Mixed Company Theatre in Theatre Passe Muraille

On November 6, 2010, I facilitated the presentation of Mixed Company Theatre's work in Theatre Passe Muraille. The evening belonged to the Project Humanity http://www.projecthumanity.ca/about.html and their show The Middle Place http://www.themiddleplace.ca/, which is a verbatim theatre and was created in collaboration with shelter youth in Toronto. Each night after the Middle Place show at TPM, Project Humanity featured one other theatre company that similarly uses theatre arts to raise social awareness about the diversity of youth experiences in our city. Mixed Company, which uses Forum Theatre technique to engage their audiences in dialogue about various issues of social justice, presented excerpts from the show Holding Boundaries, which was written by Duncan McCullum in collaboration with the Bouncing Back community initiate in 2009:
http://www.mixedcompanytheatre.com/for_community_leaders_cobblestone_events.html

I facilitated the audience's interventions during a dialogue between Liza, a brand new youth shelter resident, and T, the old time resident who some people call vulture. This particular scene from the play was exploring the issue of "Love Bombing", a technique used by gang members to lure young, vulnerable females into prostitution. During the audiences' suggestions and discussion, we collectively explored psychological issues that youth faces in shelters as well as addressed systemic issues that might prevent young people from getting back onto their feet. Further, I facilitated a discussion about the unique benefits and opportunities that Forum Theatre offers to its audience by giving them a chance to actively change the action on stage and by seeing the consequences of such change enacted by actors.

It was a great evening of sharing strategies on the power of theatre to engage young people in dialogue about the challenges some young people face when on the streets and out of their home.