ABOUT US
Founded in 2012, Suspension of Disbelief Theatre is dedicated to quality live theatre
presentation and training. We're big fans of Shakespeare, but we tackle all kinds of projects!
One big impetus for starting this company and doing Shakespeare, was this great new space
called the Forum that the Canadian Badlands Passion Play has created on their site.
An outdoor space with fantastic acoustics, we really wanted to see something theatrical
happen in the space. We love classical text and have had lots of opportunity in the past to
explore it but not in the Drumheller valley until now!
We like to do our projects as collectives, so the cast and crew are all the same people. We
draw on individuals who possess significant acting skill but who are also talented designers,
graphic artists, and well rounded theatre people who can pitch in on many different aspects of
getting shows produced. Most of these multi-talented people we’ve chosen to work with are
graduates or current students of Rosebud School of the Arts.
Why are we called Suspension of Disbelief?
Suspension of Disbelief is a term of art that often gets introduced to in theatre school. In the typical context is has to do with Audience and Artist choosing together to ignore the fact they are in a theatre, to Suspend their Disbelief and imagine together all that could be in the story they are telling and witnessing. As Shakespeare himself penned it in the introduction to Henry V:
Think when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth;
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who prologue-like your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.
For us, though its also has to do with even more images than that! Suspension makes us think of bridges, of tension, of struggle and passion in the struggle. Disbelief is a trickier image, but I think it’s still important – Disbelief is something we all struggle with. It’s a piece of humanity that we’d often not like to be subjected to, but it ties us together and when we share it openly, we often discover new things about each other and ourselves.
That brings us back to the shared experience of the theatre, the Suspension of Disbelief – the only art form that can’t be achieved alone, has to be done in community and collaboration. The continued journey of and to shared truth, grace and openness.
BRAD G.
GRAHAM
Artistic Director &
Founder
KELSEY
KROGMAN
Artistic Associate &
Graphics Wizard
GLENDA
WARKENTIN
Artistic Associate &
Co-Founder
ANDREW
COOPER
Artistic Associate &
Consiliari
More about who we are:
Brad G. Graham, Artistic Director & Founder:
Brad is the Production Stage Manager for Rosebud Theatre and a technical theatre instructor for Rosebud School of the Arts, having trained in Alberta Theatre Project’s Junior Apprenticeship and RDC’s Theatre Technology Program. Some of Brad’s favourite credits include directing Much Ado About Nothing and the Tempest (Suspension of Disbelief) as well as work on Salt-Water Moon by David French, The Voice of the Prairie by John Olive, Billy Bishop Goes to War by John Gray & Eric Peterson (Rosebud Theatre) and The Canadian Badlands Passion Play, where he is on the Board of Directors. Brad is grateful to his muse, GW, and his family for their love and support.
Glenda Warkentin, Artistic Associate & Co-Founder:
Glenda is pleased to be working alongside her husband Brad and this talented casts that work with Suspension of Disbelief. Past Costume Design credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Suspension of Disbelief), Here Breaks The Heart: the Christina Rossetti story, To Forgive Divine, Asleep On The Wind, Graceland (Fire Exit Theatre), The Turn Of The Screw, Destroying Mt. Saint Helen's. Select Theatre Acting credits are: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theatre Prospero), Much Ado About Nothing (Suspension of Disbelief), The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Jake And The Kid, Fiddler On The Roof, Talley's Folly, On Golden Pond (Rosebud Theatre), and She Has A Name (Burnt Thicket Theatre).
Kelsey Krogman, Artistic Associate & Graphics Wizard:
A graduate of the Mentorship Acting Programme at Rosebud School of the Arts, Kelsey works in the hamlet of Rosebud as an actor, photographer and educator. Favorite Shakespeare credits include Rosalind in As You Like It, Ophelia in Ophelia’s Hamlet, and Hero in Much Ado About Nothing (Suspension of Disbelief). Kelsey hails from the Central Alberta area, and previously completed a BA in English from the University of Calgary before coming to Rosebud to study.
Andrew Cooper, Artistic Associate & Consiliari:
Andrew is an actor, theatre creator and graduate of Rosebud School of the Arts. He has studied at the University of Calgary and apprenticed at the Chemainus Theatre Festival. He is the creator of Needle & Branch, a one-man homage to the tree planter (Edmonton and Winnipeg Fringe Festivals) and co-creator of Twinkle(Burnt Thicket Theatre), an experiment in living room theatre. Some favourite past credits include: Treasure Island, Chickens, Pith! (Rosebud Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing (Suspension of Disbelief); The Canadian Badlands Passion Play (2015); Sunong (Wycliffe Dinner Theatre); Arsenic and Old Lace, Winnie the Pooh(Chemainus Theatre Festival).