Now that Red Deerians are meeting face-t0-face again, Richard Beaune looks forward to helping re-boot Red Deer’s arts scene by expanding and strengthening local live theatre.
The professional actor and director, who’s worked professionally at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, made an unexpected career move by setting down roots in central Alberta.
Beaune explained that he and his wife Kimberly had moved back to her hometown a year ago for family reasons. Although they had previously been living in Toronto, he was usually working elsewhere anyway — “I’ve worked right across the country,” said Beaune — so he reasoned, why not move to Red Deer? It seemed as good a home base as any.
Since arriving here in March of 2021, Beaune has become impressed with the beautiful parks system and historic downtown and sees a lot of potential in helping the local arts community recover from pandemic restrictions.
He waded into the local theatre scene last spring by getting cast in a Cow Patti production in Lacombe, and later by directing a Bard on Bower Shakespearean play for Prime Stock Theatre in August.
By December, Beaune decided to make more of a commitment: He became the new artistic director of Prime Stock Theatre. After 27 years, at the helm, the troupe’s founder, Thomas Usher, was embarking on other projects and felt assured, by Beaune’s extensive experience, that he’d found the right successor.
A member of the actor’s union, Beaune has been working for various theatre companies since heading to Toronto from Northern Ontario at the age of 17.
Although he eventually gained a Master’s degree in performance from York University, Beaune learned much from the ground, up. He feels fortunate to have worked with some theatrical luminaries, including actor Martha Henry and the esteemed director Rod Beattie.
And he’s plied his creative trade from the Stratford Festival to the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, working from the National Arts Centre stage in Ottawa to smaller venues in Brampton, Ont. and other communities.
This summer, Beaune plans for Prime Stock Theatre to mount Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard II on the outdoor stage at Bower Ponds. But he’s also planning to stretch out Prime Stock Theatre’s season to stage other plays into the fall and spring.
One of them will be an autumn production of classical French comedy from 1730 called The Game of Love and Chance. Beaune calls this play by Pierre de Marivaux “a very fun, silly comedy,” sweeter and more optimistic about love than its Oliver Goldsmith “blatant rip-off,” She Stoops to Conquer.
Next spring, Beaune is planning to do a contemporary play as a way of contrasting the traditional with the modern.
His vision for theatre in Red Deer consists of having more collaboration between local arts companies and building more connection with audiences. “I’m very much an ensemble player… I really need to build a good team around me,” said Beaune, who’s happy with Prime Stock’s Theatre’s new board.
As to whether Red Deerians — who have become solidly entrenched in electronic entertainment throughout the pandemic — will have an appetite for theatre, Beaune admitted “I’ve been worried about that, even before the pandemic.”
Many people had stopped communicating with each other, face-to-face, he added. “But I’ve always felt theatre was a healthy antidote.”
Now that pandemic rules have been lifted, Beaune believes a lot of area residents will be hungry to do things in person again, including attending live performances.
Auditions are upcoming for the 2022-23 Prime Stock Theatre season. Anyone interested should email a letter of intent and resume to Beaune at ad@primestocktheatre.com before April 1.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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