continue to help chart the company’s course.
“I’ve been working really closely with Ryan for the past few years and I’ve had a lot of input on past seasons,” said Martin. “We talked and decided it would be a nice breath of fresh air to separate the roles for the coming season, allowing the Artistic Director to oversee the creative output of the company and the Artistic Producer to focus more on the business aspects of Next Folding. By having two people focusing on different aspects of the company, we expect it will allow us the opportunity to run things as smoothly as possible.”
The season begins in November with the sixth installment of NFTC’s trademark Creative Collaboration series. Bringing together local artists of varying backgrounds including theatre, dance, music and all points in between to share in the telling of a story, The Creative Collaboration has become a popular trademark in NFTC’s annual programming.
“The first Next Folding show was a Creative Collaboration,” said Martin. “The idea is to bring six people together who are totally different with completely different backgrounds and creative interests, some of which might not be focused at all on theatre, to follow in the telling of one overarching story.”
This year’s installment will once again take place at Wilser’s Room in the Captial Complex, November 20-23 with performances beginning at 7pm. Performers include Hillary Ball, Ian Goff, Alexa Higgins, Crystal Chettiar, Hillary Ready and Dylan Sealy.
For their Main Stage production this season, NFTC will present Cocaine Plane, an original two-act play written by local author and playwright Emily Bossé.
“Emily is primarily a prose writer and this is her first full-length play,” said Martin. “Her work has been getting a lot of attention and she was recently chosen as an emerging artist at the Fry Festival.”
A fictional tale based on actual events, Cocaine Plane takes place in late-eighties Fredericton following the arrest of two Colombian drug dealers after their plane crashed lands outside the city limits.
NFTC wrap up their coming season with another installment in their Live Audio Workshop Series, an event designed to workshop new works before a live audience and provide playwrights with a recorded document of their play. Curated by company veteran Brandon Hicks and sponsored by Picaroons Traditional Ales, the series will present readings of two new Canadian scripts in the intimate surroundings of the Charlotte Street Arts Centre. The work chosen for this season’s Live Audio Workshop Series include Panopticon by Michael Woodside and The Beavercreek Vacancy by Gordon Mihan.
To learn more about Next Folding Theatre Company, visit them online at www.nextfolding.ca and on Twitter at @NextFolding
