Folk Arts Showcase Features Opportunity for Young Actors

Emily Mailhot Reporter – Vegreville News Advertiser

The Folk Arts venue at this year’s Vegreville Pysanka Festival was as historically rich as always, with everything from exhibits on traditional Ukrainian music, clothing, cooking, and art, to workshops on how to make some traditional crafts yourself.

This year, however, a hidden gem graced the corner of the foyer. Vegrevilleraised filmmaker Troy Ruptash, back in Canada after a long trip to research, write, and set up some resources for his film “They Who Surround Us,” which shoots this summer, welcomed festival guests and Vegrevilians alike to visit his booth to learn more about the project, and even audition for a role.

“So far, I have some main characters casted,” Ruptash explained, “One character that will still need, and who we will be auditioning for soon is to be played by a young boy around eight years old.”

Ruptash further explained that acting experience was good, but not necessary as he hopes the one who takes this key role can do so in an “authentic way.”

Experience speaking Ukrainian may be an asset, but is not necessary. While the display did give Ruptash the ability to take his talent search straight to Vegreville’s word-of-mouth network, he says that the booth, in its serendipitous way mainly gave him the opportunity to have some lengthy conversations with passerby.

“It was fairly quiet in here for much of the festival,” Ruptash said, “but that opened up a lot of in-depth conversations with those who made their way over here. We talked about the film and the heritage of this area, which is the focus of the movie’s content, which not only offered the opportunity to spread the word, but gave me some more insight and ideas that we can use.”

Troy Ruptash reported that they have two locations in the Vegreville area planned for the film, a partial sponsorship from the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko and the Ukrainian Canadian Veterans Fund, as well as the character audition and an acting workshop for any locals who are interested in being an extra in the film.