Theatre Direct Canada presents Forward March Festival 2024 this weekend. This free, two-day festival invites children between 7- to 12-years-old to experience three brand-new plays curated and created especially for them. All plays are performed with ASL interpretation or, for plays in ASL, with voiceover in English.
The Forward March Festival is an invitation for emerging artist companies to explore their creative process and take risks with content and form within the realm of Theatre for Young Audiences.
The festival offers a unique development process for its artists including an Industry Series, test audiences, and mentorship by Indigenous Culture Consultant Charlotte Big Canoe, ASL Consultant Juan Jaramillo and Guest Director Amanda Lin.
The aim is to bridge the gap in artists’ learning from school to making leap into the professional world of theatre. In speaking with Sehar Bhojani, Forward March Festival‘s Associate Artistic Director, she explained this is an offer to artists “to do what you do best and let us take care of the details and responsibilities of organizing a festival.” This way, the artists can focus on the art & the team does the admin/infrastructure for the festival. Bhojani also shared the artist companies receive a commission fee.
This year’s festival will feature new works-in-progress by AMAVA Collective, Phoenix The Fire, and solo artists Christopher-Elizabeth and Annasofie Jakobsen.
There is additional kid-friendly programming between performances such as, a kids hub with arts & crafts inspired by the shows. There will also be a ‘chill room’ downstairs in the venue for people to relax or have a quiet moment in between shows as well.
The Forward March Festival 2024 is free and performances will take place in spaces around the George Chuvalo Neighbourhood Centre on Saturday May 4 and Sunday May 5, 2024.
Performances start at 1pm. Each performance runs for approximately 20 to 30 minutes followed by a 10-minute Q&A with the artists. Please note advanced reservations for the performance are sold out. However, you can show up in person on either day to gain a last-minute entrance to any of the shows.
For full festival listings and to join the wait list, please visit theatredirect.ca.
