Lauren Allen

I am a Saskatoon-born, Edmonton-trained, Toronto-based theatre artist! I am a fourth generation settler from Treaty Six Territory. I graduated from Grant MacEwan University in 2013 and have been all over the world working on theatre ever since, including a two-year stint in Paris, France. In addition to being a theatre artist (which means I have done multiple different jobs in the theatre world), I have worked extensively in Social Media Marketing and recently found success as a Script Supervisor in film and television for both French and English productions.

Early Years

I have loved performance from a very young age. Throughout elementary and high school I appeared in many different shows that bolstered my love of acting! I did lots of shows through my schools’ drama departments, including Cabaret and The Sound of Music. I was first paid to act when I was 11 years old in a production of Nuncrackers produced by Off Broadway Dinner Theatre. My next big achievement was acting in French for the first time when I was 15 in Unity 1918 with La Troupe du Jour’s community theatre initiative. I would become a regular in this series and with La Troupe du Jour- appearing in Départs the following year and Berthe et Lolo the next. In my last year of high school (2011) I was part of the very first Kinsmen Young Company at Persephone Theatre, where we did a production of Waking by Daniel MacDonald, in addition to training with many wonderful artists.

As high school came to a close, I was thrilled to be accepted into Grant MacEwan’s Theatre Arts program. As a lifelong musical theatre enthusiast, I was so happy to be able to go to school for something that I loved!

University

At Grant Mac, I took classes in singing, dancing and acting over a two-year period to earn my diploma. During this time I appeared as Varya in The Cherry Orchard, Cinderella’s Mother in Into the Woods, Ensemble in Attempts on Her Life, Petra in A Little Night Music (preview only), Ensemble in Musical of Musicals the Musical and Ensemble in Assassins. In my final semester, I was hit by a car while crossing the street to my apartment and had to back out of performing the role of Petra in A Little Night Music as a result of my injuries. Luckily, I appeared in the preview performance and in all of the archival photos! I was able to complete the dance component of my diploma through written study of dance and teaching choreography without demonstrating it.

I was awarded two scholarships in my second year (prior to the car accident) for most improved in singing and most improved in dance.

Early Career

After graduating from Grant MacEwan, I was offered a few jobs in Saskatoon. La Troupe du Jour hired me for a series of modelling contracts and my first professional acting role post university (L’amoureuse in Prendre Racine). At the same time, I worked as the production assistant/social media coordinator for Sum Theatre SK’s first-ever Theatre in The Park, which won the Saskatoon and Area Theatre Award for Innovation. It was a busy summer! I continued to work as an actor and production assistant for Sum Theatre into 2014 and starting my social media work with that company led me to earn my Certificate in Social Media Management from Hootsuite Podium in September of 2015. During this time I also founded and ran the Saskatoon Theatre Blog for a year, which I found an interesting experiment in discussing theatre online.

I was brought on to handle all things online for On the Boards Staging Company in 2014 as well, and they continue to be my most loyal client! As of September 2023, the founders of On the Boards Company, Cynthia Dyck and Jim Arthur, have retired, and thus my contract with the company has ended as it progresses to a new life.

In 2014, I founded Staple Productions, which has produced multiple small-scale cabarets in the hopes of building an audience for full musical productions in the future. I also co-founded the short-lived Cabaret Association of Saskatoon with two of my friends. Staple Productions is currently my vehicle for the Breakup Cabaret YouTube series.

I was heavily involved in the initial days of the Saskatchewan Association of Theatre Professionals at this time as well, as I created their online presence, sat on two committees, and managed the Theatre Events Calendar.

In 2016 I produced It’s Complicated: A Stephen Sondheim Cabaret which was a 22-song celebration of Sondheim’s work. You can see a collection of photos here!

At the end of 2016, I prepared for my greatest undertaking yet… moving to Paris!

The Paris Adventure

In Paris I ended up studying in ways I did not expect. I got experience working as an extra in indie productions, I learned and then taught the art of Cabaret Burlesque, studied the tradition of Baroque theatre, and tackled my fear of improvisation by doing it in my second language!

I moved to Paris just hoping to work but ran into many problems, namely bureaucratic red tape preventing me from taking jobs. My forms of study weren’t through any formal institutions, just networking and friendships!

