'The Self-Isolated Artist' Series: Toronto/Muskoka Profile of Autumn Smith
Information compiled by Joe Szekeres, Chief Toronto Critic
What a joy it has been to know that Autumn Smith pursued and successfully attained what she has always wanted – a career in the performing arts.
With apologies to the writers from NBC’s ‘The Golden Girls’: Picture it! Oshawa Little Theatre in the early 1990s. Autumn and I were both cast in a production of ‘Pack of Lies’ where she played the assistant to a police officer. Although she was still only a high school student at the time, just any discussion with Autumn about the performing arts in general always lit up her face. She knew what her passion was at that time, and she wasn’t going to let anything deter her from it.
And man, oh man, has she been successful in her pursuit. Through her post secondary studies at York University (MFA Directing with emphasis on Teaching) and professional experience in theatres across Canada and in London’s West End, Autumn is now an arts educator and has assisted in the provincial adjudications of community theatres in Central Ontario for the Association of Community Theatres (also known as ACT-CO).
I recently chatted with Autumn via ZOOM:
1. It has been just over two months right now that we have been under this lockdown. How have you been doing during this period of isolation and quarantine? Good, good. I had read Kim Blackwell’s profile where she was talking about burnout. Leading up to Isolation 101, I was so busy. I was hardly home, fortuitously working in something I love to do. It got to the point where I was so tired that I didn’t even know if I can stand up anymore. It’s not a complaint as I’m always grateful for the work. But this isolation came at a good moment where I needed to step back and stay home.
I’m trying to be optimistic as this pandemic is teaching me new life skills – patience is one thing which has never been a strong suit for me. Being in the same space with the grocery store being the only outing has been a challenge as I’m a gad about town. It’s been nice to have time to re-connect. My parents and I talk on the phone at least twice a day.
I’ve lost some work but had to re-engage other work in a new way. It’s exciting and has challenged my brain. I’m grateful to be healthy.
2. I’m sure you were probably at the very end of preparations from watching productions and getting your notes together for the ACT CO celebration. Did you have more productions to see when the pandemic was declared? Were you involved or being considered for any other projects before the pandemic was declared and everything was shut down? I saw 16 dramas this year and we got 14 in. Two of them submitted by video. One group which had submitted by video won Best Production award. ACT CO had to re-think everything, including the gala.
I had two projects on the go when they were put on hold., but everything happens for a reason. They’ll happen again. I’ve been working with the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus. I had written a new container of choral pieces (called ‘How the Earth Sings’) for my young kids in the chorus 4-11. I’m hoping we can do it again with them as these kids were so invested. We had micro sessions with them online trying to keep them engaged in the conversation through creation and artistic rendering of painting, poetry and songs of what they loved about the earth.
I was supposed to be directing a new pantomime version of ‘Cinderella’ I wrote for Gravenhurst Opera House summer season. It was called ‘Citronella’. It was a disco infused cottage Fantasia. It will have a life, I know it will. The Gravenhurst Opera House is a smaller member of our industry, but they do remarkable things for people up here. It’s an honour to work with them and have them as colleagues.
3. What has been the most difficult and/or challenging of this period of isolation for you? Home schooling. (with an uproarious laugh) It’s just figuring out your own personal boundaries, your partner’s boundaries, your kids’ boundaries, the dog’s boundaries (who is also continually under my feet). What does everyone need?
Before this change, I hadn’t spent a lot of time in the house, now it’s navigating hormones, geometry and baking.
4. What have you been doing to keep yourself busy during this time of lockdown? Walking the dog. Home schooling. I’m doing my podcast called ‘Before the Downbeat’. My friend Mackenzie Horner and I pick a musical each episode and we dissect it and decide if it should be produced. I like talking about musicals. Yes, they’re problematic but they’re something heavenly about them. We’re recording three episodes next week.
I’m also plotting – what can I do online, what can I start working on once I can get back into a room somewhere and be with people. I’m having lots of conversations, percolating ideas and also teaching at York University and Centennial right up to the lockdown.
