Theatre, Community Living team up for drama classes
Friday May 9 2008
By Eric Sparling
Theatre Orangeville and Community Living Dufferin are pairing up to provide drama classes for people with developmental disabilities. The program, entitled Creative Partners on Stage, was made possible by a $25,000 Ministry of Culture grant received by Theatre Orangeville.
The theatre developed the Creative Partners on Stage concept and handled applying for the grant. The idea came out of artistic director David Nairn’s background as a board member with Community Living Dufferin.
Sheryl Chandler, executive director at Community Living, says the organization has had a staff- and volunteer-run drama program in the past but is excited about the new program, which will be delivered by a professional theatre company.
“There’s an endless [list] of people that would like to be involved” in the initiative, Chandler says. She’s hoping the first round of classes will accommodate 20 to 25 of her organization’s clients. She says the classes will be delivered by a Theatre Orangeville staffer, who will need to be hired. She figures it will be summer before the program is up and running. Chandler says the theatre has assisted Community Living’s drama program in the past — the group has performed musicals — but she was still “very surprised” when the professional company approached her about partnering to deliver Creative Partners on Stage. Her response was a positive: “Yeah, great!”
Nairn is excited about the project, which includes a learning process he says has already started but will be taken to a new level with the $25,000. He says he’s had an ongoing passion for Community Living’s mission and that doing the program isn’t just a “warm and fuzzy” opportunity — it fits with a broader mission and responsibility: advocacy for the arts, and helping people learn to express themselves through a creative process.
“It’s about inclusion,” says the theatre company’s artistic director.
The next step, in Nairn’s view, is developing programming, a process that will likely involve the input of consultants. At some point a part-time person will likely be hired to take “direct responsibility” for Creative Partners. Part of the aforementioned learning process is determining how best to serve participants. One-on-one training or small groups may be an option, he says.
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