Northeast News

By Melanie Robinson

 

FORT ST. JOHN – It’s been said that Canadian theatre is a lot different than other international theatre, simply because it’s not as developed as other countries.

 

Canadians are a combination of different aspects of the industry, a mix of different things, with an added twist.

 

Add on top of that the desire to not have to impress anyone, and professionals in the field being humble about their achievements, and you’ve got a Canadian actor.

 

You’ve also got 21 year-old Ted Sloan.

 

Sloan, a student at the University of Alberta, who’s studying theatre, was raised in Fort St. John and his desire to become an actor started at an early age when in elementary school he was involved in a week long training camp on acting.

 

The desire, however, didn’t end there and in junior high and high school Sloan was involved in a slew of experiences that would further his progress towards becoming an actor.

 

Aside from his experience in school, he’s also recently had an opportunity for something more than can be taught by his professors – a lead role in a play at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival – the largest and oldest festival in North America.

 

Sloan played Chester MacDonald in Hoboheme, a play written specifically for the fringe. MacDonald is a rich man turned hobo when, after the Great Depression, his wife runs away with his money and he decides to start a new life and makes friends with a group of hobo’s along the way.

 

While Sloan wasn’t expecting such a role when he auditioned, he’s grateful for the experience he was able to get by being involved.

 

“When I auditioned, I didn’t think I was going to get anything,” he said. “I had no idea I was going to get the lead role. I mean it’s a very character driven play, but I had no idea I’d get that much attention.”

 

Sloan wasn’t the only one getting the attention.

 

The play, which was performed away from the fringe grounds, with upwards of 20 other shows happening at the same time as its seven performances, finished with a sold out run and a five star rating.

 

“Being able to sell out every night is a really good testament to the skill of the show,” he said, adding it was the whole ensemble that brought the show together and made it such a success.

 

The cast of 11 included eight people from the Rapid Fire Theatre improv group, which Sloan said was a really cool atmosphere to be dropped into.

 

While all but three people had acted together before, Sloan said the whole ensemble stepped up to the plate to make the play come together, including discussions over harmonies, music and the acting.

 

His favourite part of the show is that, as the audience is arriving at the theatre, the cast is in character building the set, which affords an ability for interaction you might not see in other productions.

 

Sloan likens it to being on a roller coaster and being in control but not so much in control that you don’t know where it’s going to go.

 

When the play begins, his character is the first on stage, where he sings a solo, and it is that feeling that Sloan says makes him realize why he chose this career.

 

“It is the feeling that I wouldn’t have been able to describe before I got into acting, but it’s a feeling where you’re just raring to go, you don’t know what’s going to happen, you know whatever is going to happen, you’re ready for it and you’re going to do it even better than last time,” he said. “It’s just a contagious feeling and that tells me that I want to be in this profession.”

 

It’s also a feeling Sloan is hoping to pass on to other people in the future.

 

With one year of school left, he is presently in talks with the university to organize and run a theatre camp next summer for youth to catch the theatre bug just like he did.

 

His drive to spread the passion doesn’t end there, however, In addition to acting in the future, which Sloan plans to do in a metropolitan area during the winter months, Sloan also plans to come back to areas like Fort St. John and Dawson Creek in the spring and summer to teach acting to kids who don’t get that experience in rural areas.

 

“A lot of the stuff that I needed to know in first year university in acting, I had no idea, or I had a very limited idea, and I think if I’ve never got that chance, someone should and I really love teaching and I really love acting, so it’s kind of marrying the two together,” he said, adding while he didn’t have a huge background in theatre after leaving Fort St. John, it certainly prepared him in other ways.

 

“I found when coming to Edmonton, no one knows how to do a whole lot, they’re all very good at doing one thing,” he said. “But I think that growing up in Fort St. John, since there’s nobody up there to do everything, you have to learn how to act, you’ve got to learn how to hang lights, you have to learn how to do this, you have to learn that, so being from a small town has made me a really well rounded person. There is a very strong community up there that has really helped me. I really am very proud of being from Fort St. John, I think it’s really helped a lot.”

 

For now, Sloan will continue his role of many things – student, son, friend, actor, and just like he would hesitate to admit, just like any Canadian actor would hesitate to admit – humble.