Love is in the air this time of year. And there’s no shortage of love between Perchance Theatre and Target Marketing & Communications. For almost a decade, the two have been in a partnership of the heart.
Perchance Theatre is Newfoundland and Labrador’s only professional classical theatre company, offering a combination of Shakespeare with an NL twist. The theatre is inspired by open-air Elizabethan playhouses, modelled after Shakespeare’s famous Globe theatre in London. With its unique theatrical experience, natural outdoor setting, and talented actors and directors, Perchance Theatre offers a new perspective and awareness about Shakespeare, and about the power and love of language.
Target, a full-service advertising and marketing firm, has been actively involved with and supporting the business and arts community in our province for over 40 years. With a philosophy rooted in the importance of storytelling, Target believes in the dual power of strategy and creativity. That’s why Target often chooses to work with local arts organizations, including the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and the Nickel Independent Film Festival. And their love for the arts can be observed in any of their work. Most notably, Target presents the province’s exuberant musical, artistic, and theatrical culture in their many renowned campaigns for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, including the recent “Leave No Song Unsung.”
And here in one of the most creative places on the planet, Perchance and Target have been working together to create a community that celebrates a love of language.
The Power of Words
The recent campaign, The Power of Words, casts a fun, yet critical gaze at the true building blocks of language – letters. To kick it off, a new logo was designed for the theatre based on the shape of the theatre itself — a classic 16th-century-style theatre with a distinctive hexagonal structure. The “P” of Perchance was incorporated into the logo, similar to the welcoming walkway audiences use to enter the theatre. The campaign includes a series of 30-second radio spots, voiced by beloved Newfoundland performer Andy Jones (hear some of them below), as well as posters, each focusing on a different letter of the alphabet. And posters using the first letter for each play. The idea – if a word can elevate a lowly letter, imagine the power those words hold in the hands of a master poet like William Shakespeare. Better yet, imagine what those words can do for an audience. Every letter. Every word. A power all its own.
“We love having Target on our Perchance team,” says Danielle Irvine, Artistic Director of Perchance Theatre. “They have fun, and always have our best interest at heart. And we get to benefit from their amazing creativity. We’re always excited to see what’s next!”
And the campaign has been getting some big love. It won seven awards at the 2019 ICE Awards – celebrating creative excellence in Atlantic Canada by recognizing the best in advertising, design, digital, and creativity. It was featured in an Applied Arts double-page spread, and also won a Communications Arts Award for Public Service, celebrating the best in visual communications from around the world.
“Perchance Theatre is always a pleasure to work with,” says Jane Hall, Account Director at Target. “Like us, they continually push the envelope of what is expected – from their creative approach, right down to their unique location – and that matches up nicely with our philosophy for great work. There’s a lot of natural synergy there. And when we see Danielle coming through our door, we’re always all smiles.”
The Power of One
While Perchance typically draws theatre lovers in droves to their location each summer, the ongoing pandemic has seen them take a shift in approach, like many other artists and arts organizations around the province. The Power of One is a video series of captured monologues from every Shakespeare play in the Canon (click here to read our previous Spotlight on The Power of One). In this new era of social distancing, the project exemplified how one person, one soliloquy, one moment, can make a difference. This 41-week project showcased some of Newfoundland and Labrador’s actors and musicians, set against the backdrop of some of the province’s most stunning locations including Nain, Nunatsiavut; the Tablelands; St. Jacques; sections of the East Coast Trail; and many points in between. With support from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, it was a smashing success, with 12,000 to 50,000 views for each video.
And based on this success, phase two of the project, The Power of One: World Classics is now in full swing – with a focus on stories from different countries and cultures around the world (click here to learn more).
