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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 14, 2008 - 29 Artscene Oakville Beaver · FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2008 National Theatre student learning intricacies of set design By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF It's not easy to crack The National Theatre School. Just a fraction of the nearly 1,000 applicants who recently applied to the Montrealbased school for the 2008 ­ 2009 school year will be accepted. It's a lengthy interview process ­ and one Oakville's Lindsay Westbrook knows well. The second year Set and Design Costume student was one of just eight students accepted into the program from across Canada. Westbrook applied after graduating in 2006 from a technical production theatre program at Sheridan College. Professors there made her aware of National Theatre School, and encouraged her to apply. "This was a design program, as opposed to just building stuff, so I was really interested," said Westbrook, 27. "Designing is a much more creative outlet, and it's an amazing opportunity, I think, to have the opportunity to see your own visions." But to earn the chance to attend the school and work to make that happen, the application process isn't easy. "You're given a play, and you have to design a set for it and then do all the drafting for the set," said Westbrook. "You have to build them a scale model of your set, then you have to design all the costumes for the Lindsay Westbrook show." And that's not all. Script analysis, paintings and more are required, in addition to interviews for those who make the short list. This was all worth it for Westbrook, who called the behind-the-scenes aspect of theatre "a life-long interest." "I started doing community theatre when I was I guess seven, and my parents, well my mother anyways, always enjoyed going to the theatre," said Westbrook. "I started going at a very early age and so it all just kind of came together. I became really interested in the process." Set and design costume involves collaborating with the director of the show to bring a vision to life, Westbrook said. "The designer and the director will sit down and talk about the vision of the show. The designer will sort of go away and come up with ideas and present them to the director." In her second year of the three-year program, Westbrook is now helping to build and make sets and costumes for different shows, "more as a learning process," she said. She recently finished working on the set and costume design for an opera, The Emperor of Atlantis, written by Viktor Ullman. The production is Ullman's firsthand account of a WWII concentration camp that was for holding only ­ no exterminations occurred there. "It was a very cultural place. They had lectures, and a lot of the intelligentsia was actually there. They had their own theatre," said Westbrook. "It was a piece he wrote while working there, so it's quite political." Her team brought the show to life by building a semi-circular set, complete with a projection screen. "We had a month to design, and we had to do the costumes and the set," she said. "It wasn't too intense at first, but by the last week pretty much the whole class was in from between 8-10 in the morning and staying until about 10 or midnight. "It can be quite long days when you're in the throws of a project." But when you see the end result, Westbrook says, it's all worth it. "It's an amazing feeling when everything just comes together. There's usually a point when you think everything won't come together, but all of the sudden it does," she said. "You get the lights, the sound, and the people on the set in their costumes. It's pretty amazing." And it's something she hopes to pursue as a living, in Europe and at various theatres in Canada. "I've always leaned a little more towards costume design, but either one would work. I definitely want to do both set and costume design," she said. "Just hopefully be able to do work that affects people in some way, and that means something." Having worked in both film and theatre, Westbrook has a preference. "I'd definitely like to focus on theatre," she said. "Theatre's just so alive." For more on the National Theatre School, visit www.ent-nts.qc.ca. Oakville Players present Noel Coward's Private Lives Private Lives, a comedy by Noel Coward, opens Thursday, March 20 at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. One of the most prominent dramatists of his era, Coward's private lives is considered a prime example of sophisticated comedy. A critical and commercial success, Private Lives has entertained audiences for well over half a century, and is now coming to Oakville courtesy of Oakville Players. The action of the play concerns a divorced couple, Elyot and Amanda, who meet while honeymooning with their second spouses. They realize that they are still in love with each other and should never have divorced. They abandon their new spouses and run off together, though they are soon caught up in the same violent arguments that originally plagued their stormy marriage. Despite this potentially dark and tragic scenario, Coward has created a masterpiece of high comedy. Private Lives was a runaway hit when it premiered in 1930, and the play has remained popular in revivals ever since. The first production, which was produced at London's Phoenix Theatre, starred Coward himself as Elyot opposite Gertrude Lawrence's Amanda. It also featured Adrienne Allen and Coward's friend, Lawrence Olivier. The Oakville Players 2008 version stars Shelly Kidwell-Eckert and THEA award winner Adrian Gorrissen in the roles of Amanda and Elyot. Danielle Capretti and Barnaby Clunie play the roles of Sybil and Victor, their unsuspecting newlyweds, and Megan Brady plays Louise, their entertainingly frustrated maid. Private Lives is on stage at The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, 130 Navy St., from Thursday to Saturday, March 20 ­ 22 and Wednesday to Saturday, March 26 - 29. Tickets cost $25. Tickets can be purchased through the box office at 905-8152021 or toll free 1-888-489-7784. Curtain at 8 p.m. Seniors and student tickets are half price on Wednesday, March 26. Call 1-877-510-510-2 and talk to a Registered Dietitian for free. EatRight Ontario ontario.ca/eatright Paid for by the Government of Ontario