FREE DROP-IN POPULAR THEATRE WORKSHOPS!

No One Is Illegal in collaboration with Neworld Theatre will be hosting a series of 5 FREE creative resistance theatre workshops during the month of March. No experience necessary, all welcome!

Consecutive Tuesdays from March 4 – April 1st from 6- 9 pm.
LOCATION: First workshop at Lore Krill Co-op (65 West Cordova, near Cambie). All others are at Lore Krill Co-op on Georgia (239 East Georgia, corner Main/ 4-5 blocks south of Hastings East)

Food and bus tickets available at the workshops. Child care reimbursements also available (please contact for details).

*** TO GUARANTEE SPACE, PLEASE REGISTER by emailing noii-van@resist.ca (preferable) or call Alex Mah at 604.251.7974. Simply provide your name, contact info (email/phone) and which workshops you would like to attend.

The goal of these introductory workshops is to create a space where community members and organizers can have an opportunity to explore their creativity and develop performance tools. These workshops are the beginning of an exciting collaboration between No One is Illegal and neworld theatre, through which we hope to jointly contribute to bridging the gap between art and activism by developing tools of artistic resistance that are less individualistic and professionalized, and more deeply rooted in community social movements.

It is our hope that these basic workshops will provide participants with tools that can be used to strengthen their own personal expression, social activism and resistance work, and contribute to the health of our many communities. For example, in developing more effective public intervention skits and street theatre performances. No One Is Illegal recognizes the deeply rooted and central role of culture and creative expression as key components of both historic and on-going resistance movements.

Following from our organizing principles, these workshops will take place in a space committed to anti-oppression principles.

For more information please feel free to call Alex at 604.251.7974 or Mia at 604.780.8463 or email noii-van@resist.ca

TUESDAY MARCH 4: THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED
This workshop will focus on the theatre of the oppressed theatre style developed by Augusto Boal. Workshop participants will learn about different theatrical games and forms to use in issue based work with non-actors. Ideal for use in groups.

*** PLEASE NOTE: This workshop is for people of colour only. Those who self-identify as having a lived experience of racism personally/ in their community and include those of African/Black, Latina/Hispanic, Asian, First Nations/ Indigenous, South Asian, Arab/Persian/Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander, Bi/Multi/Mixed racial background.

TUESDAY MARCH 11: BASIC SKETCH DEVELOPMENT AND SATIRE
This workshop will focus on the creation of sketches, and on how to incorporate satire into your work. Participants will come away will skills that are ideal for developing usable material for demos and other public events. The workshop will look at the use of humour as a strategy for advocacy.

TUESDAY MARCH 18: CLOWIN’ AROUND
A great workshop to attend for folks wanting to have some fun and work on feeling comfortable performing in front of people at the same time as you are developing your performance skills.

TUESDAY MARCH 25: INVISIBLE THEATRE
Find out tricks for performing public street theatre when your audience doesn’t know that you’re acting. How do you get an unexpecting audience involved and engaged in your performance? A great way to get people asking questions and engaged in social justice issues.

TUESDAY APRIL 1: PROP MAKING (Guest Facilitator TBA)
This workshop will focus on how to create basic props to enhance theatrical performances. Workshop participants will be some hands on experience planning, designing and creating props using low cost materials. Materials will be provided.

– Facilitator Information: The workshops will be facilitated by Marcus Youssef, a graduate of the National Theatre School and a member of neworldtheatre’s Artistic Producing Team. Marcus most recently was Collaborating Director on neworld’s production of My Name is Rachel Corrie and conceived and directed It’s All About You for Studio 58 in Vancouver. His plays, many co-written with his long-time collaborators Camyar Chai and Guillermo Verdecchia, almost always address political or social context largelysanitized in the mainstream media. These plays include A Line in the Sand (Chalmer’s Award), Ali and Ali and the Axes of Evil, Adrift (Magnetic North Theatre Festival), True Lies (Rumble, High Performance Rodeo), Come Back to the 7-11, Judy Blume, Judy Blume, and Apathy House. Ali and Ali, A Line in the Sand, and Adrift are all published by Talonbooks. Marcus has also always worked with a variety of community-based groups, working with them to find ways to make art that’s relevant to people’s lived experiences.