Trinity Bakes and Drama in a Christian Context

Well, good morning everyone and welcome today to our Trinity Talks episode.

We have a very special episode ahead of us right now.

I'm really excited to introduce Eric and Travis to the show today.

Now you if you've been coming to Trinity, you would have seen them over the past couple

of months.

We were just talking, they've been at Trinity for almost a year now.

However, you may also notice them and recognize them as the recent stars of our Trinity Bakes

segments that we've been having over the past couple of weeks.

So welcome guys.

Thank you so much.

It's great.

We are going to talk today a little bit about your background in theatre and dramatic arts,

as well as a little bit about our Trinity Bakes segments that we've been doing.

And also I was wondering if you could maybe we could talk together about how dramatic

ministry can be something that the church can use both within the walls of the church

and maybe outside into the world as well.

Let's start off before introductions even.

Let's start off with a little game like we do.

We've got to do it.

I know you're ready for it.

You know that we're going to have a game and if you're going to be drama majors, then you're

definitely playing a game with me today.

So you've probably noticed that we have a bowl right between you and there are some

cards in there with some scenes.

So common places that you might go like the dentist office or where else might you go?

A train, some places like that.

So I've got some scenes there and I was wondering if you could just do a little improv activity

to show off your dramatic skills with everybody.

And the trick of this improv game, it's actually a classic improv game, is that everything

that is said within the scene must be a question.

I think we call it questions.

So we're going to start.

We're going to have Travis, you can pull out a card and show us and tell us what the scene

of your play is.

We've got a school.

We have a school.

All right.

So you can kind of choose what school it is and maybe you can start off the scene.

We've got to kind of keep it keep it quick, right?

Yep.

Keep the pace going.

All right.

All right.

Eric, did you do your homework?

When was it do again?

Don't you know?

I who who told us?

We're warming up.

We're warming up.

All right.

Time for another one.

All right.

That's good.

That's OK.

This is actually a fun game to play with family.

You can play it around the table.

You can play it with your kids.

I've got hospital.

Hospital.

All right.

That fun place.

So what's the diagnosis?

Aren't you supposed to tell me that?

Do you think it's serious?

Doesn't it look serious?

Have you looked at the reports I sent you?

When did you send those?

When did I send those?

Why don't you know this?

Why can't I remember?

Did you go to school?

Did you do your homework at school?

We're going to end it right there.

Great way to wrap it up.

All right.

I just kind of want to know what the diagnosis is.

I'm confused who was the patient and who was the doctor.

That's great.

All right.

So we know that you're stellar actors because we've seen your Trinity at Bakes episodes

and we've just witnessed this amazing improv.

Let's just start off with maybe with Eric.

Could you just tell us a little bit about yourself?

Yeah, absolutely.

So I am from a little town called Meaford up in the Blue Mountains area.

Came to school at Toronto for dramatic performance and did their theater program where I met

Travis on her first day, actually.

We've been together now for nearly over a decade.

We have two lovely little kiddos, twins age three, and just enjoy getting to relive some

of the skills that we've learned in school.

We both work in insurance now.

Okay.

So able to not usually be able to ply the trade as much as we used to.

Yeah, I just enjoy a lot of, you might not realize it from the content of the videos,

but I enjoy cooking.

We have a new garden in our new house that I'm learning to kind of help manage.

And I just enjoy doing things in small groups of friends.

I play a lot of like Dungeons and Dragons and games and that sort of thing.

And that's kind of one of my acting outlets, I guess, besides Trinity Bakes.

Exactly.

All right.

Oh, well, welcome.

Thank you.

And what about yourself?

Yeah, I grew up in Mississauga.

I've lived Mississauga my whole life, except when I took a slight detour out and lived

in Toronto, went to UT for acting as well.

And then, yeah, met this guy.

We moved back to Mississauga.

And yeah, as he said, kind of found her way to insurance of all places, which sounds really

weird but actually makes more sense than you might think.

And then, yeah, we've got our kids.

We'll get to this, I think, in the questions, but I actually really love to bake.

So this has been a really, it's been an acting challenge for sure, Trinity Bakes.

But yeah, that's one of my main hobbies.

I love baking and sewing and all that good stuff.

So lots of creative things that I'm doing other than acting these days.

But the kids keep us very busy.

I can imagine.

Twins, three years old.

Yeah.

Well, that's great.

A lot of good stuff.

A lot of the tricky stuff, but it's a lot of fun.

Yes.

Okay.