I had two massive contracts in Paris- the first was as an instructor with Olala Party. I taught private parties (mostly bachelorettes) the art of taking off their clothes. I worked with Olala Party for almost my entire time in Paris, and we ended up developing a show together, appearing on national television, and giving confidence to hundreds of women from all over Europe. See special clips here!

The second was as Stage Manager for the Festival Oghmac, a baroque theatre festival that happens annually in the Périgord Noir region of France. The festival was my biggest undertaking ever and involved the management of six different performances in as many locations, including two historic castles! The main project of the festival was Cléôpatre Captive, the first full production since the play’s premiere in 1553. It was commissioned by the national renaissance museum and the national library of France. The production continues to live on and an archival performance can be watched through the Bibliothèque National de France here.

I also officially launched Social Media the L.A. Way and started working with a new crop of international clients. My biggest business achievement was publishing my e-book on the use of hashtags.

Finally, I enjoyed a brief stint as a contributing editor at Broadway World Paris. I got to do some wonderful interviews and see great shows! You can read them all here!

I returned to Canada in 2019 after my visa expired. The two years I spent in France were intensely valuable to my career. It taught me to question the ways by which we do anything (because surely there’s another way, and maybe it’s even better!) and about my own professional boundaries.

In 2019 I was welcomed back to Saskatoon so kindly. I was privileged to work on The Born-Again Crow by Caleigh Crow (photo gallery here), attend the Prague Quadrennial Festival with The Overhear Project (details here), attend a close friends’ bachelorette in Bristol, and tour Canada’s Fringe festival circuit with In Ireland We Rented a Car From Criminals (photos here). At our Victoria Fringe stop, I was taken to hospital with appendicitis! I was luckily able to finish the tour, but we did have to cancel two shows to give me time enough to rest.

At the end of 2019, for myriad reasons, I decided to move to Toronto and try my luck in another big city. I was very busy the first few months, and never got to stay in the city for too long. In February of 2020 I started studying Script Supervising, a job I was told by friends in the film industry that I am well suited to. Then of course came March 2020.

The Pandemic Years

When the pandemic was officially declared in Canada, I was a week away from opening a brand new play in Swift Current. The play has since premiered without me and I hope it has a long life. I was stuck in Saskatchewan until June, and when I returned to Toronto work was not the thing on my mind. I ended up moving to a new place and training as a Script Supervisor again in a more intensive program. In June 2021, I started work on my first job as a script supervisor and it has been my primary source of income for the past 3 years.

Now

I currently live and work out of Toronto and travel for contracts when I can. I am acting, script supervising, stage managing, and anything else I can fit in to keep myself in storytelling. I love the freelancing life- ever moving and changing! If you have any opportunities you think I might be right for you can contact me here.

In Summary

Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to work with many different companies on a variety of shows in several different capacities. Thus far, I have held the titles:

Artistic Associate (Embrace Theatre, The Short Cuts Ten Minute Play Festival)

Production Assistant (Sum Theatre SK, The Saskatchewan Arts Alliance)

Stage Manager (La Troupe du Jour, La Compagnie Oghma, DumbAx Productions, Fly the Nest Productions, 25th Street Theatre, Act 3 Theatre)

Director (Devisage Theatre, The Short Cuts Ten Minute Play Festival)

Assistant Director (DumbAx Productions, La Troupe du Jour)

Fight Captain (Thumbs Up Good Work Theatre, The Lyric Theatre)

Producer (Staple Productions, It’s Not a Box Theatre)

Associate Producer (It’s Not a Box Theatre)

Artistic Director (Staple Productions)

Actor (Too many companies to list!)

Front of House (Persephone Theatre, Embrace Theatre, On The Boards, Sum Theatre, It’s Not a Box Theatre)

Box Office (On the Boards, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan)

Script Supervisor (Too many companies to list!)

Anything else you want to know about me? I love answering questions, don’t hesitate to contact me or check out the rest of my website!

Bonus

I have a lot of random interests besides my work listed above. I provide behavioural rehabilitation for semi-feral cats to make them into adoptable pets, I collect pins and buttons (I’m over 300!), and I constantly do jigsaw puzzles.