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Theatre workshop highlights Creston's social issues

Eighteen Creston Valley residents of all ages are taking part in a weeklong social action theatre workshop...
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(From left) Jesse Willicome

Eighteen Creston Valley residents of all ages are taking part in a weeklong social action theatre workshop, which concludes with a performance at Prince Charles Theatre on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Presented by Andrew Burton, founder of Prince George’s Street Spirits Theatre Company, the workshop — mainly geared toward youth, but involving all ages — will bring awareness to local social issues by developing an interactive play.

“We get a group of people to create a stage performance about something they think is really important,” said Burton.

Those taking the workshop have been rehearsing at the Snoring Sasquatch all week to create plays that invite the audience to brainstorm solutions to the problem presented in each play. Topics may include drug and alcohol abuse, violence, racism, homophobia, sexual assault — whatever the performers feel is a serious issue.

Burton has been teaching the performers effective body language techniques to help drive the point of each play home — on Monday afternoon, one member gasped loudly as another girl mimed injecting her arm with drugs.

He is sure the audience will appreciate the performances, which will leave them with a lot to think about.

“The performances are always entertaining, always thought provoking,” he said.

This training and production is a result of a partnership of youth, the Lower Kootenay Band, Columbia Basin Trust, the Interior Health Authority and the Creston and District Community Resource Centre.

Admission to the Nov. 26 performance is $2 or the donation of a non-perishable food item to the food bank.