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Join us Sunday October 16th at 11am to meet GAC’s Kasahara Artist in Residence, Diane Conrad.

While on Gabriola, Diane Conrad, Professor at the University of Alberta, will be writing a book about her Applied Theatre Research; and on Sunday she will offer a free community presentation, sharing stories of how theatre strategies have been used to analyze and explore participants’ experiences and search for solutions to areas of concern.

• Sunday October 16th @ 11am
• Gabriola Arts and Heritage Centre 476 South Road
• Everyone is welcome.

Diane will be sharing details from her 20-year research program using applied theatre with marginalized youth in alternative school settings, in a youth jail and with street-involved youth in the Edmonton area.

In case you missed her blurb in the last newsletter, applied theatre is term that describes theatre practices outside of traditional theatre contexts, most commonly with participants who have little or no theatre experience, but who have an interest in the issues being explored.

Applied theatre is focused more on process than on theatrical performance; its intention is to examine the world and our experiences, to raise awareness and to generate change.

In my presentation, I’ll share images and stories from the projects I worked on with youth. The image above, for example, is from a scene we created for a project with street involved youth. We called the project Uncensored. Its aim was to educate service providers who worked with the youth about the youths’ experiences in order to better meet youths’ needs. The scene, “Labels,” was based on youths’ experiences of feeling seen by service providers only as the labels that were applied to them from their files; they did not feel seen or heard as individuals who were struggling and deserving of assistance.

I hope to connect with a youth group while I’m here on Gabriola to explore their perspectives on whatever topic they deem relevant.

I hope to see you at my presentation.

Diane