World Theatre Day 2004 — Reaching out to youth

Ottawa , March 25, 2004 —   Sat­ur­day, March 27th, marks the 42nd annual World The­atre Day, as cel­e­brated by UNESCO and the Depart­ment of Cana­dian Her­itage. Innau­gu­rated by the Inter­na­tional The­atre Insti­tute (ITI) in 1962, it is observed annu­ally in more than 90 coun­tries. See the ITI’s World The­atre Day web­site for more back­ground infor­ma­tion: http://iti.unesco.org/pages/wtd/04wtdmes.html .

In his World The­atre Day mes­sage for Canada , Gov­er­nor General’s Award-winning play­wright Vern Thiessen notes the nat­ural draw of the the­atre to young peo­ple, and he empha­sizes the impor­tance of con­tin­u­ing to engag­ing youth participation :

“On a recent trip to a play­ground, I was reminded of how lim­ited a play­wright I am. Over the course of an hour, I watched a few chil­dren cre­ate over two-dozen sce­nar­ios, each rich in char­ac­ter, story and detail. If only I could cre­ate so deeply and so fearlessly. “

“If we cre­ate, for the child, a the­atre that is fun, mag­i­cal, mean­ing­ful, risky, and above all, nec­es­sary, our future the­atre may build a resis­tance to our addic­tion to security.”

For more infor­ma­tion on Canada ‘s offi­cial par­tic­i­pa­tion in World The­atre Day, see the Cana­dian Her­itage web­site: www.pch.gc.ca/special/arts/theatre/theatre_e.cfm

World The­atre Day activ­i­ties across Canada

The Pro­fes­sional Asso­ci­a­tion of Cana­dian The­atres ( PACT ) and the Play­wrights’ Guild of Canada (PGC) have a full slate of activ­i­ties planned around World The­atre Day, begin­ning with a launch party on Fri­day, March 26th, in Toronto . This event will be held in con­junc­tion with the Shift­ing Tides: Atlantic Cana­dian The­atre con­fer­ence, and will fea­ture the­atre artists such as Char­lie Rhin­dress, Andy McKim and the af ore­men­tioned Vern Thiessen.

Canada ‘s World The­atre Day Launch Party

Fri­day March 26, 2004 at 5 pm

Robert Gill The­atre, 214 Col­lege Street , Toronto , ON

PACT , the PGC, and their mem­bers across Canada will cel­e­brate World The­atre Day on Sat­ur­day, March 27th, with a num­ber of diverse and inno­v­a­tive events. Check the PACT web­site ( www.pact.ca ) for more detailed infor­ma­tion on any of the fol­low­ing events, contact:

Kirsten Kam­per ( kirstenk@pact.ca )

PACT Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Manager,

416–595-6455 x12

Van­cou­ver : Fire­hall Arts Cen­tre, 280 East Cor­dova Street , 2:00 PM : A per­for­mance of Buz’Gem Blues by Drew Hay­den Tay­lor accom­pa­nied by a pre-performance discussion.

Con­tact: Donna Spencer, 604–689-0691

www.firehallartscentre.ca

Cal­gary : Quest The­atre, 310 — 815 1st Street S.W. , 1:00 — 3:00 PM : Youth Art Show, Per­for­mance and Talk­back — Chil­dren will sub­mit art­work with World The­atre Day/ I Met a Bully on the Hill themes.

Con­tact: Rose Brow, 403–264-8575

www.questtheatre.org

Regina : Globe The­atre Live, 1801 Scarth Street , 2:00 PM: 200 tick­ets to The Red Priest will be offered to stu­dents in rural Saskatchewan and the inner city schools of Regina for a mati­nee per­for­mance on March 27th.   Stu­dents will be invited to par­tic­i­pate in a talk back ses­sion with the actors fol­low­ing the production.

Con­tact:   Mar­ian Don­nelly, 306–525-9553

www.globetheatrelive.com

Win­nipeg : Can­West Global Per­form­ing Arts Cen­tre, 2 Forks Mar­ket Road: Man­i­toba The­atre for Young Peo­ple will present a per­for­mance by Dou­ble T (The­atre Team), a pub­lic read­ing by Playwright-in-Residence Ian Ross, and a pub­lic read­ing by young writ­ers from Argyle School.

Con­tact: Denise Lysak, 204–947-0394

www.mtyp.ca

Toronto : Lor­raine Kimsa The­atre for Young Peo­ple, 165 Front Street East , 6:00 PM doors open and 7:00 PM per­for­mance on April 1, 2004 : Cel­e­brate World The­atre Day by see­ing the World Pre­miere of Num­ber One and Jamie.

Con­tact: Nancy Guertin, 416–363-5131, Box Office: 416–862-2222

www.lktyp.ca

Hamil­ton : The­atre Aquar­ius, 190 King William St. , 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM : Prior to a per­for­mance,   The­atre Aquar­ius will be host­ing a free Open House high­light­ing the pro­duc­tion of TOAD!

Con­tact:   Car­olyn Drost, 905–522-7815

www.theatreaquarius.org

Mon­treal : The­atre of the Saidye Bronf­man Cen­tre for the Arts, 5170 Chemin de la Cote-Ste Cather­ine, 8:30 PM: Play­wright Marie Jones is a voice for build­ing bridges between hos­tile groups. Fol­low­ing the per­for­mance of her play, A Night in Novem­ber, stu­dents from Cegeps and uni­ver­si­ties will par­tic­i­pate in a pro­gramme that is sure to shake up stereotypes.

Con­tact: Bryna Wasser­man, (514) 739‑2301

Box Office: (514) 739‑7944

www.saidyebronfman.org

Mon­treal : Youthe­atre, The­atre Calixa-Lavallee, 3819 rue Calixa-Lavallee, 2:00 PM: Youthe­atre is offer­ing dis­counted tick­ets to this per­for­mance of The Other Side of the Closet.   To get your tick­ets, you must be between the ages of 14 and 18.   Tick­ets are only $5!

Con­tact and phone num­ber:   Janna L. Smith, 514–844-8781

Fred­er­ic­ton : Black Box The­atre, St. Thomas Uni­ver­sity: Spe­cial Pre­sen­ta­tion of I Met a Bully on the Hill by the The­atre New Brunswick Young Company.

Con­tact:   Sheila Atkin­son, 506–460-1380

www.tnb.nb.ca

Hal­i­fax : Nep­tune The­atre, 1593 Argyle Street:   50 tick­ets will be reserved for each of the March 27th mati­nee per­for­mances of Death of a Sales­man and Betrayal for sale to youth up to the age of

16 years for only $5!

Con­tact:   Doreen Mal­one, 902–429-7300

www.neptunetheatre.com

Cor­ner Brook : The­atre New­found­land & Labrador, 35 West Street , 2:00 PM : A show­case of the tal­ents of TNL’s youth the­atre.   Audi­ences will get a glimpse of the plays (Excerpts & Pre­views) slated for TNL’s Fes­ti­val of Youth April 22 — 25, 2004 .

Con­tact and phone num­ber:   Sarah McDon­ald Ander­son, 709–639-7238

www.theatrenewfoundland.com