What were the TOP THREE shows you were involved with as part of your studies?

1. Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Margaret Groome.
   I was the stage manager for this mainstage show. This one was such a big learning experience for me in terms of self-growth. It helped me become more organized as an individual and learn where I valued my time.
2. Drowning Ophelia by Rachel Luann Strayer, Directed by me!
   This is one of my absolute favourites and a fabulous show I had the opportunity to direct as part of the Lunchbhagg (student production) season. I learned a lot about leadership and how others work to create a piece, as opposed to the internal creation of an actor.
3. Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare, Directed by Katrina Dunn.
   I played Dromio of Ephesus and was also the set designer. This was kind of my senior moment in the theatre program and last show. It was great to get back to acting in a larger role, I am at my best when I have the structure of a rehearsal schedule.

What were the TOP THREE best things about being a theatre and film student?

1. The ability to escape from everyday life as a student and immerse myself in a show.
2. Talking about film and theatre in classes. A lot of it is up for interpretation and there is no one correct answer.
3. The professors – they truly care about the students.

During his degree, Chance completed an internship with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s Stage Manager Apprenticeship program. Chance – what were the TOP THREE things you learned during the internship?

1. How to work in a team in a professional environment.
2. That a stage manager is like a conductor who helps the technical side and the acting side branch together.
3. How important communication is in the workplace. It is not just what you communicate, but how you communicate.

What are your TOP THREE tips for theatre and film students?

1. ENJOY your time in university. Don’t overstress about the future, it’s ok not having everything figured out or to change your mind once you think you do.
2. GO TO CLASS. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take something away each and every time, even a life lesson or a fun fact.
3. Making art is such a fulfilling and fun experience.

This summer, catch Chance’s one-man-show, The Apricot Tree, at the 2025 Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival—a new play he is writing, producing and starring in. The production is directed by fellow UM student Sam Fergus. “The show is about how we might come to terms with death and understand our role as friends while dealing with loss”, says Chance. “You will laugh, you will cry, and hopefully you will walk out looking at life a little differently.”

Congratulations to Chance on the culmination of his creative journey at UM—here’s to exciting projects and performances ahead!

Learn more about the Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media in the Faculty of Arts.

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UM Bisons are at the centre of it all, making a difference here in Manitoba and around the world. 3058 degrees are being awarded at Spring Convocation 2025 (over 620 are from the Faculty of Arts), bringing the total number of UM graduates to 4200 so far this year. Many of these new alumni will stay in Manitoba, supplying high-demand skills to the labour market and contributing to UM’s $7.3 billion economic impact on our community.

Singing Back the Buffalo is part of Tasha Hubbard’s academic work to support Indigenous narrative sovereignty in North America and Indigenous efforts to return buffalo to the lands. She is a founding director of the International Buffalo Relations Institute and has worked to support the Buffalo Treaty for the past ten years. Making the film was a long journey across the plains for Hubbard. She speaks of following the path of the buffalo with other Indigenous women and an especially moving experience visiting a herd in Banff National Park when the herd matriarchs responded to the women’s songs and stayed with them on their journey. The return of the buffalo to the heart of the North American plains, as Hubbard explains, signals a turning point for Indigenous nations, the ecosystem, and our collective survival in a time of global uncertainty and environmental degradation.

Melody McKiver’s compelling music brings the story of Singing Back the Buffalo to life. McKiver is a well-known violist and composer whose musical work integrates electronics with classical music. A proud member of Obishikokaang Lac Seul First Nation, McKiver is also a member of the Mizi’iwe Aana Kwat (LGBTQ2S+ Council) within the Anishinaabe Nation of Treaty #3. In 2020 they received the Canada Council’s Robert Fleming Prize for a promising emergent Canadian composer. Two of their pieces for solo viola were featured on Marina Thibeault’s 2022 Juno-winning album Viola Borealis featuring l’Orchestra de l’Agora. These two pieces, Ningodwaaswi and Niizh, are part of a larger work entitled Reckoning, dedicated to the memory of McKiver’s grandmother, a residential school survivor. At the Faculty of Music, McKiver teaches Perspectives on Indigenous Music and courses in songwriting, production, digital composition, and contemporary performance practice.

Event details: Wednesday, February 12, 2025

• 11:30am to 12:30pm in 307 Tier Building: Tasha Hubbard in Conversation with Melody McKiver
• 6:15pm at the Winnipeg Art Gallery: food catered by Feast Bistro, followed by free screening of Singing Back the Buffalo at 7:00pm (part of the Decolonizing Lens film series)

Sonja Boon is a writer, researcher, teacher, and flutist. The author of the memoir, What the Oceans Remember: Searching for Belonging and Home (2019), she has published creative nonfiction and poetry in numerous literary magazines, and is author/co-author of four scholarly books, including The Routledge Introduction to Auto/Biography in Canada (with Laurie McNeill, Julie Rak, and Candida Rifkind, 2022). For six years, Sonja was principal flutist with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and has performed with various orchestras around the world.

Boon is excited to work with the UM community. “I’m very much looking forward to creative conversations with UM folks and Winnipeg community members, and to being inspired by the low horizons and the endless skyscapes of the prairies,” said Boon.

“Sonja’s multi-modal creativity encompasses a rich and fluid array of talents,” said Nancy Kang, CCWOC Acting Director. “Her energetic craft taps into the finest nuances of personal identity to illuminate histories and regions. Like an embroiderer, she stitches out delicate yet deliberate intricacies of especially women’s lives. Her musicality, archival experience, ability to narrate oceans and genealogies with sensitivity and lyricism, as well as her buoyant presence, make for an inspiring addition to the Writer-in-Residence program.”

WELCOME EVENT

CCWOC will welcome Sonja Boon to the University of Manitoba at a welcome event held on campus. Boon will share a selection of her work and describe her creative vision to the UM community. Student writer Aevan Caples will will also read at the event. All are welcome. No registration necessary. The event is free.

Playing with Mud: Oceans, Archives, and Speculation
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Readings and talk: 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Reception to follow
Room 108 St. John’s College

WRITING WORKSHOPS

Boon is hosting seven free workshops for aspiring writers during the residency. View the full schedule of creative activities including cross stitch, how to prepare for stressful presentations, working with archival materials and more.

INDIVIDUAL WRITER CONSULTATIONS

As part of Boon’s role, she will be available by appointment to writers of all levels from now to April. To consult with Boon, students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the public are encouraged to contact her to arrange a free 30-minute meeting.

For more information about any of these programs and events, please contact the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture at ccwoc@umanitoba.ca.