news | Thursday October 10, 2024

Dorothy Dittrich Interview in the Times Colonist

A production of The Piano Teacher: A Healing Key is currently running at the Chemainus Theatre. Mike Devlin reached out to playwright Dorothy Dittrich and the pair discussed The Piano Teacher for The Victoria Times Colonist.

From the article: “Dittrich always expected cast members would perform live on piano. “It adds a layer of authenticity. It’s a play about a concert pianist, so they should be able to play at least a few bars of something. The teacher needs to be able to show the audiences what she means when she’s talking about music. To me, that seems absolutely critical.”

Dittrich began playing the piano when she was seven years-old, and by 15 was offering accompaniment on piano during theatre rehearsals and ballet classes in Vancouver. She eventually studied music at Simon Fraser University, and received her master’s degree in liberal studies. Though she never gave up playing the piano, Dittrich began working on theatre projects in the areas of sound design, original composition and musical direction.”

Read the full piece here.