So we are fans of Trinity Bakes.

And we actually saw you were both doing some of the monologues in a recent sermon series

that we had as well, which was the final last words that Jesus spoke on the cross, which

was a different type of acting altogether, much more serious.

So could you tell us what got you into acting?

And maybe you have different answers, maybe the same, but why did you study it?

And what did you like about the craft?

I guess for me, I've always really enjoyed the act of storytelling and just being able

to present and being able to kind of build a connection with people and audiences through

these stories that have kind of led a lot of how we look at life.

We do that a lot with the stories from the Bible.

We do that a lot with Shakespeare, which is a big point for us as theater actors and these

stories that have kind of lived through our cultural history and are retold again and

again and again through different lenses.

So that was my primary draw.

So I just really enjoy that act of telling a story and connecting with people.

Amazing.

Great.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Similar.

But yeah, for me, I can remember very specifically, I was like seven.

We were in New York.

I saw The Phantom of the Opera and I went into the theater kicking and screaming because

I thought it was going to be scary and boring, which I'm not sure how that works.

But anyway, my seven-year-old brain thought that that made sense.

And then they had to drag me out because I just thought it was so magical what happened

in that space with all those people together kind of listening to the same thing and transforming

together and being carried along this story.

And so that's really what kind of what sparked it for me.

And then I just like couldn't stay away after that.

So it's a pivotal moment.

Yeah.

Wonderful.

Oh, that's great to hear.

A core memory.

Core memory.

All right.

So we're talking a little bit about stage acting, but what you've been doing is a little

bit of screen acting, albeit a little bit small, but still a little bit different.

What are some of the key differences that maybe us, maybe non-drama folk don't know?

I'll let you take that one.

First of all, I'm not much of a screen actor, and this has been a very scary experience

for me.

When you're acting live, you kind of get to read the room a little bit, right?

Because you can feel the energy of the people in the space.

You can feel if they're getting the jokes, if they're not getting jokes, if they're

along with you or not.

And you can kind of adjust in the moment and feed off that energy.

Whereas when you're doing something for screen, especially I would say there's a difference

between screen for maybe TV or movies and then for social media.

Because especially for the shorts and the YouTube videos, people are going to be watching

these alone probably in their house.

They're not even watching it in a group.

Of course, when the congregation watches it, it's in a big group, which is nice.

But it's just a totally different audience, and you have to keep that in mind.

And you don't know what it's going to look like, because so much of it is up to the wonderful

magic of the post-production when they cut it all together.

So you don't even know after you're done wrapped filming what's going to make it in.

What jokes are we going to see?

So for us, it's as new an experience as for everybody else when we sit there and watch

it because we don't know what got left on the cutting room floor, what made it in, how

it gets edited, and what the final product looks like.

We've been very nervous the last few services coming in going, I don't know how it's going

to go.

It's a debut for you as well.

That's right.

Yeah, absolutely.

But you did mention that it's out on YouTube.

And I think you mentioned that the recent short, so a short clip that was put out on

YouTube just has 1200 views already.

So there are people watching it.

And if you haven't taken a look, we are actually going to show a clip from Trinity Bakes.

And then we'll talk a little bit about Trinity Bakes and how it all has been put together.

All right, let's watch the video.

Everything in our pie mash.

We have to grease it first.

I like to cheat and use this.

Sorry!

We're just going to sprinkle this on top.

Wow, look at that.

Can I give this to you to put over there?

Sure.

Okay, now we're going to put it in our preheated oven.

So that was the first one, the French apple pie, and then we've had several more and we

have several more to come as well.

So what has the process been like?

I know that you are responsible for coming up or co-coming up with some of the scripts,

and that is your house.

So what does this look like, this process?

It's funny you mentioned scripts, because I think that's pretty generous of what we

do.

But really a lot of what we do beforehand is we take a look at the recipe, we come up

with some general sort of, I guess you'd say, bits or jokes or things we want to play

off of.

And really it's just a matter of starting to try things, see what works.

I think some of the folks behind the camera are really good at saying what will look good,

what will translate, what doesn't.

So really, just like we were doing with the game at the beginning, a lot of it is kind

of off the cuff.

We have a general thought process behind it, but nothing is really set in stone.

And of course, we're always happy to take suggestions on what looks good.

Rob has been really great at coming over and trying to contextualize some of what he'd

like to see on some of it for the sermon and everything.

So I think that's...

Well, you're very talented.

It's a pretty chaotic environment.

You work well together, I have to say.

