Theatre Shines in Village
By Natasha Tersigni
In 1998, the village of Mortlach played host to movie production company Heartland Motion Pictures. The company used the village and residents for the movie Conquest. It’s been 12 years since the town was invaded by the movie crew, but the acting bug has stuck.
“Theatre is a way to bring the community together,” said Dale Domeji, chairman of Mortlach Community Development and Agricultural Society (MCDAS). “It brings people from all ages together.”
MCDAS was the reason the village of Mortlach received an artist-in-residence in 2009. The grant allowed Krista J. Konkin, along with her husband Leon Willey, to live in Mortlach and resurrect the art community.
Konkin said there were many reasons why she and Leon decided to take the grant, the main one being it would give her a chance to grow as a theatre professional. “It was going to be a huge learning curve in terms of my skill set. It was going to push me to do things that maybe I haven’t done much in my past,” she said.
It was a very good thing that Konkin’s term was a year long. It took a lot of her time just to get the people of Mortlach to come and participate. “Sometimes it felt that I was a vegan that moved to cattle ranching country and was trying to convince the people to be vegan,” said Krista of the challenge of trying to get a population of farmers to take part in performing arts.
Konkin said children were the easiest to attract. “That’s where you can really impact them because they haven’t learned, they are not supposed to do art, they are not supposed to dance and sing. That’s where (the grant) really flourished. They really latched on, and absorbed a lot of it.”
Along with Magthel Odendal, a University of Regina theatre student from Mortlach, Konkin established the Mortlach Summer Theatre Camp for kids. Konkin used the camp as an opportunity to mentor Odendal, an up-and-coming theatre professional. Odendal used the camp as an opportunity to bring theatre to her home community.
“I wanted to bring my own passion into Mortlach,” said Odendal. Once Odendal graduates she plans to move away from Saskatchewan so she can continue with her career in theatre. “The plan is to have Mortlach Star Players take over the camp,” she said.
One of the main legacies Konkin left the village with was The Mortlach Star Players, a community theatre group. Konkin was able to provide a strong foundation during her year, which now allows the theatre group to put on productions without outside assistance.
Sandra Zacker, who owns the Urban Painter galllery, said the theatre workshops were very useful and many people enjoyed them. “Krista was great. She gave us lots of professional tips,” said Zacker.
While the theatre group is another way that the community comes together, it also emphasizes the divide that has slowly been building in the village. After talking with many of the business owners that have shops on the main strip and talking with people on the local community boards, such as village council and MCDAS, one thing becomes very apparent: most people that own businesses and are highly involved in council and MCDAS are very new to Mortlach.
Dale and his wife Vi moved to Mortlach three years ago from Calgary. The Skibsteds, owners of the Rock Shop, and the Franklyns, who own the Country Garden Tea House & Café, also moved from Calgary. Lois and Clayton Jack opened the Hollyhock Market Natural Foods in July 2009.
All these people play a vital role in the community, and are all involved in Mortlach Star Players. Dale was the driving force behind getting the grant for the artist-in-residence, and now is the director of Star Players. Vi does costumes for the performances. Lois and Clayton prefer to work behind the stage. Lois writes for the plays and Clayton works sound. In an upcoming performance, Ken Skibsted will take to the stage and he will be playing Johnny Cash.
Many people hope Mortlach will become more then a retirement destination for people who are tired of the big city. In the next couple of years the goal will be cohesion between new and old residents, and nothing is a better platform for that than community theatre.
Video: Mortlach Theatre
