In the year of a university, summer is often a time to slow down, to rest and regroup.
Unless, of course, you happen to be Kelly Wolf.
Wolf, a sessional instructor and instructional assistant in the School of the Arts (SOTA), is an in-demand theatre designer who’s worked with the Shaw Festival, the Blyth Festival, Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto, and many other groups, small and large.
She’s also the artistic director of Open Heart Arts Theatre, which creates theatre performances in collaboration with communities, including those working and living in congregate care settings, and those who are unhoused.
All this means she’s pretty busy – even in the summer.
Wolf recently wrapped up scenic and costume design work on The Last Timbit, a musical sponsored by Tim Hortons to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary. Produced by Michael Rubinoff, one of the originators of the hit Broadway musical Come From Away, The Last Timbit ran at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre for seven performances at the end of June.
Closer to home, Open Heart also premiered their latest work, Show Home, at Theatre Aquarius’s Brave New Works Festival to an audience of more than 100 people.
Created by storyteller and direct support worker Carlyn Rhamey, Show Home is the culmination of three years of workshops and interviews with people connected with L’Arche Hamilton, Mainstream Niagara, Adults in Motion and other support organizations, gathering stories and experiences of people with disabilities living in congregate care settlings and those who support them.
Wolf has also started work on SOTA’s Fall Major Production, an annual theatrical performance directed by SOTA professors and developed in collaboration with Theatre and Film and iArts students.
And if that wasn’t enough, she’s now arrived at the Blyth Festival to work on set and costume designs for Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes, a play about the women who worked as farm labourers across Canada during World War II.
Wolf is, in fact, taking some holiday time this summer, but the busy-ness is par for the course as a working artist – and Wolf says it only enhances her work at McMaster.
“I have a creative practice outside of Mac, and that adds value to what I do with the students,” she says. “Because I have a theatre design and production background, there’s a lot of crossover with iArts. Anything you’d do while making a show – like props, or scenic painting – I can use to help a student.”
Wolf’s connections and experience within the theatre community in Hamilton and beyond are also key to her work at Mac.
“I’m a physical resource, but I’m a brain resource as well,” she explains. “I get multiple questions from people in the community looking for help on productions, or students looking for connections, and I can help make those connections happen.
“This kind of work can be done in Hamilton, and if people are interested in finding things to do here, I can help connect them.”
Look for Kelly Wolf’s work in the upcoming Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes, which runs at the Blyth Festival from Aug. 14 to Sept. 7.