Postmarginal Edmonton

In September of 2021 40-50 theatre artists and culture workers gathered to investigate what it takes to honour difference in the creation process. This was part of a process begun with Walterdale Theatre in Edmonton, at the initiative of my wife and myself. However, it branched out much further than Walterdale, created relationships that span the country, and engendered new ideas and partnerships that continue to grow.

The attached reports provide rich detail about the workshop itself, the participants, and the ripples that have spread out from the event.

You can see the workshop website here – https://postmarginal.ca/en/edmonton

The print program for the event is here – Postmarginal Edmonton Program

A Qualitative Analysis of the workshop is here – Postmarginal Edmonton Qualitative Analysis

A follow-up, written by three participants one year after the event, is here – Theatre Alberta One Year On

For me, the circle of artists at the retreat was a new experience. Although I worked in groups of artists many times in my life, this was the first time that everyone was equal, no one had an agenda, and no one was able to manipulate the attention or direction of the group. As simple as this seems, valuing each individual and valuing the process of collaboration more than the outcome was profoundly affecting. It led me down an intellectual path (in reverse chronological order of publication) from Postmarginal to David Diamond and Theatre for Living, to Augusto Boal and Theatre of the Oppressed, and to Paulo Freire and his work Pedagogy of the Oppressed. If you’re interested I suggest you read the books as well as the Wikipedia entries.

The workshop pushed me to de-centre my artistic ego for a project in the middle of production. This Is Where We Live is a verbatim theatre project featuring individuals with lived experience of homelessness in Edmonton. More about that on that project page, coming soon.