Thanks to a $107,900 two-year Grow grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation that was awarded in 2018, "Toronto's enterprising One Little Goat Theatre Company" (New York Times) is bringing the company's acclaimed play for young audiences, PLAY: A (Mini) History of Theatre for Kids, to over 17,000 elementary school students in over 100 Toronto District School Board Model Schools for Inner Cities at no charge to the schools.
"I congratulate One Little Goat Theatre Company on bringing the arts to 17,000 elementary school students across Toronto, with support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation," said
Robin Martin, MPP for Eglinton-Lawrence.
This current school tour builds on the success of One Little Goat's PLAY tour from two years ago, supported by an OTF Seed grant, which reached 10,000 Model School students.
"It is so important for our children to be exposed to such wonderful representations of the Arts as they do not have the opportunity that students in other areas of the city receive due to the socio-economic challenges that exist here." - Sohail Shaikh, Principal of Military Trail Public School in Scarborough.
Written and directed by One Little Goat's Artistic Director, Adam Seelig, PLAY: A (Mini) History of Theatre for Kids makes the case that dramatic play is rooted in childhood games, empowering children as natural-born play-makers. Actors Richard Harte and Jessica Salgueiro, alternating with Rochelle Bulmer, are featured in a performance that guides Grades 1-6 audiences through four distinct periods of drama: (1) Early Beginnings: games around the fire; (2) Ancient Greek Tragedy: Antigone by Sophocles; (3) Japanese Noh Theatre: Zeami and 14th-Century Noh; (4) Modern Theatre:
Alfred Jarry,
Gertrude Stein and
Samuel Beckett.
"Sharing with young audiences some of the greatest moments in theatre, from the intensity of Ancient Greek tragedy to the absurdity of 20th-century modernism, is tremendously rewarding," says Seelig. "All the learning, listening and laughing we do together in these gym performances, made possible by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, will contribute to the kids' lifelong love of, and participation in, the arts."
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada's leading granting foundations. OTF awarded more than $120 million to some 700 projects last year to build healthy and vibrant communities in Ontario.
Now in its 13th year, the Model School for Inner Cities program identifies 150 schools throughout the Toronto District School Board with a large concentration of students living with limited resources, and aims to provide them with the opportunities they need to participate fully and equally in their schools and communities.
One Little Goat, North America's only company devoted to contemporary poetic theatre, "has done audiences a huge service" (Toronto Star) through its highly interpretive, provocative approach to new and international plays. For 15 years, the company's Canadian and world premieres have garnered praise from the New York Times, Globe and Mail, CBC and others. Primarily a theatre company for mature/adult audiences, One Little Goat developed PLAY as its first production for young audiences. One Little Goat is a non-profit charity based in Toronto:
www.OneLittleGoat.org
One Little Goat gratefully acknowledges the following organizations in addition to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for their support in developing PLAY: Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, TD Bank, Irish Cultural Society of Toronto, Embassy of Ireland in Ottawa, and Friends of One Little Goat Theatre Company.
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