Meet the Artists Behind Meet Me: Directing/Playwriting Team

Meet Me performs at the Mcgill Campus: TNC Theatre from September 29th - October 8th (No show October 2nd), 7:00pm-8:30pm LEARN MORE

Rosaruby Kagan Glaberman

Director/ Co-Playwright

Rosaruby (she/her) is a Registered Drama Therapist, licensed Psychotherapist, Actor, Director, and Theatre Producer.

So how long has Meet Me been in the works?

Rosaruby: We applied for the production grant in the summer of 2019 but started conceptualizing it the year before- so Meet Me has been in the works for four years now! It feels like a dream come true to have it get to this point. I couldn’t be happier with the team and with how well the intricate elements are coming together.

This show deals with some tough subject matter and moments of heightened intimacy between some of the actors… how do you plan to navigate those topics as a director?

Rosaruby: I think for me as a director what’s important is that the connection between the characters is highlighted. I’m not one for shock value. I think creating the relationship is what’s important, so the investigating the emotional connection between the characters, the trajectory of their relationship- that’s what I place my focus on. Seeing how these two people who very much connect to each other, have a very unfortunate disconnect, and how they navigate that. I work to place importance on their story and their relationship.

How do you think having been one of the cowriters will help you in your direction of the production?

Rosaruby: I just know the story so intimately- it’s in my vision! I enjoyed cowriting it with Julia and am so thrilled that I get to direct it as well. I’m sure another director would do well too- bringing their own flavour, but I think it’s very helpful that I’ve been involved in this process because there are so many layers. Not only is the script 500 pages, but with the transitions between the three different locations and the incorporation of all the technical components, it’s very complex!

Julia Ainsworth

Co-Producer/ Co-Playwright

Julia (she/her) is a Montreal based theatre artist and arts educator, co-artistic directing her company, Live Action Theatre Project alongside Rosaruby Kagan since 2014.

Could you tell us a little about the project?

Julia: Meet Me is an interactive show with a branching narrative structure. Rosaruby and I havebeen working together on the dialogue, the character trajectories, and the technological components for a few years now– quite an ambitious writing project to be working on, especially during covid!It was just such a labour-intensive project; I don’t think either of us really knew how much so until we got onto the second draft! So, it’s 500 pages with 60 something variants. The audience will only see 6, (about 80 minutes’ worth of content), but to be an authentic choose your own adventure style branching narrative, we really did write all those variants.

How did the script workshops help to get Meet Me from where it was to where it is now?

Julia: So, we did two workshops with Meet Me, the first workshop was very much focused onthe interactive nature and the role of the audience. Working with friends and community members, we began to shape how those interactions were going to look and made the structure much more complex. Now, instead of presenting the audience with a binary, ‘this or that’ choice, we frame the questions and the interactions in a way that provides space for the audience to share their thoughts and feelings, really getting into the complexity of the characters and themes. The second workshop was focused on the script itself. We workshopped with Sarah Elkashef from Playwrights Workshop Montréal in October of 2021, and she helped develop the show so much because she is a master dramaturge. She was so efficient and positive, accelerating our process and propelling us into our final draft!

How do the audience and the technical aspect play into the performance?

Julia: Well, the audience gets to know their character and they get to see the scenes unfold. Then at specific plot points the individual characters ask their audience group for help, the same way you would ask people that you trust to help when you have a dilemma.you will see the audience really bond with and begin to root for their character or feel regret seeing their choices play out like, “oh why did we choose that!” So, it’s really fun. There is a lot of excitement and suspense in the interactions– and those conversations are completely dependent on who is in the audience and what they bring.

Ahlam Gholami

Assistant Director

Ahlam (she/her) is a Canadian Iranian artist who recently graduated from École Supérieur de Théâtre de UQAM as a performer and theatre creator.

So, you are in the second week or rehearsals now… What has assistant directing Meet Me been like so far?

Ahlam: So far? Very fun, very challenging! It has been so great to see the technical process, with the phones, the app, and the voices, all coming together in collaboration with the actors. It’s so much to juggle with, and I’m here to help.

What would you say your biggest challenge has been so far?

Ahlam: I would say my biggest challenge is helping find different voices for the technical/media components. Currently I am looking to cast about 150 volunteers to voice these various media characters!

So, this show has a lot of strong themes and deals with moments of heightened intimacy…How do you plan to navigate those working with your director and working with your actors? Are you helping them sort of choreograph those moments...?

Ahlam: No, I’m not helping choreograph these moments, but I feel that it’s been taken care of, and it’s very safe! Rosaruby has worked hard to cultivate a very safe environment alongside our intimacy choreographer, Meagan Schroder. Meagan is amazing, and when I asked the actors about how the choreography went, they were very pleased and comfortable with the rehearsal of these scenes. I think there’s a good and positive energy in how everyone is working together onthis project!