Treading the boards with Rosebud Theatre

Unlike many of her classmates who claimed merely a Dutch heritage, Maki Van Dyke is the real article - born and raised in Amsterdam, Van Dyke emigrated to Canada with her family when she was 14, settling in Hamilton.

Although that was a significant change in her life, it was only the first of many, both geographical and perceptual, that would shape her life.

After graduating from Redeemer with a Philosophy major and a love for theatre, Van Dyke spent a year doing odd jobs and applying to graduate schools. She eventually moved to Edmonton, completing a Master's degree in Drama at the University of Alberta. Her program included a thesis on theatrical activity in Mennonite circles.

"It was somewhat surprising to me that I could be involved in a secular academic community that was supportive and respectful of the role of religion in the theatre," she recalls. "It certainly wasn't the way I assumed a graduate school program would treat such issues."

There were many other assumptions, and stereotypes, that Van Dyke faced during her first years in Alberta. "I expected to find the vibrant and diverse cultural scene in Edmonton," she says, "but I had this perception that I would find some sort of a 'rural savage' mentality if I ventured into the small towns and countryside."

It was not the kind of environment where Van Dyke expected to find much of any type of theatre production. So,when a colleague from the university's theatre program invited her to see the touring production of a Christian theatre group "from the country," she did not go with great expectations.

"It totally blew away all my assumptions," she says with the conviction of the converted." Here was a troupe of obviously well-trained actors doing quality work that had very high production values. I was amazed." The show was part of the annual tour of the Rosebud Theatre (www.rosebudtheatre.com), a Christian professional theatre company from Rosebud, Alberta (pop. 90), an hour's drive east of Calgary.

Van Dyke would spend the next two years in Rosebud, doing marketing work part-time for the theatre and the Rosebud School for the Arts, which offers conservatory training in theatre (www.rosebudschoolofthearts.com).

"Although most graduates find work in the mainstream industry," explains Van Dyke, "there is an increased demand for pastors and ministry leaders who can use drama in worship on a full-time basis."

One of the biggest perceptual changes Van Dyke had to make was in her understanding of what she wanted to do, and where her gifts lie. Although she is able to spend some time acting - her first love - with the Rosebud Theatre, most of her energies are spent in teaching and academic administration.

As registrar of the School of the Arts, and more recently the education director, Van Dyke has harnessed and nurtured these newly-appreciated talents in a creative environment. "I am a left-brain thinker in a right-brain world. At some level I understand how artists function and I integrate their gifting with the academic criteria of post secondary education."

For a city girl who loved the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam, Van Dyke has also come to love the tight-knit community of Rosebud. "The place exists solely because of the theatre and school; everybody who lives there is absorbed by theatre. When I left Redeemer, it was the type of community of Christian artists that I had always imagined being a part of."

It seems that for Maki Van Dyke, the changes in her outlook and direction have ultimately brought her to her goal.