Nicola Elson
Nicola Elson is a theatre-maker in as many ways as she can muster. She is a deviser, collaborator, actor, improviser, clown, stilt walker, teacher, director, playwright, and arts-and-crafter. With a focus on physical theatre, mask, clown, tréteau, foley, and puppetry, Nicola works as a freelance artist and as an Associate Professor in Drama at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta. Her teaching specializes in Devised Theatre, Improvisation, and Theatre for Young Audiences.
Nicola’s work in theatre for young audiences often explores sensitive subjects such as grief and loss, abuse, sexual and gender identity, and learning differences. She also teaches courses in Theatre in Education, Social Justice Theatre, and creating live performance with vulnerable communities. Her research investigates the benefits of immersive devising environments that integrate design, playwriting, and performance into a unified, inclusive process.
As a performer and creator, Nicola has collaborated with independent and regional theatre companies across Alberta as an actor, deviser, playwright, and director. Select credits include: Clue (New West Theatre), The Twilight Glow of Romeo(Ad Hoc Flock), Yabber (Mudfoot Theatre), Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors and The Little Prince (University of Lethbridge), The Sissy Duckling (Theatre Outré), Legend of the Lost Tooth (New West Theatre), A Play About a Dragonand War of the Worlds (Calgary Young People’s Theatre), Ivan and the Dogs (Tinman Theatre), Elephant Song (Green Fools Theatre), Good Fences and In the Wake (Downstage), Blood: A Scientific Romance, The Attic, the Pearls & Three Fine Girls (Sage Theatre), and Blithe Spirit (Vertigo Theatre).
Recent highlights include:
Hootenanny – a free, outdoor, original children’s play presented annually at Galt Gardens in collaboration with University of Lethbridge Drama students.
The Sissy Duckling – Nicola’s adaptation of the queer-positive children’s book into a musical for young audiences, now licensed by Musical Theatre International.
The Twilight Glow of Romeo – Nicola’s original play, presented at Calgary’s Festival of Animated Objects, exploring loss of autonomy in our senior years through puppetry.