Me on the Map – Created by Jan Derbyshire and Adrienne Wong
Date: May 25-31, 2015
Tickets: Festival passes now on sale, starting at $15 per child/senior and $25 per adult including tax and service charges.
Address: Carousel Theatre, 1411 Cartwright Street, Vancouver. Tickets and information at www.neworldtheatre.com
Me on the Map is suitable for kids ages 5 and up. Box Office: http://www.childrensfestival.ca/tickets/
Neworld Theatre and the Vancouver International Children’s Festival present Me on the Map – a new multi-media installation performance by Jan Derbyshire and Adrienne Wong – from May 25-31, 2015 at Carousel Theatre (1411 Cartwright Street). The work asks kids to re-imagine a public space with the goal of making Vancouver the Happiest City.
Me on the Map is a participatory theatre show for kids about civic engagement and collective, ethical decision making. Kids are empowered to re-imagine their city’s ideas of public spaces while considering how to make spaces that are happy and healthy; where everyone belongs and it’s easy to meet with friends; and that contain the possibility of surprise.
The show is set up as a brainstorm with a series of group activities designed to loosen up our imaginations and identify what’s most important to this particular group of citizens today. We figure out what community values are most important to us, and fine-tune our choices to help make Vancouver the Happiest City. But just when we think we’ve got an agreement, the developers show up with a big surprise. The audience works together to collectively and ethically redesign the space. The kids decide and deliberate: if we can’t have it all, how do we be fair and still have fun?
The experience of Me On The Map begins before the performance with hands-on activities that introduce kids to concepts of inclusive design, collective and ethical decision-making, as well as some elements of urban planning and happiness studies. Me On The Map is a unique experience that combines theatrical storytelling, digital decision-making software, participatory learning and hands-on arts and crafts.
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Me On The Map was created by Adrienne Wong and Jan Derbyshire. Performer – Jan Derbyshire | Creative Data Design – Steve Williams | Set and Materials – Triane Tambay | Projections & TD – Joel Grinke | Web Design – Colleen McCarthy | Stage Manager – Breanne Jackson | Producer – Chelsea Haberlin | Associate Producer – Pedro Chamale
Produced by Neworld Theatre in partnership with In Kind Inclusive Arts, Media & Design, The Inclusive Design
Research Centre and Ethelo Designs. Commissioned by the Vancouver International Children’s Festival
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About NEWORLD THEATRE (www.neworldtheatre.com)
Neworld Theatre creates, produces, and tours new plays and performance events. We tell stories that are as
complicated and contradictory as the enormously small country we live in. Historically, our work is rooted in an experience of ethnic and cultural diversity. While diversity remains a core value, our programming now asks a broader range of questions about political responsibility, identity, and difference.
Artistic and organizational collaboration are central to our ethic and the way we work; this allows for
programming choices that can adapt to opportunities as they arise. We are not tied to a particular aesthetic or genre, and instead encourage formal experimentation. Humour is one of the key strategies we employ to engage audiences with complex or experimental content. We ask artists and audiences to embrace work which challenges assumptions about the nature of theatre and its function in the world. Past TYA performances include the award winning Are We There Yet?
