Local Theatre Artists To Present New Project FEAR OR FREEDOM Inspired During Pandemic Shutdowns, May 20

During the pandemic shutdowns, Director Valerie Planche and Producer Toyin Lamas organized a monthly gathering online among 10 women and nonbinary community members from various neighbourhoods across Calgary, of different ages, abilities and ethnic backgrounds. The intention was to facilitate casual discussions that might collectively furnish the content of a new theatre work. Participants shared their own insights and life experiences, relating to a number of topical subjects, under the umbrella of a single theme: Fear or Freedom? This marked the first phase of this project.

"It has been a great experience, listening to, learning from, and gathering the stories of these women. I am glad I have the privilege to create what we have created alongside Valerie Planche. It started in the pandemic and now we have a story to tell the world," said Toyin Lamas, producer of the project.

These Zoom gatherings and conversations were used to develop a storyline and a cast of characters and are now being developed into a script, The Writers Circle, by Patricia A. Duquette, which is the second phase of the Fear or Freedom Project.

The Writers Circle follows an award-winning Canadian novelist who is facilitating a workshop at a Calgary community centre, to guide participants in a character-led writing development process. Discussion of their last assignment challenges each group member to reconsider the authenticity of their proposed protagonists. While debates arise, reflecting their diverse life experiences, the wintery world outside becomes evermore chaotic. As their situation grows increasingly threatening: Is the primacy of fiction also under siege? Or is anyone ever authoring their own story?

"What excited me about exploring this project was having conversations that I never thought I'd have with a group of women. Reading Pat's story as it unfolds is surprising, funny, frustrating and cathartic. It is going well beyond the expectations Toyin and I had at the start," said Valerie Planche, director and dramaturg of The Writers Circle. "Dramaturgically Pat and I are continuing the conversations and I'm finding the work incredibly enriching."

Phase 3 of this project will be a full theatrical production, which is planned for the 2025 theatre season.

A reading of The Writers Circle, followed by a post-reading discussion, is scheduled for May 20, 2023 at 2 p.m. at Evergreen Theatre. While this script is still in development, the excerpts that will be performed are a sneak peak into the future of this exciting theatrical collaboration.

Evergreen Theatre: 1709 8 Ave NE #2, Calgary, AB T2E 0S9.

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