Your personalities complement each other really well on camera.

Thank you.

I'm not sure if that's intentional or if it just comes by naturally.

I mean, it does here, so obviously to some extent, but you know how to play off each

other really well.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's not our first time on stage or on screen next to each other.

We were in the same class in theater school, so we were always in scenes together, working

together on various different projects.

We've worked together on stage in a performance capacity.

Travis is actually a brilliant director as well and directed several shows that I was

able to be a part of and was incorporating a lot of the stuff that she sees from a bigger

picture.

So we work really well in a performance aspect and as a director-performer relationship as

well.

All right.

And also as husband-wife.

Okay.

Which is like a director-performer relationship.

It's all part of it.

I wasn't going to say that, but all right.

So in real life, you mentioned that you like to bake, Travis.

I do.

Who's the better baker?

This one here.

She is.

All right.

I've tried to dabble in baking a little bit, but everything I know at this point has been

learned from her and I love to be an assistant to her projects.

He's a great helper, a great dish guy, and a great measurer of ingredients, again, contrary

to what we see on the screen.

Yeah, I love baking.

When you brought up her drink, that was pretty good.

So what are some of your favorite dishes to make?

And Eric, what are some of your favorite dishes to eat?

Oh, well, I mean, you are a prolific cake baker.

I love to make cakes.

Yeah, cakes are my thing.

You recently made a cake for someone's birthday just at the beginning of the spring and even

just now, I think you were making-

Yeah, I just made one yesterday for a family friend's bridal shower, like yesterday.

Oh, great.

Yeah, I bake a lot.

Probably my biggest baking feat has been after everybody leaves trying to fix the mess that

we've made.

We actually ate the French apple pie and the blueberry cobbler that we made.

I would like to make them again and actually measure everything, but we did try to salvage

them because I also hate wasting food.

And so we dusted off all the gassing sugar and put it in the oven and it actually turned

out all right.

We tried to salvage it.

Well, that's good to hear.

That's good to hear.

Yeah.

Okay.

So then what you mentioned, and I think you alluded to this already a little bit, Eric,

that as Christians, we can actually sometimes use and experience our dramatic expression

like any art form and use it as a way to develop our faith and maybe even disciple others.

So how do you think we can use this creative art form to deepen our faith and relationship

with Jesus?

Yeah, I think one thing that comes to mind is much like we do with Libby and the praise

team, it's kind of a form of creation.

We're using some of the talents and the gifts that we have to kind of give another creative

and expression to our faith and connection, not only with each other as a congregation,

but also to the messages that we're practicing and we're talking about in Rob's sermons

and kind of what the Bible teaches us.

Yeah, I think the other one is really when, especially when you're playing a character,

and I'll take it back to out from Trinity Bakes, because it's a bit of a different thing

to the Lent monologues that we did.

Particularly for me, the individual I was playing was not a super sympathetic sort of

a person on first glance.

They're hurling insults at Jesus on the cross.

This is not the kind of person any of us would probably see ourselves in or want to see ourselves

in.

But when you take on that role, it forces you to kind of empathize, understand and not

judge people who come from all kinds of different circumstances.

That can be something really small, like a character who just says something you would

never say or something a little more extreme if you're playing a villain role or something

a little bit worse.

In order to play that person, you have to understand them and forgive them in a way

so that you can give an honest portrayal.

I think that that can be really powerful to help us understand each other and how we all

have our challenges and our different things that we work through.

It makes it more understandable why people come from where they come from and can help

us empathize with other people and not judge them.

I think it was really great that we had Rob's sermon today talking about patience and being

patient with people and being patient with the people who frustrate us and everything

to tie right directly to that point.

Thanks, guys.

That's actually a beautiful answer and something that I've never actually thought about in

that context.

Another thing about story, sorry, about acting is that it's often about storytelling, like

you were mentioning as well.

We know that Jesus used stories in so much of his teachings.

There's stories, there's parables, and that's how he got his message across.

Why do you think storytelling is such a powerful tool to share a message with others?

I think especially when you take it into something practical and something dramatic, it really

helps to bring it alive.

There's a big difference, and we even say this when we read Shakespeare, reading it

and seeing it performed, two totally different things.

I think when you put it up on its feet and put it in front of people, it really helps

to make it real in a way that it's not when you might read it on a page.

So many of these stories, the main way you see drama introduced in churches is Christmas

pageants.

That's the one that we're all kind of familiar with.

I think that's used so much, first of all, to get the kids involved and to help them

understand what's going on.

