Virtual Gold podcast brings seasoned voice to A Triad for Christmas, December 24
The new series by Western Gold Theatre highlights veteran artists
Russell Roberts performs A Triad for Christmas on December 24.
Virtual Gold’s A Triad for Christmas gets released on December 24.
Theatre people don’t retire, collecting a gold watch on their 65th birthday. They never stop creating, and many get better with age. That’s the thinking behind Western Gold Theatre. which showcases and celebrates the talent of veteran professional artists (aged 55 and up).
Consider Russell Roberts. The Welsh-born actor emigrated to Canada in 1973 then graduated from Bristol’s Old Vic Theatre School five years later. Since then, he has performed in hundreds of plays, musicals, films, TV shows, and radio programs in Canada and the U.S. Locally, he has appeared in works by Western Gold, Vancouver Playhouse, Rumble Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, the Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, and TUTS.
Roberts also did several performances of A Child’s Christmas in Wales with the Vancouver Chamber Choir, releasing A Dylan Thomas Christmas CD in 2014.
With theatres shuttered for the time being, Western Gold has pivoted in response to the pandemic with its new Virtual Gold podcasts. The series consists of audio stories, interviews, play readings and more.
On December 24, Virtual Gold pulls a hat trick with A Triad for Christmas. Roberts will perform three classic Yuletide tales: Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus by Francis P Church; The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry; and Pearl S. Buck’s Christmas Day in the Morning.
Roberts can also be heard sharing A Child’s Christmas in Wales on Virtual Gold’s inaugural episode from December 16.
On December 20, director and actor Anna Hagan performs A Lute for Christmas, Susan Adams’s story about the transformation of a Pacific yew tree. Hagan, who received the 2013 Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Career Achievement and was named Woman of the Year by UBCP/ACTRA in 2014, is a former associate director of the Arena Theatre Company; former assistant director of the Stratford Festival’s Young Company; and was artistic director of Western Gold Theatre for 12 years.
Joy Coghill founded Western Gold Theatre in 1994, upon recognizing the dearth of roles for veteran professional artists in the Vancouver area. It’s the only professional theatre company in Western Canada dedicated solely to supporting senior artists. Tanja Dixon–Warren—co-founder of Hoarse Raven Theatre and former managing producer of Full Circle: First Nations Performance—is its current artistic director.
To hear the Virtual Gold podcasts, visit Western Gold Theatre.
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