I also started a theatre company for youth up here called Little Woodsmith. I’m doing some course writing for various universities. I’m cooking again. I haven’t cooked in a long time and it’s nice to be able to do that. Harder to do when the kids are here, but I’m doing it.
5. Any words of wisdom or sage advice you would give to other performing artists who are concerned about the impact of COVID-19? What about to the new theatre graduates who are just out of school and may have been hit hard? Why is it important for them not to lose sight of their dreams? We just have to accept. It’s weird for me to be giving advice, but I think, like a good work of art, be patient with the process. Enjoy the process. Find things new. Accept there’s no wrong. Enjoy the rabbit hole of isolation. What does the rabbit hole lead you to? Find ways to create using what’s happening. Allow yourself to be awesome. The beauty of time on your own or with family – everyone will enjoy it differently. Everyone will have a unique experience with this isolation.
If you are truly a good artist, there are many things you can do. We become little sprites that can do many different things. In the end of all this, yah, I might not be in theatre or an actor. That want we have as actors/theatre people will always be there. We have communication skills, empathetic heart and an openness to play through preparation. That is the gift of what we do.
6. Do you see anything positive stemming from this pandemic? Even though this time is terrifying, it’s also exhilarating. Those two emotions sit closely in one’s gut. We’re all confronted with the one thing that scares us everyday. But we have to do that one thing in our lives that scares us.
7. In your estimation and informed opinion, will the Canadian performing arts scene somehow be changed or impacted as a result of COVID – 19? No, I don’t. I’m going to be the optimist.
Artists are like Londoners after WW2. We carry on. It’s ingrained in our DNA. We’re resilient, we’re tenacious, and we don’t stop. We’ve always done it for very little money. The grant the federal government gives artists allows us to be inspired and to be wherever in the world. This is a blessing.
Yes, it’s harder when you’re an artist with a family to sustain. It’s time for reflection. This time will challenge us to find ways to do things online and in person. We’re going to be aware that we may have to put things into a new medium – and isn’t that exciting? How would that look?
8. Many artists are turning to streaming/online performances to showcase/highlight/share their work. What are your thoughts about this format presentation? Any advantages to doing this? Disadvantages? Are you participating or will you be participating in this presentation format soon?
It’s interesting to watch acting being forced into a little box and the way people navigate that. It’s challenging to do something different…nothing will be a substitute for the live performance. Nothing can touch that shared, communal moment of being in that space at that time with strangers where magic has been created.
9. I remember from many, many years ago at the Oshawa Little Theatre when we were involved in ‘Pack of Lies’ and your keen interest at that time for the performing arts. It has been rewarding in watching how you’ve succeeded and where your career has taken you as a teacher and adjudicator. What is it about performing you still love given all the change, the confusion and the drama surrounding our world now? I don’t perform much anymore as that terrifies me. No one wants to see me act. I really do love directing and collaboratively working with actors. It’s a great way to exercise my curiosity. I love the research that goes behind it and the work. I can’t imagine doing many other things in my life.
I love teaching and watching. I’m a bit of a guiding hand by having conversations with actors, asking questions and watching people’s minds turn. I try to be super supportive with any kind of pedagogy. Curiosity is the only true sign of intelligence.
With a respectful nod to ‘Inside the Actors’ Studio’ and the late James Lipton, here are the 10 questions he asked his guests at the conclusion of his interviews:
a. What is your favourite word? Specificity
b. What is your least favourite word? Complacency
c. What turns you on? Curiosity
d. What turns you off? Labels
e. What sound or noise do you love? My partner Sarah’s laugh
f. What sound or noise bothers you? Screaming
g. What is your favourite curse word? Fuck! It has to be in a triad – fuck, fuck, fuck
h. What profession, other than your own, would you have liked to attempt? Either a historian or a criminologist.
i. What profession would you not like to do? Anything in a cubicle.
j. If Heaven exists, what do you hope God will say to you as you approach the Pearly Gates? “Smith, you made it interesting.”
Autumn Smith’s head shot by S. Hiscox.