By Suha Cho
Growing up, Mr. Wener was constantly surrounded by theatre. When he went to McGill to study political science, he met a guy in philosophy who asked to watch his play and it looked like fun. So, Mr. Wener decided in his third year to take a course called Fundamentals of Theatre. He was nervous but after performing a scene, he knew this is what he wanted to do. In his 4th year, he auditioned for the play, got the lead role and experienced what it was like to be in a play. He enjoyed it as a hobby and kept auditioning for different roles in plays at McGill. He ended up switching majors from political science to theatre and took advantage of every opportunity he had at McGill to be a part of the theatre program. No one taught him but he learned from experience. After graduation, Mr. Wener got a dinner theatre job and taught at acting school. That was his first-time teaching and then he decided to get his education degree. After working in Montreal, Mr. Wener went to University of Victoria and got his Master’s degree in directing and started a theatre company called Way Off Broadway that toured across Canada for 10 years, writing and creating plays. For a while he produced plays in Vancouver and then he got a job at Collingwood, and he has been here ever since! He has been a member of the performing department for the past 20 years.
Besides theatre, Mr. Wener loves his family of 3 kids. His eldest daughter is a TV actress! He also loves to play basketball whenever he gets the chance to. When he’s performing, he’s not thinking that he is creating art but thinking about the next rehearsal, next line and he focuses on the moment. At the end of a production, he reflects on his play and thinks that it is an art. Theatre is multiple art forms combined together: composition, acting, set, costumes, directing. To be a master of many arts, to be a director and an artist is not just one thing, you make it a part of your life.
Growing up, Mr. Wener was constantly surrounded by theatre. When he went to McGill to study political science, he met a guy in philosophy who asked to watch his play and it looked like fun. So, Mr. Wener decided in his third year to take a course called Fundamentals of Theatre. He was nervous but after performing a scene, he knew this is what he wanted to do. In his 4th year, he auditioned for the play, got the lead role and experienced what it was like to be in a play. He enjoyed it as a hobby and kept auditioning for different roles in plays at McGill. He ended up switching majors from political science to theatre and took advantage of every opportunity he had at McGill to be a part of the theatre program. No one taught him but he learned from experience. After graduation, Mr. Wener got a dinner theatre job and taught at acting school. That was his first-time teaching and then he decided to get his education degree. After working in Montreal, Mr. Wener went to University of Victoria and got his Master’s degree in directing and started a theatre company called Way Off Broadway that toured across Canada for 10 years, writing and creating plays. For a while he produced plays in Vancouver and then he got a job at Collingwood, and he has been here ever since! He has been a member of the performing department for the past 20 years.
Besides theatre, Mr. Wener loves his family of 3 kids. His eldest daughter is a TV actress! He also loves to play basketball whenever he gets the chance to. When he’s performing, he’s not thinking that he is creating art but thinking about the next rehearsal, next line and he focuses on the moment. At the end of a production, he reflects on his play and thinks that it is an art. Theatre is multiple art forms combined together: composition, acting, set, costumes, directing. To be a master of many arts, to be a director and an artist is not just one thing, you make it a part of your life.
His advice to anyone interested in theatre is to just do it. If you want to, do it. If you have the chance to, try it out or enroll in drama class. Don’t think about what you need to do to be an actor, if you perform enough and you feel that you are good at this, then you can start to think about what you need to do. If you’re starting out, the chance and opportunity is here at Collingwood and every year a student has his or her first experience at theatre. If it’s something you want to do, the chance is here and you won’t regret it.
Mr. Wener’s father was in the film business and worked as a film distributor. From an early age therefore, Mr. Wener watched a lot of movies and was introduced to the idea of behind the scenes and what it took to make a movie. He was exposed to the ins and outs of creating a movie. Watching actors as a child, he was interested and thought that it looked like fun. When he had the chance to be a part of a play, he took the opportunity and he hasn’t looked back.
Next year, the theatre department is presenting 12 Angry Men and 12 Angry Women. Not only that, the theatre department is giving the opportunity to students to produce, direct and perform their own plays next year!
Mr. Wener’s father was in the film business and worked as a film distributor. From an early age therefore, Mr. Wener watched a lot of movies and was introduced to the idea of behind the scenes and what it took to make a movie. He was exposed to the ins and outs of creating a movie. Watching actors as a child, he was interested and thought that it looked like fun. When he had the chance to be a part of a play, he took the opportunity and he hasn’t looked back.
Next year, the theatre department is presenting 12 Angry Men and 12 Angry Women. Not only that, the theatre department is giving the opportunity to students to produce, direct and perform their own plays next year!