Now entering its 4th season, the Burning Passions Theatre’s Listen Up! youth project will be touring Lanark County later this spring with a new play whose message is perfectly in tune with the #MeToo and #TimesUp phenomena. The company is currently seeking applications from teenagers who would like to be part of the play, as well as schools that would like to have the troupe perform for their students. “Before #MeToo even sprang up in its current form, we were planning to do a play about what constitutes healthy relationships,” explains Laurel Smith, the Artistic Producer of the company, which also runs the summertime Classic Theatre Festival. “Unfortunately, it should come as no surprise that we are seeing all this, given the amount of sexual violence directed against women and children around the globe, which the World Health Organization has deemed a planetary epidemic,” Smith says. “We look forward to working with teenagers as we develop a script built around their own perspectives on the issue, whether that’s dealing with workplace harassment, mistreatment in school hallways, or inter-generational violence, which is far more common that most people would like to admit. This isn’t just a problem for teenagers.” Since 2015, Listen Up! has created plays that speak not only to teenagers but adults as well, spurring dialogue on how best to bridge the generational gap on a range of issues from anxiety,  depression and teen suicide to gender fluidity and youth homelessness. Each performance is followed by a facilitated talkback in which the performers discuss issues with audience members, addressing not only the roots of the problems, but focusing on solutions as well. Burning Passions Theatre has toured its shows in schools, youth centres, and at a national conference in Ottawa.  Each year, the company has seen positive results inspired by their shows, from improved self-esteem of participants to change sin the community. For example, its show on teen suicide, Jessie’s Song, inspired the YAK Youth Centre to offer a two-day Applied Suicide Intervention Training (ASIST) course for the public. Each of the staff and placement students at YAK are now certified in ASIST as well as Mental Health First Aid. Similarly, last year’s show, The Invisible Boy, helped raise awareness of youth homelessness in a rural context, and was accompanied by a United Way representative sharing resources for young people at risk of finding themselves with no roof over their heads. “The fact that the youth were so involved in creating the storyline and in fact the very essence of the play added to the overall impact,” said Lanark County United Way regional director Fraser Scantlebury. “At each performance, I marveled at the attentiveness of the audience. The actors’ passion was not only evident in their portrayal of the story, but in the very revealing discussion sessions with audiences after the performances.” Anyone interested in being part of this year’s play, which begins development and rehearsal in February and will tour towards the end of April – can send email to burning@web.ca or call… Continue reading

Since the Classic Theatre Festival opened its doors in Perth in 2010, staging award-winning productions of hits from the golden age of Broadway and the London Stage, over 2,000 people have enjoyed shows courtesy of the Save-a-Seat program, which provides free tickets to low-income and socially marginalized community members who would otherwise never be able to attend. “It’s a program that we’re particularly proud of, because live theatre with some of Canada’s top professional performers should be accessible to everyone regardless of income,” says Classic Theatre Festival Artistic Producer Laurel Smith. “Save-a-Seat recipients can come to the theatre in dignity because their tickets look just like everyone else’s, so they never feel any social stigma.” The popular program is supported by individual charitable donations, often provided by audience members, as well as the sale of used books in the Festival’s lobby, and a 50-50 raffle. Tickets are made available through partnerships with a variety of social service agencies across Lanark County and other parts of Eastern Ontario. “Often when people purchase tickets, they buy an extra one for Save-a-Seat, or they add Save-a-Seat to their list of year-end charitable donations since we can provide a tax receipt,” says Smith. The Festival’s Save-a-Seat program is fully in sync with the findings of a Community Foundations of Canada study from last April that found the arts remain an important cohesive force in communities, promoting social inclusion and a sense of belonging while enhancing the quality of life. We’ve seen individuals get so excited at the theatre, often a first-time experience for them, that they contact us to volunteer, which is one way of helping people re-connect to the community,” Smith says. “Some of them receive job skills and training, and others have received employment with the Festival as well.” As Smith reflects back on the 2017 season – which received a record five nominations for artistic excellence at the Capital Critics Circle Awards – she points to numerous studies that highlight the socially beneficial outcomes of arts in the community. When the Perth & District Foundation released its landmark Lanark County Vital Signs 2017 report, it took special note of the region’s creative economy, pointing out that arts, entertainment and recreation make up six percent of the labour force and the fastest growing segment of the employment sector, growing by 41 per cent since 2012. “We are a major employer for young people during the summer, often providing a first-time job and an excellent reference on a resume,” says Smith, who also points to a provincial economic analysis of the Classic Theatre Festival that found theatre-related tourism pumped over $1 million into the Perth economy last summer. What we are seeing is that partnering with the Festival is a great way to increase traffic in your business, from restaurants and accommodations to downtown shopping,” Smith says, adding that in 2018, a number of new special packages will allow tourists (who make up 81% of Festival audiences) as well as local residents even… Continue reading