From the Heart: enter into the journey of reconciliation

add to outlook add to google calendar remind me

Wednesday, June 12th, 2013
Show times: 7:00, 7:20, 7:40, 8:00, 8:20, 8:40.

An innovative community dialogue project inspired by Paulette Regan�s bestselling book, Unsettling the Settler Within.

From the Heart: enter into the journey of reconciliation is a new theatre production about transformative stories that have moved non-Indigenous people to see their relationships with their Aboriginal neighbours in new ways. This won�t be anything like an ordinary play.

Starting on June 12, audiences will be invited to explore a temporarily vacant 14,000 square foot store at Uptown Mall that has been transformed into a vast, beautiful labyrinth made of hundreds of doors and windows, fabric, and paper lantern lights. In the nooks and alcoves along the way, they will encounter scenes, songs, and shadow theatre performances all created by a culturally diverse cast of 30 Victoria area residents who range in age from 18 to 80.

From the Heart is produced and directed by Will Weigler in partnership with VIDEA (a BC-based International Development Education Association), and the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria. The project was inspired by Paulette Regan�s bestselling book: Unsettling the Settler Within.

"Many of the cast members were drawn to the project as a way to deepen their own understanding about First Nations, M�tis, and Inuit experiences in this country, and then be able to create a theatre performance that would let them share with others what they discovered," says Weigler. At the end of the show, in the heart� of the labyrinth, everyone is offered tea and an opportunity to reflect on the experience in conversation. The community cast hopes that From the Heart will entertain, inspire, and encourage thoughtful dialogue.

The cast developed the show in collaboration with Director Will Weigler, Kwakwaka'wakw performance artist and poet Krystal Cook, and singing and movement coach Bisia Belina. The labyrinth was co-designed by eco-architect Mark Lakeman and tensile fabric architect Mar Ricketts.

"This project is an example of many people in a community coming together to make a difference," Weigler says. "First Metropolitan Church offered us workshop space to create the show, and Uptown Mall is hosting us during performances. Many individual tradespeople, professionals, businesses, and organizations have all stepped up to lend a hand when we needed it. It would not have happened without them.� From the Heart is a pilot project here in the Greater Victoria area; the organizers plan to create a 'how-to� book on the process so that other communities can produce their own versions of the show throughout Canada and globally.

From the Heart received funding from the BC Arts Council, Vancouver Foundation, Vancity, the CRD, Hamber Foundation, and many individual donors.

"�What if we were to offer the gift of humility as we come to the work of truth telling and reconciliation? Bearing this gift would entail working through our own discomfort and vulnerability, opening ourselves to the kind of experiential learning that engages our whole being� our heads, our hearts, our spirits."
�Paulette Regan, Unsettling the Settler Within


WHERE: Uptown Mall Upper level (Blanshard St Entrance)

DIRECTIONS: Southbound on Blanshard/Pat Bay Hwy just past Ravine Way, turn right at the Uptown Mall entrance by the RBC and up the ramp. At the top, veer to the right and look for the From the Heart banner. From inside the mall, take the escalator, elevator, or stairs to the 4th level and walk north until you see the Banner.

TICKETS: $10. Price excludes service charges.
Call Ticket Rocket at 250-590-6291, or purchase online http://ticketrocket.org

*Parental guidance recommended*
http://www.from-the-heart.ca/