Aaron Vanderweg

Aaron Vanderweg is a Sylvan-Lake-born, Toronto-trained dramaturg, director, playwright and actor. He has two theatre diplomas: one from Red Deer College’s Theatre Acting Program (2011) and an advanced diploma in directing and devising from Humber College (2017). 

 

Aaron has a deep passion for the production of independent, local theatre, and his current mission is to increase the creative opportunities for the residents of Sylvan Lake and Red Deer area. Since the Theatre Program at Red Deer College was recently dissolved, there is now a gap in education and opportunities for artists to grow their skills, and Aaron hopes to bridge that gap however possible.  

 

Aside from his work leading the theatre program for Tree House 9-12 programs, he is the current producer of Red Deer Player's Breaking Cover series, and the program facilitator for the Sylvan Lake Theatre Script Lab playwright circle. Breaking Cover is a series which grants 5 playwrights across the province the opportunity to have a rehearsed staged reading of their new play at the Snell Auditorium. The Sylvan Lake Theatre Script Lab is a playwriting circle that supports Central Albertan playwrights through monthly meet-ups, mentorship, and educational opportunities.

 

Aaron is also a playwright, who independently produces and directs his own work more often than not. Recent productions of his original plays include A Plant Called Kyle McKinney at the Heartlands Regional One-Act Festival (2023), where the play received several awards including “Best New Original Work” and “Best Production”, and was granted the opportunity to compete at a provincial level. As well, his short play The Time Capsule was featured in the Sylvan Lake Theatre Trail this September (2023). 

 

Productions of his original plays in Toronto includes To Bethlehem (Dark Crop 2019), Tante Ursula (Stratford Springworks 2018), Garbage Day (Femme Cab 2018), Life Underground (The Theatre Centre 2017), c u t . (Fresh Ideas in Puppetry 2016), and dust (Puppetmongers Puppet Slam 2016).

 

As a performer, Aaron recently appeared in Reception (2023) at the Heartlands Regional One-Act Festival, where he was awarded “Best Performance”, and opened Central Alberta Theatre’s 2023 season as the lead in The Memory of Water.

 

Coming up, Aaron will be directing the February 2023 production of The Gentleman Clothier as part of Central Alberta Theatre's season.

Aaron lives in Red Deer, and when he isn’t knee-deep in theatre, he enjoys knitting, camping, and playing the banjo. As a descendant of Norwegian grandparents, he tries annually to uphold the tradition of Syv slag småkaker (“seven types of cookies”); a baking endeavour that occupies a majority of his December.