EDUCATIONAL MERIT:
ROOMIES has impact on stage and off
Our goal for 2016, is to offer performances of ROOMIES to local high schools. ROOMIES is unique when it comes to its approach to delivering key messages to our youth - through entertainment and integration. Roomies manages to show rather than tell. As one reviewer put it:
"Power's presence is authoritative and bears particular resonance. As characters quickly become blind to any difference or physical limitations of his character, so does the audience." (Gordon Jones - Review - The Telegram Newspaper)
In a sitcom-style delivery students are entertained and in the process are given an inside look on what it's like to have a physical disability or live with someone who has a disability. This inside look is not preached, it's not overdone and there's no "you should do this" instructions. Instead ROOMIES respects the intelligence of its young audience and their capability of reaching their own conclusions through show rather than tell.
Tolerance, understanding and respect of differences are learned through experience. ROOMIES provides a snapshot of this experience and is intended to ignite discussion on how we all live with different disabilities - some you can see - some you can not. In the play, the character of David obviously has a physical disability - but it's when his circumstance is juxtaposed with the emotional disabilities of the character of Nick - who on the surface looks pretty put together - that we learn disabilities aren't always easy to see. The audience is challenged to recognize and discover their own disabilities and despite sometime obvious physical circumstances we are all not so different.
Key reasons schools should invest in this presentation include:
To discuss more on how ROOMIES can be a great addition to your school year and how we can work to make that addition affordable, please visit our BOOKING page.
"Power's presence is authoritative and bears particular resonance. As characters quickly become blind to any difference or physical limitations of his character, so does the audience." (Gordon Jones - Review - The Telegram Newspaper)
In a sitcom-style delivery students are entertained and in the process are given an inside look on what it's like to have a physical disability or live with someone who has a disability. This inside look is not preached, it's not overdone and there's no "you should do this" instructions. Instead ROOMIES respects the intelligence of its young audience and their capability of reaching their own conclusions through show rather than tell.
Tolerance, understanding and respect of differences are learned through experience. ROOMIES provides a snapshot of this experience and is intended to ignite discussion on how we all live with different disabilities - some you can see - some you can not. In the play, the character of David obviously has a physical disability - but it's when his circumstance is juxtaposed with the emotional disabilities of the character of Nick - who on the surface looks pretty put together - that we learn disabilities aren't always easy to see. The audience is challenged to recognize and discover their own disabilities and despite sometime obvious physical circumstances we are all not so different.
Key reasons schools should invest in this presentation include:
- Strengthening the presence of disabled artists in our community and showcasing the capabilities of these artists to our youth.
- In the 2010 Focus on Disability and Deaf Arts Report to the Canadian Council for the Arts, authors Rose Jacobson and Geoff McMurchy state:
The Atlantic Provinces continue to be less developed in the areas of Deaf and disability arts and culture... we are unaware of any producing companies – dance, theatre, film – which are specifically mandated to create or present disability arts related or Deaf arts. ROOMIES helps in closing this gap in our region - and an important component is to show this to our youth who will be our artistic leaders in the years to come. - Engaging students in an entertaining production while also driving home messages of inclusion, acceptance and diversity - without preaching or dictating.
- ROOMIES is written by a disabled playwright - an opportunity for youth to speak with this playwright after the show - a valuable opportunity for one on one sharing and inspiration.
To discuss more on how ROOMIES can be a great addition to your school year and how we can work to make that addition affordable, please visit our BOOKING page.