So you want to be an actor? Well, the Island City by Nature may be the place to start.
Richmond is steadily growing into a performance arts and drama hub, and local actor Boris Bilic is a leading example of what the city can offer young thespians.
Bilic, a soft-spoken Richmond teen and Grade 12 Steveston-London Secondary school student, glows about his budding theatre career saying it all began in the summer of 2008.
A performing arts program offered at Richmond’s Gateway Theatre Academy sparked the teenage actor’s initial interest.
His parents, Bill and Jesenka Bilic, say they let Boris try almost everything, from ice skating, hockey and soccer to swimming, baseball and volleyball. But nothing really felt right for the Richmond performer. Well, at least not as right as performing on stage.
“Acting beat everything,” Bilic says, “(and) the academy exposed me to a lot of different stuff. It gave me the fundamental knowledge.”
Bilic is currently pursuing theatrical endeavours outside the Academy. He received one of the leading roles in Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) which was a play performed at the province-wide Theatre BC Festival in May, hosted at the Metro Theatre.
According to Bilic’s father, even as the youngest actor in the competition, the 17-year-old won an honourable mention (runner-up) for Best Supporting Actor. It is something the teenager is hesitant to throw too much attention on.
Bilic then moved from that achievement onto a more enterprising journey.
The young actor is a founding member of a relatively new theatrical company, Alchemy Theatre (facebook.com/alchemytheatreensemble), which just finished wrapping up their production of Twelfth Night at Bernie Legge Theatre in New Westminster over the weekend.
Bilic comments on the undertaking as simply something that is “going well.”
He adds the only thing he wishes for is to move up in the theatre world. Productions like those staged by Bard on the Beach, he says, is a shining example of the level of work he aspires to.
Bilic still has a final year of secondary school studies that beckons. Though, he says, Steveston-London manages to provide quality teaching in the performing arts and this is in large part due to drama teacher Jean Kosar.
Kosar, who couldn’t be reached for comment, is a key example of Richmond’s dedication to the arts and drama.
Offering high-level theatre instruction is noteable, considering the arts are often the first discipline to be cut when budgets are tight — as has been the case in Vancouver and other districts.
Gateway Theatre Academy Education Manager Ruth McIntosh says there are certainly more choices available to young actors than ever before.
Over the years, theatre programs in Richmond secondary schools have been considerably revamped, says McIntosh.
It’s not simply the English teacher who is double-backing as the acting instructor, she explains.
However, the academy does offer something different, adds MacIntosh. It is dedicated to teaching the ‘how’ of acting, which means the approach is more process-focused than product focused, allowing students to get fully immersed in a theatre production from the ground-up.
Even more, the academy presents young actors, from age six to 18, with professionals currently working in the industry.
“There’s just a different sensibility, a different breath, training with professionals in a professional theatre,” she says.
The academy, now entering its 23rd season, also offers playwriting and singing classes as part of its overall curriculum; the former being a relatively new program that started last year.
Even the City of Richmond offers a full suite of performing arts activities and programs for citizens of all ages.
Richmond Arts Centre coordinator, Camyar Chaichian, says overall enrolment, when considering all arts programming, has increased by about four per cent per year.
One of the main attractions, on top of creative movement and musical theatre, is ballet, says Chaichian. There’s classes for all levels and ages, extending as far as tap and jazz for senior citizens to enjoy.
The goal, says Chaichian, is to make arts in Richmond as accessible as possible, which means offering a wide range of programming for every level of participant.
