Put Thursday, December 16 in your calendar –The Workman Arts staff would love to invite all members to our year-end Holiday Gathering on Thursday, Dec 16th at 6-8PM to celebrate the year 2021 and welcome a new year filled with infinite possibilities and opportunities. 

The night will consist of hands-on zine-making activity, some musical performances, a possible carolling sing-along, and the night will end with a raffle, click the RSVP button to register and receive the link to join. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Theatre artists make and see theatre to challenge and be challenged, to share and listen, to ask and be asked questions that might not be asked elsewhere. We sometimes tell stories that might be difficult for others to hear. We can hit a nerve, touch a deep wound, or flick a switch that triggers old memories, reactions or feelings. 

So how do we take care of our audiences when we offer sensitive material? How do we take care of the performers who reach deep into their souls and put them on stage, show after show? How do we ensure everyone else on our team is ok? And whose responsibility is it?

Playwright, actor, producer and instructor Lorene Stanwick shares some strategies and ideas to navigate these sometimes-murky waters using Broken Branches, her play that explores the issue of sibling abuse, as a guide.

The Bridge is a one-woman play that will be staged in front of a live audience. One night, a young indigenous woman is confessing her struggles as she sits on a bridge overlooking a ravine. Her memories come back to life in the evening wind. Kara comes face to face with her addiction, depression and loss of identity.

Pesch Nepoose is a Cree multidisciplinary artist from Edmonton, Alberta, currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. She graduated her fourth and final year at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in May, 2019. Pesch has many skills and experience as an actor, writer, dancer, singer and stage manager. As a full time actor, she has been a part of many projects including the film By These Presents with Ange Loft, also acting in the short film Hunger which premiered at the ImagineNative Film Festival 2019. Pesch enjoys working with Clay and Paper Theatre, Jumblies Theatre, the Encounters collective and many others.  While attending C.I.T. she formed a collective with her two classmates and created the play S.O.S. Saving Our Sovereignty, which was part of the Paprika Festival and Weesageechak Begins to Dance Festival. Pesch was in the Paprika Festival again as a solo artist writing her one woman show currently titled The Bridge. She plans to continue the play with Nightwood Theater’s Write from the Hip program.

CONTENT WARNINGS

Adult Language, Suicide

Queen Latifah Give Me Strength centers around a woman’s struggle with her identity and her expectations of being disregarded and ignored by the medical industry. Queen Latifah Give Me Strength depicts the frustration, isolation and raving madness that comes with being a Black woman who must rely on medical professionals to stay alive. After an anxiety-filled evening watching the classic 90s film, Set It Off, featuring Queen Latifah, the main character is faced with her strange connection to the celebrity. In a search for answers about her health, she turns to the icon she had once forsaken. Previous version partially developed during Emerging Creators Unit 2020 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

Rochelle R (She/They) is a Canadian-Caribbean multidisciplinary theatre artist, writer, producer and advocate for Black, Queer, Mentally Ill/Disabled communities. Rochelle is passionate about promoting and developing opportunities for Black Artists and encouraging difficult conversations about intersectionality. Rochelle holds a BA in English and Theatre Studies from the University of Guelph and continues to pursue additional training within the GTA and Peel regions. Select companies and programs include b current (Playwriting) bcHUB, Buddies in Bad Times (Play Creation) Emerging Creator’s Unit, Nightwood’s Young Innovator’s Program (Arts Administration/Producing), PIECE OF MINE Arts, dance immersion’s Legacy Leaders Program and more.

CONTENT WARNING

Mature Language, Violence, Loud Sound 

Re:Building Resilience features 25 installations that examine all facets of mental health issues. This will be our last festival at 651 Dufferin Street before moving to a brand new facility at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. What better way to say “good-bye” than to animate all 11,000 square feet with performance art, installations, theatre, dance, film and media art?

Tickets and Viewing Options

Tickets for virtual viewing are pay what you wish. Virtual viewing is available throughout the festival. With your ticket, you will have access to a virtual tour that includes a virtual swag bag with extra features from the 25 projects on offer. All ticket holders will also be invited to receive physical RWM swag bags available for free curbside pickup during festival hours.

Siblings.

They are our friends, our role models and rivals. They define who we are, perhaps more than our parents. We grow up together. They get inside our heads.

What happens when we can’t get them out …?

Rachel runs away with her daughter, arriving unexpectedly at her childhood home. Jade spends more nights in the college art studio than she does in her own bedroom. The sudden reappearance of Josh’s mother forces him to take a hard look at his life. Now, all three of them must confront the truth about their childhood, as its impact on their adult lives is revealed.

Told with honesty – and humour – Broken Branches reveals secrets, lies, family dynamics … and the resilience to survive. Produced by CreateTruth Productions in Association with Workman Arts, the award-winning multi-disciplinary arts and mental health organization, Broken Branches starts a long-overdue conversation, shedding light on an important yet silent issue: sibling abuse.

By making the invisible visible, their stories will forever change the way we see sibling relationships.

For our closing night event, Comedy Bar and Rendezvous With Madness are thrilled to team up for a one night only special comedy showcase designed to remind us that sometimes laughter is the best medicine.

Join us for a very special celebration of some of Canada’s very finest stand ups! Featuring a star studded line up including guest appearances from Christophe Davidson and Tamara Shevon, plus headliner Jackie Pirico.

Named by Exclaim! Magazine as a quickly rising force in comedy and an “adept comic scene stealer” by The Hollywood Reporter, Jackie Pirico delights audiences with her oddball material and disarming style. With two Just For Laughs television tapings under her belt and a feature film (Sundowners, 2017), Jackie can also be seen on Viceland TV and as a member of the prestigious Toronto comedy collective Laugh Sabbath.