The music director is Oli Guselle with design by Amberlin Hsu, Kei Tanaka and Rowan Pantel

           

  SUM Theatre began in as idea in 2011 by one of the founders, Joel Bernbaum, who joined forces with Saskatoon actor, former CBC radio host, side hockey commentator and s life coach, Heather Morrison.

 

  The very first production was an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland in 2013

 

  The company brings theatre to different parks across Saskatoon. This year, they will be in Saskatoon before migrating to Regina and across the province with dates to be determined.

           

  Dawson, holds BFA with honours in Fine Arts as well as a Bachelor in Science with honours in physiology and Pharmacology from The University of Saskatchewan. Dawson became Artistic director last year in 2023 and talked about the balance of being both artistic director as well as a co-director on this production. “You have your hand in every cookie jar all the time and you have more then you can eat. I want to be in the rehearsal space to get the art and playing in but I also have all this administrate work, community relation, community associations, which is over twenty five.  And all the sponsors, funders and making sure all the administrative stuff is getting done outside the rehearsal space is really difficult for me.” “And that’s where having a co-director in Grumms, is a huge asset. So when I need to step out and Grumms can work with the crew and cash and I so much trust in them and if they need to step out, it’s a give and take.” Dawson said.

 

  Alvarez, was very excited to join SUM Theatre in a new capacity as playwright. “While as we began to brainstorm on what is relevant and what the community needs to hear. And by community, I was thinking of family, young people, mental wellness and how it is related to the digital world. And that’s why the story is in the digital world and we’re seeing three young people, traveling an information highway doing a journey out loud on the stage and they’re inside a digital world called The Reel Whirled.”

 

  Both Dawson and Alvarez shared their joy of the collaborative process of designing the show. “The Team approached me and I was elated to do that. This work is very collaborative, the ensemble gets to pitch in when I offer a story and think about songs and it’s very generative. It doesn’t feel like my play, feels like our play.” Alvarez said with Dawson adding “It all starts with the team and they find the story, the design, the music and the whole show. It starts with the people. I like to think that’s a value how I operate the company we have our people first and have our people guide the work. Build the core team and I wanted Grumms, to be our co-director, so working with them. Kris has worked with us previously, could be a mentor and guiding force and she’s a playwright, so let’s get her to write the story.”

           

  When it came time finding the right design for the worlbuilding of this digital space, Dawson found it a fun challenge. “Then we built the team in conjunction with that, so we have folks who can improvise, make music and the design element. It’s unlike any design work our designers have ever done before. No one is used to making theatre outside in a field. There are elements of wind, how do we make sure everything stands up?  It has to be light and visible but at the same time it has to big and visible so it fills the park. It’s a catch twenty two. You want it to be giant and massive without being heavy. It also has to be weather proof. So we came to a really vibrant world of doors, and portals that jives with the digital world. It’s really colorful, bright and exciting and brings the story to life.”

  Tanaka, a illustrator and theatre designer is  one of the two designers of the production. Tankaka also found the process very collaborative and fun. “We come from different backgrounds, I come from studio art, Amberlin comes from theatre design and Rowan is our puppet person and we all have different ideas and backgrounds that put it all together in the mixing pot.”

           

  Music was very important to this production and Guselle was able to fit the 90s ascetic and vibe that the team were looking for. “I said I have young people in my house and they’re all wearing 90s outfits and listening to 90s music, which I was in University ‘So, I said, why don’t we put a 90s vibe to this app called The Reel Whirled.’ And everyone in the crew, who’s younger then me, the ensemble was, they all grew up in that time but they were in a different place. They were in school, watching Saved by the Bell or Rugrats and they really dug in from a young person’s perspective, which is better because that’s who the audience is.”   Alvarez said.

           

  With the story, design and music being worked on all they needed to, was assemble the actors.