Facilitators and experts for the OLI-works Shakespeare series
We plan to recruit for more facilitators and experts in due course. For now, our custodians are the following
Meg Barker
The founder of OLI-works, Meg Barker, is animating this workshop. Meg’s early, extramural training was in youth acting at the Manitoba School for the Arts, Winnipeg, Canada for four years. A move to British Columbia meant a switch to five years of high school drama instruction by an exceptional teacher, Mr. Ian Midler, and performance of youth plays around the Okanagan Valley. However when choices had to be made for university, Meg pursued a career in the natural sciences, social sciences, public policy and international affairs. More about her usual professional background is here.
In an informal manner, Meg continued with theatre as an interest outside of work. She was part of the Wakefield Players, a community theatre company in La Pêche, Québec at the time of its founding. Meg also launched an on-line theatre and review club in the mid-2000’s called DaphneUnbound, designed for anyone with a love for theatre and film, and who wished to hone their review skills through peer-peer learning.
Meg continues to find startling and clairvoyant insights into the worlds of science, public policy and international intrigue in certain artistic and literary works, but such writers and producers are often not in the mainstream, and the women’s lens is frequently missing. To help remedy this, she has volunteered as a Board Member and is currently a member of the International Centre of Women Playwrights. She is also a supporting member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. She was able to attend one of the conferences of Women Playwrights International (WPI), when it was held in Mumbai, India, in 2009. The next WPI conference takes place in Montreal, at the beginning of summer 2022.
Jade Debrick
Jade Debrick is from a small town in England, a little more then a stone’s throw away from William Shakespeare’s birthplace. Her interest in the dramatic arts began when she graduated to Queensbury Upper School where she studied drama for five years. In addition to her regular intramural studies, she participated in the after-school drama club at Queensbury. Outside of school she was a member of her town’s youth theatre company named the Little Theatre.
With this comprehensive training and exposure Jade was able to learn a rich variety of dramatic skills, including stage performance as part of a cast, solo performance, directing, improvisation, script writing, basic stage combat and costume and set design.
The works of Shakespeare surrounded Jade in her country of origin. As part of her studies, she had the privilege to visit the famous Globe Theatre in London to watch a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and also went to Stratford upon Avon with the theatre company — this time as a holiday excursion — to see another performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but in this instance it was performed in six different languages. Jade has also had a role in The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s schools programme.
When hard choices had to be made for university studies, Jade decided to pursue her interest in psychology. She attended the University of Derby where she took a joint Psychology and Criminology degree. Later Jade attended Buckinghamshire New University to further develop her psychology knowledge. For her subsequent profession, Jade became a support worker for people with epilepsy and learning disabilities.
Drama comprises one of many of Jade’s interests outside of her job. A new resident in Canada, she is trying her hand in different activities. She plans to attend theatre productions as always, and is pleased to explore her skills in voice acting and on-line facilitating with OLI-works.
