Intrepid Theatre

Info about the workshop

Wednesday, May 16 (4pm-8pm) + Thursday, May 17 (4pm-8pm)
Location: Victoria Native Friendship Centre
Age suitability: 16 – 21
Dinner and workshop materials will be provided.
No theatre experience necessary. FREE.

As part of Intrepid Theatre’s 2018 UNO Festival of solo performance, Indigenous Youth will have the opportunity to participate in a storytelling workshop led by UNO’s Indigenous Guest Curator Yolanda Bonnell, and facilitated by artists Cole Alvis and Ashley Bomberry. The workshop includes warm ups, discovering the different ways a story can be told (body/movement, writing, song, puppetry or combination). Participants will find the path that suits them best and will create a 5-minute piece of theatre that will tell a specific creation story.

Participants will then have the opportunity (if you choose) to perform their piece in front of an audience as a prologue to Yolanda’s performance of bug at UNO Fest (see below for details on show). This is not mandatory. It’s important that participants feel comfortable and that the primary goal is that they are gaining new theatrical/storytelling skills. Participants can also attend the performance with family/friends as audience members.

The workshop will be 8 hours in total – 4 hours a day for two days (Wed May 16 + Thurs May 17) and is designed for participants to take part in BOTH days. It is FREE to participate (note, capacity is limited to 12 participants, registering in advance recommended). Email pa@intrepidtheatre.com to register or feel free to call 250 383 2663 and speak to Sammie or Heather if you have questions.

Registered participants will receive an All-Access Artist Pass to gain free tickets (for you and a guest) to any of the 16 shows in UNO Fest (May 9 – 19).

Info about bug

bug is Written and Performed by Yolanda Bonnell and Directed by Cole Alvis and will be performed at the Metro Studio as part of UNO Fest. bug is a solo performance about the women in an Indigenous family navigating addiction and inter-generational trauma. Using movement, poetry and prose, Yolanda weaves a story of the women in an Indigenous family grappling with their painful past.

bug Show Times: Friday, May 18, 7pm | Saturday, May 19^th, 4pm & 8:30pm

Venue: Metro Studio, 1411 Quadra

Creative Team
Yolanda Bonnell is a performer and playwright of Ojibwe and South Asian descent, from Fort William First Nation Indian Reserve in Thunder Bay, ON. Now based in Toronto, Yolanda graduated from Humber College’s theatre performance program and was named one of NOW Magazine’s artists to watch in Summerworks in 2016.Yolanda developed Scanner, her first full length play, in Factory Theatre’s Foundry program and is currently part of their Deep Development Unit. Performance credits include: Ipruq/Atugauq in The Breathing Hole (Stratford Festival), Fanny/Roberta in Treasure Island (Stratford Festival), Theresa in The Crackwalker (Factory Theatre), and Roe in Two Indians (Summerworks 2016).

Cole Alvis is a Métis artist with Chippewa-Irish/English heritage from the Turtle Mountains in Manitobah. An acclaimed actor, theatre creator and artistic leader, they are an Artistic Producer of the Dora-nominated queer theatre company lemonTree creations, former Executive Director of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance (2013 – 2017) and finalist for the 2016 Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award. Recently, Cole was invited to the inaugural Indigenous Directors Lab at the Stratford Festival of Canada and directed the critically acclaimed Row by T. Berto at the Summerworks Festival (NNNN’s, Outstanding Direction NOW Magazine).

Ashley Bomberry is Mohawk from the Six Nations Territory of the Grand River. She is a writer, producer and director for film and theatre. Her most recent film, Hoop Dance, world premiered at the Female Eye Film Festival and she continues to write and create projects within an Indigenous storytelling framework. Ashley works as a stage manager for local and international theatre presentations. She is a producer and curator for multicultural and diverse showcases of talent. She creates discussion and aims to builds bridges between marginalized and non-marginalized groups with her work. Ashley focuses on her Indigenous roots and endeavors to impart strength, hope, and healing in Indigenous communities around the world through the arts.

Sign up now!

Email pa@intrepidtheatre.com to register or feel free to call 250 383 2663 or drop by Intrepid Theatre  and speak to Sammie or Heather if you have questions.