Youth Leaders Theatre Project (YLTP) was a collaborative theatre-based program that provides violence prevention and leadership training for youth that ran from 2006 to 2014. Due to lack of funding this powerful program had to be cut. The program promoted meaningful dialogue amongst diverse cultures to help reduce racism and youth violence. Youth meet weekly with trained professional artists to collaboratively create theatre that explores their community’s stories of trauma, conflict and violence. Under the guidance of the artists, diverse youth discover their common ground and common struggles. YLTP results in powerful theatre performances that represent the diverse and too rarely heard voices of our young people. Youth Leaders Theatre Project
Who: For youth aged 14 to 24 What: FREE collaborative theatre training and performance program Where: Children’s Peace Theatre When: Workshops run every Thursday from 4:30 pm–7:30 pm Delicious dinner and TTC tokens provided. Why: *Learn theatre and leadership skills *Create and perform original theatre that explores the reality of conflict and violence *Collaborate with established young professional theatre and visual artists *Discover and practice what it takes to be a peacemaker *Earn volunteer hours for school |
2013/2014 Update: Check out some pics from our talented youth performing their original monologues!
Youth Leaders Theatre Project 2012/2013 Re-cap!
Bittersweet is the word which best describes the culmination of the Youth Leaders Theatre Project for 2012/2013. YLTP adjourned with a closing circle on June 13 touching on some nostalgic, and fond memories of the challenges and achievements from the year. This year the group of over 20 youth overcame many personal and group challenges to build a strong collaborative group.
During the Fall, YLTP youth explored social issues which they felt plagued their society and merged them into a forum theatre piece. The performance touched on issues of alcohol abuse, homophobia and domestic violence and invited audience members to become “spec-actors”, and step into the scenes to bring positive change to situations of oppression. This type of performance is very powerful for both audiences and the youth who are challenged by a variety of ways people respond to conflicts.
This Spring YLTP looked at the prevalence of violence in our society. They
bravely tackled the issue of gender violence with a stunning final performance
that incorporated original music, and monologues. The audience was left stunned
and captivated.
Along with performing their original pieces at Children’s Peace Theatre events, the youth were involved in other events across the city such as Jane’s Walk in East York, as well as a crowd pleasing performance at the Daniel Spectrum for the Youth Rotary Day. The youth also wowed the Board of Directors and members at the Annual General Meeting along with a few other Children’s Peace Theatre hosted events throughout the year.
Congratulations to all of the youth who participated and have a great summer!
There has been a tremendous amount of hard work that has been put into the program over the past several years, and the positive impact these youth have had on the community have been proof of this hard work.
Many thanks to artist Naomi Tessler, who throughout the years has nurtured and educated youth participants on various theatrical art forms, while engaging them in issues of social injustice.
Some words from the youth:
“I’ve been coming to YLTP for 3 years, and I’ve met a lot of different people, that’s why I care about YLTP so much”
“We are all different, but connect on raising awareness and acceptance…”
Bittersweet is the word which best describes the culmination of the Youth Leaders Theatre Project for 2012/2013. YLTP adjourned with a closing circle on June 13 touching on some nostalgic, and fond memories of the challenges and achievements from the year. This year the group of over 20 youth overcame many personal and group challenges to build a strong collaborative group.
During the Fall, YLTP youth explored social issues which they felt plagued their society and merged them into a forum theatre piece. The performance touched on issues of alcohol abuse, homophobia and domestic violence and invited audience members to become “spec-actors”, and step into the scenes to bring positive change to situations of oppression. This type of performance is very powerful for both audiences and the youth who are challenged by a variety of ways people respond to conflicts.
This Spring YLTP looked at the prevalence of violence in our society. They
bravely tackled the issue of gender violence with a stunning final performance
that incorporated original music, and monologues. The audience was left stunned
and captivated.
Along with performing their original pieces at Children’s Peace Theatre events, the youth were involved in other events across the city such as Jane’s Walk in East York, as well as a crowd pleasing performance at the Daniel Spectrum for the Youth Rotary Day. The youth also wowed the Board of Directors and members at the Annual General Meeting along with a few other Children’s Peace Theatre hosted events throughout the year.
Congratulations to all of the youth who participated and have a great summer!
There has been a tremendous amount of hard work that has been put into the program over the past several years, and the positive impact these youth have had on the community have been proof of this hard work.
Many thanks to artist Naomi Tessler, who throughout the years has nurtured and educated youth participants on various theatrical art forms, while engaging them in issues of social injustice.
Some words from the youth:
“I’ve been coming to YLTP for 3 years, and I’ve met a lot of different people, that’s why I care about YLTP so much”
“We are all different, but connect on raising awareness and acceptance…”