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FROM SOMEPLACE ELSE
MT SPACE LOOKS TO PROFILE IMMIGRATION STORIES
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by Declan Kelly
January 6 - 12, 2005 |
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So the New Year is not yet a week old and you can
already feel your lofty resolution(s) slipping through your
fingers, not unlike your hard–earned cash during the
holiday season. Perhaps you vowed to get more in touch
with your community, or more in touch with your creative
side, but you’re not sure where to begin. In either case,
The MT Space’s recent call for submissions of
immigration stories could well be the ideal starting point.
The project, tentatively titled ‘The Season of Immigration
to the West,’ follows in the model of last summer’s
‘Nijinsky, through a window,’ whereby writers, actors,
directors, and dramaturges collaborate over a seven
week workshop period to create a stage production from
a series of immigration stories.
MT Space artistic director Majdi Bou-Matar says the
project will hopefully help the company reach out to a
wider audience, while also keeping within their unique
mandate of producing multicultural theatre.
“My approach in choosing themes to work on as a
company focuses on universal topics that relate to a
wide, diverse audience and at the same time reflect
upon personal issues and anxieties,” notes Bou–Matar.
“The reason behind this approach is to discover and
explore as many similarities and differences as possible
between people, their histories and their various forms of
expression. The people we are talking about form our
community and eventually our culture—the Canadian
new culture. I see Canadian multiculturalism as a unique
‘culture’ that needs to be better defined.”
Apart from limiting submission to 2500 words, The MT
Space committee is being quite free with guidelines,
even allowing submissions in any language. Bou-Matar
says this is an attempt to allow contributors to tell their
stories in as unfettered a manner as possible.
“We have decided to keep the call for submissions open
to any genre of writing and also in any language
because one of our goals is to uncover writing talents
among the immigrant community,” Bou-Matar says.
“Many immigrants have considerable writing talents in
their own language and obviously these talents have
been buried due to their immigration. I believe that
language should never be a barrier. Words can always
be translated and ideas can always be interpreted and
expressed in movement so that they reach the public.
Movement is our major medium of expression. It is
important to give participants the freedom to tell their
stories without any restrictions and to make best use of
their talents and skills.”
Despite being more interested in first person accounts,
Bou– Matar says he is also open to either works of fiction
or first– or second–generation Canadians telling the
stories of their parents or grandparents.
“It is still an immigration experience that tells a personal
story of an immigrant coming to Canada,” Bou–Matar
adds.
“Some families still feel as immigrants even after the
second or third generation. This might be an issue that
needs to be addressed as well.
“Fiction stories are also welcome because theatre is
also about the “creation of an intense reality” that
resembles or reflects reality yet does so differently.”
Whatever the basis for the stories, Bou–Matar expects
there may be some contentious issues raised in their
telling, but stresses this is not the focus of the exercise.
“I think the stories should speak for themselves,” Bou–
Matar explains. “We don’t want to tell just the miserable
stories of immigrants nor do we want to tell just the
success stories. What we are looking for is a human
experience that is relevant to our community and says
something to new Canadians and to existing Canadians
as well.
“Immigrating to Canada is a great opportunity for most
people to lead a better life in a democratic free and rich
nation. At the same time, it comes with a price to pay—
loss of employment, loss of relatives and friends,
adjusting to new habits and customs, family ties,
language, etc. Controversy is what makes the topic
interesting enough to be addressed on stage and
presented to the public at large. The MT Space seeks to
create new levels of communication between people
from our social mosaic. Such controversial topics are
what enhance discussion and further communication.”
The deadline for submissions is March 15, with more
information available by contacting The MT Space
directly at 585–7763 or info@mtspace.ca.
Multicultural
Theatre Space
141 Whitney Place, Kitchener 585-7763
info@mtspace.ca
www.mtspace.ca
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