It also helps bring it alive for us a bit.

We've heard the story so many times, right?

But have we really recently thought about what it means to be pregnant on a camel in

a desert without somewhere to stay?

Once you actually see it, it can really help you understand that context and where all

of that is coming from in a way that reading it sometimes just doesn't land the same way.

You get different things out of reading it.

I think you get more themes and lessons and things like that.

When you see it, it makes it a little bit more real for us.

Especially like you said, when it's a story that we come back to so often.

Sometimes upon hearing it X number of times, you start to not necessarily lose the importance

behind the story, but you kind of lose that emotional attachment to when you read it the

first time almost.

I think that's great.

You even mentioned that about Shakespeare, how that has sort of lasted the test of time

and it can be portrayed in so many different ways and it can come to life in fresh ways,

which can then help us continue to engage over and over again.

Now before we wrap up, I was thinking about acting and skills and the principles of the

craft that you're probably aware of and I probably am not.

Like maybe eye contact or body placement.

What are some of the principles in acting that you think could translate maybe into

everyday life that everyday people could maybe use as they encounter different people and

share and disciple with others?

I think one thing that we've touched on a little bit with some of the other discussion

that we've had is just the idea of truly being empathetic.

You'd mentioned to play a character, you have to know where they come from, but when we

interact with people daily life, we sometimes have to give a little grace to where somebody

is in a particular moment, what they're going through currently.

I think that is something that we can use in our daily lives, but it's also very important

in the field of acting to, again, know the context of the situation, know the context

of what you're going to be saying, what you're going to be, what you're going to put out

in terms of how should I feel in this moment.

So empathy would kind of be my answer.

I think going off of that as well, knowing who you're performing for, and I say performing,

Shakespeare also said all the world's a stage.

We all are to a certain extent performing whatever role that we're performing, whether

it's you're being a parent, you're at work, we all kind of have different ways that we

present ourselves in different circumstances.

And so understanding the people that you're talking to or interacting with and where they're

at so that your message can land, I think is really important if you're trying to share

something with them, and knowing that not everybody's at the same place.

And again, going back to that kind of pivoting based on being present, right?

Being present with people and really noticing how they're responding to you and how you

can be sensitive to them and really kind of come together and have the best result, whatever

that result is that you're looking for in that circumstance.

Well, that's beautiful.

So much to think about.

You've definitely given us a lot to reflect on, and I feel like I've definitely come away

with a lot of new knowledge and understanding and appreciation actually as well.

So thank you.

Historically, Trinity has been known to have a drama ministry, actually before my time

here.

But from time to time, we do skits and we've done plays.

What would be maybe even just in a couple sentences synopsis of what your hope or dream

could be for Trinity or a church in general to use drama?

And if you don't have any more.

Yeah, I think having more opportunities, having more people involved.

I understand some people sometimes come to it thinking, I'm not an actor.

I don't know how I'm going to connect.

But I think we saw with the Lent videos that we did during that sermon series that I would

think that maybe not everybody who did that felt like they were an actor.

But being able to give yourself into something is something that we all have the capability

of doing.

And as we do with Trinity Break, sometimes you're going to look silly.

Sometimes you're going to have to play against your type as a bad baker versus a good baker.

And I think that it seems scary to get involved and jump in.

But you do it once, and I think like you said, at seven years old, you get hooked.

Yeah, I agree.

I think that there's so much more we can do.

We've seen some videos.

Be great to see some more live stuff.

Get the kids involved.

Because I think, again, kids love to play pretend.

And I've never lost that.

But kids definitely love it.

And I think adults secretly love it as well.

I think so, too.

But yeah, getting a lot of people together.

Because I really think you get to know people in a different way, too.

When you're working on something together, like you would if you were kind of all working

on putting a piece of music together or decorating the front of the church or whatever.

It's just another way to bring people together in community to bring something positive,

whether it's just simply bringing joy or bringing a positive message or a teaching or whatever

it is that we're trying to accomplish with whatever that thing might be.

Just people working towards that common goal, I think, is so important in community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I know you've been thinking we were just going to talk about baking.

And there are so many layers that have just come out.

We could do a whole other episode about baking.

That's right.

All right.

All the mistakes we made.

Well, boo, you're looking for the bloopers real now.

That's right.

That's right.

Well, thank you very much to Travis and Eric, the stars of Trinity Bakes, as well as just

lovely family.

Please get to know them.

And that was it for Trinity Talks.