Watch 'Theatre of Neighbours' Online!

We're so delighted to share that Brad Leitch's documentary, Theatre of Neighbours, is now online!  Starting May 1st you can stream this documentary at www.theatreofneighbours.com 

Filmmaker Brad Leitch made this project as his first independent feature film, and poured a lot of love into the film over a years long process.  We're honoured to have our work documented in this way, and share our deep gratitude with Brad for this film.  

If you're able, please consider making a donation to Brad to help with production costs and the costs of making the film available online.  There is a donate button on the film's website.  

And, we all stand on the shoulders of giants, so thanks to all of the playback trainers (especially Sarah Halley, Armand Volkas, and Sheila Donio) who have come to Winnipeg to help us build our company, all of the remarkable local theatre artists who've shared their skills (too many to name!), and the playback community around the world.  This is a lifelong journey of learning, and in many ways, we're still beginning.  

TANJA WOLOSHEN AND ASSINIBOINE CREDIT UNION GET RED THREADS MOVING

In Playback Theatre performances we have found our bodies often speak louder than our words.  Our hope was that the generous grant from Assiniboine Credit Union would give us access to the local talent to develop our capacity and to connect with our audiences through the power of physical expression.  

Tanja did just what we needed! 

Movement specialist Tanja Woloshen inspired the Red Threads ensemble with exercises to tap into our bodies and spontaneous physical expression in a one day workshop at the Gas Station Arts Centre. Tanja guided us to find more ways to use our bodies to communicate to our audience. Here are some comments from the troupe about our workshop:

The group was strengthen because of the (sometimes awkward but deepening) exercises.

Individually, I also grew and learned as an artist.  This training forges a better all round musician/artist.  

I particularly appreciated her skill at offering personal explorations in movement first; then holding our troupe’s improvisational forms as focus, the group work seemed much more solid, still exploratory, and filled with options.

… options... I feel we were left with a sense of new possibilities of expression, new options, which feel deep and subtle at the same time. Thanks.

I don't know if you're still buzzing from yesterday like I am, with so many juicy tidbits to digest and integrate. I am especially grateful for the insight and courage gained from witnessing my story which allowed me to reach out authentically and reconnect with ……. despite my vulnerabilities. THANK YOU for the ongoing gift of your presence, sharing, and honouring of stories in our little playback realm. It is an honour and a joy to work alongside all of you in this craft. 

I really feel like Tanja intuited and understood very well the essence of Playback even without having a full understanding of the practice and forms. Incorporating the senses and different aspects of expression was especially useful; I appreciated familiar-ish exercises with a twist as well as the explorations I've never done before. I believe working non-verbally with fellow troupe members deepens our trust and group mind abilities, as well as moves the practice to a deeper level. Very grateful for the time with Tanja and the extended time together as a group.

Premiere of Theatre of Neighbours on TUES, FEB 12!!

Film Director, Brad Leitch, is excited to present the documentary, Theatre of Neighbours, a film about the work of Winnipeg’s Red Threads of Peace Playback Theatre troupe. 

In this film, we follow a group of actors who listen to the stories of their audience and perform them back live on the spot. While practicing and developing skills in listening and acting in order to honour another person’s real life story, the troupe come face to face with their own stories including difficult experiences of loss, fear, and loneliness. This dedicated group of neighbours take part in a unique form of improv that has been described as both a powerful art form and personally meaningful for actors and audience alike. By connecting to and performing the stories of others they are brought closer to their own experiences and because of that encounter all kinds of opportunities, insights

and life lessons. 

This modest film production presents an unassuming but remarkable story of the power of human connection through local storytelling and theatre and reveals the art of what it takes to deeply see, hear and play back the story of your neighbour.

We hope you will join us at Eckhardt-Grammate Hall (3rd floor) at the University of Winnipeg (515 Portage Ave.) for the world premiere of Theatre of Neighbours on Tuesday, February 12th!

$10 ticket or VIP supporter pass

EARLY SHOW - SCREENING #1
Doors Open - 6:00PM
Screening - 6:30PM - 7:30PM
Panel - 7:30PM

LATE SHOW - SCREENING #2
Doors Open - 8:00PM
Screening - 8:30-9:30PM
Panel - 9:30PM

https://www.facebook.com/events/291650071706349/

Playback Theatre: Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master

Red Threads of Peace Playback troupe members gather every Wednesday to refresh and hone their performing skills. Physicality, musicality, spontaneity, authenticity, volume, presence, storytelling, emotional expression, creativity and more! Playback offers a rich playing field for learning an art form, learning about ourselves, and connecting with others.

This year Bequie Lake, Briony Haig, Tanissa Martindale and I participated in one week of training on the Suzuki Method and Viewpoints with Thom Morgan Jones, new Artistic Director of Prairie Theatre Exchange. In a word - intense! The training touched me at the core of my being – emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically. Thom's ability to be present speaks to the method he clearly knows intimately.His level of articulation of skills and direction is luminous. Thom demonstrated capacity to safely guide, respect and support his students through the growth in their artistic skill is welcomed and appreciated. Winnipeg is lucky to have him!

