As one of the adjudicators for this year’s provincial high school drama festival, Diana Daly of St. John’s is inspired by the next generation of theatre in Newfoundland and Labrador.

With the launch of her performing arts production consultancy, she is investing in the future of theatre and stage performances in Newfoundland and Labrador.

“There’s young technical kids coming up, kids who are wanting to make shows,” she said in a recent interview.

Her new enterprise, Divining Rod, aims to bolster the live arts industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, first by identifying gaps in the province’s theatrical production labour force, and then by equipping workers and employers for a robust performing arts sector. 

Like the restaurant business

Daly compares the process of producing live arts, with all the moving parts and precise timelines, to running a restaurant.

“If you want to run a really big restaurant, there’s a lot of staff that goes into the whole experience,” she said.

She also confessed with a laugh, “When you watch those shows where there’s one grumpy cook — I’ve been the one grumpy cook!”

Unlike the restaurant business, however, Daly fears theatre production in the province may lack sufficient staffing to cover the many varied responsibilities.

“Most artists in Newfoundland are multi-disciplinary, most of us can be creative, administrative, and technical,” she said. “We’re not siloed into only performing or only producing. That helps us, but sometimes it gets very blurry.”

Daly said Divining Rod addresses what happens “in, on, over, under and around the stage.”

That includes such roles as stage management, production management, technical direction, carpentry, costume designers and lighting designers. She also aims to articulate workplace standards so workers understand their rights and responsibilities, and theatre companies understand the scope, needs and limits of their hired staff. 

A multifaceted artist

Daly brings a broad range of arts experience to the new venture. Since completing the production design and Technical arts program at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, Daly has lived and worked in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and British Columbia, amassing 25 years of experience in event management and production.

Daly’s many creative achievements include If a Place Could be Made, a multidisciplinary documentary production written and performed by the Daly Family Collective. The production toured the province, and its script and music were presented at festivals in Canada and the U.S. Daly then wrote a children’s book based on the production, A Wonderful Bigness, published by Running the Goat Books and Broadsides.

Material support for artists

Daly says her experience writing and performing for If a Place Could be Made opened her eyes to the creative potential for artists who have sufficient creative, technical and financial support.

“Look how far you can go when you’re in a positive, meaningful project and team,” she said.

“I was paid properly. I was working with friends who wanted to develop with me and invest in me and liked my ideas.”

Thanks to the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs, Daly has received material and professional support to launch Divining Rod.

“The beautiful thing about NLOWE is that this is what I’m paid to do right now,” she said.

Under the provincial self-employment assistance program, Daly was able to spend ten weeks developing the business plan for Divining Rod and has since been approved for further funding to help the business achieve its goals of training people to work in theatre production.

Addressing the problem of worker burnout

Daly the training helps alleviate the theatre world’s problems with burnout.

“Not everybody can afford to go to theatre school or has the inclination, so a lot of people in this industry learn by doing and learn on the job.”

On-the-job training works, says Daly, but can add extra — often unremunerated — labour for experienced workers. Working with theatre and performance companies across the country, Daly has observed a trend of seasoned workers retiring or transferring their skills into more lucrative fields like film and television.

The resulting burnout among the remaining workers compounds the issues.

“We have theatres that are running, and we can’t even find crew with enough skills to do the work, so we’re constantly teaching while we’re on the job,” she said.

1 step at a time

Daly believes in building her business one step at a time.

“I’m not the National Theatre School, and I’m not going to send out this new army of super-professional tech, but I’m going to start at the very beginning.”

The first steps for Divining Rod include a survey of the province’s current and former experts in the technical and design aspects of theatre production, collecting information on working conditions and identifying areas where qualified workers are most needed. With this quantitative data, Divining Rod can develop a strategy to equip workers with essential knowledge, says Daly.

“I want to start training people to be, like, OK, you’re on a crew call, you go in with your wrench and your multi-tool, you’re wearing your steel-toe boots, make sure you wear your hardhat.”

Workplace standards and protocol is another area Daly hopes to address with Divining Rod.

“I want respectful workplace policies … so that when the scope of our work creeps out bigger, we’re allowed to say no or explain why we’re not going to do more than we’re engaged to do.”

Daly stressed her intention is “not to be combative but to build the industry back up, because then everybody wins. Your beautiful designs and dreams and creations can happen better when you have an appropriate team.”

The future of theatre in Newfoundland and Labrador

Daly’s long-term intentions for Divining Rod include the creation of a database of available talent to support the theatre industry throughout the province.

“It really is about respecting and honouring the artists that are part of my world.”

As for the future of theatre in Newfoundland and Labrador, Daly says she feels inspired.

“I just feel that art is one of the most important pieces of life, and that my contribution to thriving live arts in Newfoundland and Labrador, and hopefully the country, can be this.”