Nanaimo’s Kismet Theatre Academy Moves and Reopens
By Whitley Dunn
October 16, 2023
After being closed for three years due to COVID-19 and the owner’s personal health crisis, Kismet Theatre Academy has moved from 55 Victoria Rd to a new home studio at 2479 Holyrood Dr in Nanaimo and reopened on October 10th.
Bonnie Catterson Kent founded Kismet in 2012, offering classes for kids, teenagers, and adults to explore their passion for acting and build a sense of community. Students of the Academy went on to act in local theatre and beyond, particularly Western Edge theatre.
“Kismet was a constant source of talent for Western Edge—really good, well-trained actors who kept their acting chops up. I think the whole town missed it for that reason. That informal connection between everyone,” says Frank Moher, former Artistic Director of Western Edge and retired scriptwriting professor in VIU’s Creative Writing and Journalism department.
The newest member of Kismet’s family is Mary Littlejohn, who moved from Vancouver to Nanaimo three years ago where she met Catterson Kent and Sean Enns at the Mad World Salon Sessions event Enns hosts. The event allowed playwrights to hear their work read out loud early in the writing process. Littlejohn is now helping teach musical theatre classes to children 9 to 12.
Littlejohn says, “They’ve both connected me to a lot of people. Bonnie asked me to help with the musical theatre classes, which speaks to my heart since it’s one of my passions. Now, I get to pass on that love and skills.”
Catterson Kent says there are 10 returning students – and even a few younger siblings and cousins of past students – back at Kismet. “A lot of my students are now newly graduated from high school. So, a lot of the kids who were kids [back then] are now in my adult class. It’s wild, but rewarding seeing how passionate they are when they found out Kismet was coming back.”
The returning actors said theatre was missing from their lives and they needed it. “They’ve had so many good memories and Kismet made them feel so much more confident. It gave them a sense of community, safety, and they need that,” Catterson Kent says.
Daphne Davidson, one of the original students at Kismet who grew up with Patterson Kent as a teacher says, “It’s a really different kind of acting with the adult classes. [In] the kids’ classes we were writing plays, writing these characters [who were] very fun and fantasy-like. Getting ready for those plays felt like a big event. This class feels like we’re doing a lot more inner work, but we get a lot more out of it and become better actors.”
Former student Jasmine Schulz volunteered with younger classes as a teaching assistant and reminisces about plays such as Annie and Fame. “It was great to see them learning and honing their acting chops while sharing any advice or knowledge I could. Even seeing them outside of class, I was always met with a hug and that was amazing and heartwarming to me.”
Catterson Kent and Littlejohn have been working on an original kid’s musical called Courage that will have a single show on Dec 2nd at 1:30 pm at the OV Arts Centre. It will be the first kids’ production Kismet has done in three years.
Littlejohn says, “The theme for this term is courage. I selected How Far I’ll Go from Moana for the kids to work on, and then I gave them a list of other songs they could choose. They all submitted their favourites and we picked the ones with the most votes. We’re doing a great mix.”The winners were It’s A Hard Knock Life from Annie and Katy Perry’s Roar.
Littlejohn adds, “Bonnie’s writing a script that will fit around the songs. The kids have a vested interest in the characters they’re playing, and everyone gets to do as much as they’re comfortable with.”
Due to Catterson Kent’s health issues, Kismet will only offer a few classes and future shows are yet to be determined.