Late in the Fall, Tanissa and Bequie went to Boston for a workshop with Christopher and Anne Ellinger from True Story Theatre. They enjoyed the lovely hospitality and opportunity to connect with other  troupes from across the continent doing what we do; sharing and using the joy and love of Playback in our home communities. Learning playback exercises, forms and performance styles unique to the Boston company and others, pollinates and expands our practice! A special thank you to True Story member Amber Espar, who hosted Tanissa and Bequie at her home, for her generosity of spirit, as a host, teacher and performer.

 

Training also reconnects us with our appreciation of the specific flair, cohesion and multi-faceted strengths of our troupe. The gifts from these trainings are generously shared with the rest of the troupe at our regular playdates. We are hoping to do more training for the full Red Threads company in the New Year!

- Dana Rungay, Founder of Red Threads of Peace Playback

Dialogue and Gratitude at St. Kateri

St. Kateri Tekakwitha Aboriginal Catholic Parish has been the home for many Red Threads rehearsals over the past several years.  To thank the church for their generosity in sharing their space with us, our troupe offered to do a volunteer performance.

St. Kateri has been working on a dialogue project focusing on reconciliation among indigenous peoples and settlers with St. Ignatius Parish.  Members of both congregations have been meeting regularly for dialogue and community building, and we had the gift of joining them for a closing dialogue on October 18th, 2018.

Over the evening, we heard stories from community members about experiences - some long ago and some recent - that shaped their understandings of themselves and others.

We heard stories of cultural assumptions, of confronting bullying, and of peace-builders who had touched the lives of those present.

After joining the community for the evening, our company now has even more reason to be grateful.  Thank you St. Kateri for providing us a home for our weekly practice - such a fundamental ingredient in what we do.  And thank you for your openness to trying something new and the great risk of sharing your stories.

"Thank you very much for working with our Kateri-St. Ignatius reconciliation group.  Your depth of understanding and interpreting built a community in the room and called us all to embrace our own humaness, realizing we are all one." - Sr. Margaret Hughes

"I never expected it to move me as it did" - Winn Leslie, Parishioner, St. Ignatius

Peace Day with Miles Macdonnell Collegiate

Miles Macdonnell Collegiate invited Red Threads of Peace to perform for about 100 Grade 9 to 12 students at their Peace Day event on September 21. The theme was ‘Reconciliation,’ a significant and emotional exploration which can touch on so many sensitive experiences. We focussed on Senator Murray Sinclair’s description of reconciliation as ‘restoring respectful relationships’ and what that entails.

Certainly, it is a theme which is very challenging in a large group of people of any age and in a school context where most are finding their place of belonging, it is a delicate topic.

We opened with some warm up games to help students feel more comfortable with the troupe, the space and opening up. Even low risk games can be out of a comfort zone for some. Awkwardness, being ‘cool’ or shy are all part of warming up. Nonetheless, we all moved, talked and laughed together.

As we moved into telling their personal stories of reconciliation with friends and family, the students and teachers offered moments from their participation in Peace Day presentations and experiences from their own lives. They talked about finding inspiration in the activism of others, the perseverance of re-building a community without resources and resolving conflicts with their family and friends.

Some of the feedback from the teachers was:

It was really great to have your group take part in the day - theatre and the arts provide a unique opportunity to explore difficult topics and from the feedback that I received, most of the audience seemed to appreciate this and were excited to take part. 

It was an awesome event. We need more events like this as it has such an unbelievable impact on our students. In speaking to the students afterwards it was clear that it was thought provoking and challenged them to think and act in a more tolerant and respectful manner. 

I really enjoyed it, there was comedy and interaction with all of the students. You’re never too cool to have fun, which is why I enjoyed it so much. You could see the joy on all of your faces up on stage. It really made my day, so thank you! 

Thank you to Miles Macdonnell Collegiate for giving us the opportunity to honour your stories. As always, we are inspired by the courage of those who choose to share and by the surprising ways that playback can evoke response, even in those awkward and uncertain moments!

- Red Threads of Peace Founder, Dana Rungay

The Year That Was

Yet another Playback season closes and we take this time to soak up the sunshine before coming back together again in the fall. Having time to reflect is an important part of the work that we do, so we thought we would share what was on the minds of a few of our troupe members:

Experiencing playback theatre with the Red Threads of Peace has been an amazing reconnection with emotion, expression and self. Through creative interpretation, re-enacting live playback of human experiences has been a call from within to explore my own concepts of perception, understanding and speaking through new mediums and rusty channels. What a wonderful troupe of playback players to examine movement, sound and music with. It has been an eye opener in the use of theatre forms to express experiences, good and bad and to work through emotions and feelings in processing life’s experiences. Getting familiar with creating statue gardens, Narrative V’s and choruses, has been exploratory and great in the experience of transforming story to stage. I am excited to explore more.

- Cathy Menard, new member since Dec 2017

I’ve loved everything! The acting, taking a risk, learning to trust my intuition, the support & empathy, the genuine stories, the process, the rituals, the laughter. I pinch myself sometimes to see if it’s real because I love it so much.

- Briony Haig

The Years I Have Had... The Years Ahead:

 Red Threads Playback of Peace was conceived about 7 years ago from my need to practice playback. After several international playback workshops I realized that it doesn’t matter how many workshops I do, if I don’t practice I won’t learn it. My favourite playback saying is: “Playback is easy to learn, difficult to master.” After 7 years I sure can say that again!

I was, and still am, quite disconnected from the arts community in Winnipeg. Fortunately, I had worked at the Gas Station Arts Centre doing a program for high risk youth. I also had met Sue Proctor through Artists in Healthcare Manitoba. Sue pointed me towards Rose Condo and Loc Lu at MTYP and Loc connected me with Bequie Lake. Lucky lucky lucky for playback in Winnipeg…what amazingly welcoming and gifted people they are!

Our starting idea was a leadership model of training community people in Playback Theatre to use in their programs with our possible mentorship along with performances. I named us Red Threads of Peace from the many cultural myths and legends of connection between people destined to meet. It is the invisible thread of heart to heart connection. In playback, the red thread is the thread of emerging theme which runs through a performance.

We formed a working group under the wings of Nick Kowalchuk and the Gas Station Arts Centre. Our group had representation of artists, therapists, local and international social justice activists and planners. This coming-together of like minds resulted in The Red Threads of Peace Playback Project. Without the unwavering leadership and support of co-founders Bequie and Loc; and the stability of Nick and the Gas Station Theatre, I doubt if Red Threads would have evolved to the extent it has.

To create a catalyst to form a Red Threads troupe we offered a training with international Playback trainer Sarah Halley funded by the Winnipeg Foundation. The training was promoted to artists, therapists and social justice activists.

Following the training we gathered every 2 or 3 or 4 weeks, depending on our availability to do playback. Bequie named these gatherings “playdates.” It reflected our sense of joy in self expression and the play-filled approach we brought to our learning the art of playback. For a couple of years our playdates had 2 to 10 people attending, until finally Jennifer Pilgrim said, “let’s meet every week.” We did and it began to stabilize our troupe. Since then we have hosted Armand Volkas and Sheila Donio, both international trainers, as well as numerous local theatre artists to deepen our playback toolbox. Thanks again to funding from the Winnipeg Foundation.

In the beginning years, Bequie and I did all the workshops and playdates. Playback Theatre was enthusiastically embraced by Jean Tinling at Mosaic Newcomer Family Resource Network where we did a series of workshops with newcomers and indigenous youth. We saw clearly the power of playback to build community. On seeing his story played back by a newcomer woman, I loved watching an exuberant indigenous youth say: “she knows exactly how I feel.”

We have continued doing workshops and performances with the generous support of grants from Winnipeg Foundation, Assiniboine Credit Union, Manitoba Community Services Council, Winnipeg Arts Council, Manitoba Government programs of LIFT and Healthy Together Now. The generous support from the Gas Station Arts Centre, Manitoba Theatre for Young People and St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish provided our playdate space. This funding and support gave us the chance to do workshops and performances at many places like Selkirk Mental Health Centre, Villa Cabrini Seniors Residence, Studio Central, Rainbow Resource Centre, Mosaic Newcomer Family Resource Network, Pathways to Reconcilitation Conference, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, as well as numerous peace building, human rights and education initiatives.

Red Threads has always nurtured a collaborative ‘group-mind’ approach in our playdates. After seven years, our troupe rotates playdate leadership and facilitators with seasoned playback artists like Bequie Lake, Thomas Novak, Robin Shugart, Elena Anciro, Dawn Lavand, Brad Leitch, and Tanissa Martindale. The diversity, honesty and humour of our troupe brings lightness and warmth to trainings and performances. It is so gratifying to leave a workshop or performance with the audience feeling happier and more energized than when we entered.

We are very excited that filmmaker and playback artist, Brad Leitch is capturing the impact of playback on our lives and our audiences in a documentary sponsored by the Montreal International Conference Committee. A heart felt tribute to our experiences is anticipated.

Over our time together, my role has primarily been as a conductor. It fills me with peace, confidence and joy knowing I can trust our troupe to enter a story with compassion, honesty and artistic sensitivity. We may not always “get it right” however the sincerity and respect of our actors for the teller is always palpable. We have created a space where I feel both the safety to risk and the joy of play, as an actor too.

I found Red Threads to have playback playmates. What I have found is acceptance, artistic and personal connection, social justice commitment and congeniality on a foundation of empathy and playfulness. What a find!

 - Dana Rungay, Founder of Red Threads of Peace Playback

On the first sight it seems impossible.

Then just crazy.

And then you take a leap of faith with the help of all that lovely people around you. 

Thank you all. 

- Dasa Silhova