Reshaping Theatre Inclusion (Panel)
Extended session hosted by GVPTA
In English | Simultaneous interpretation in French and ASL
Theatre artists, workers, and audiences have long called for the sector to move beyond words and acknowledgment in order to make more inclusive, safe, and enjoyable environments to work, play, and share stories. From projects that build new tools to strengthen connections, move toward action and accountability, and open space for responsive training, this session will discuss ideas and initiatives that centre equity-deserving communities to build capacity, address needs, and offer solutions.
Lili Robinson (she/they) (Moderator)
Lili is a poet, playwright, actor and community organizer based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Since graduating from Studio 58 in 2018, Lili has worked with companies including Theatre Replacement, Rumble Theatre, the Arts Club, the frank theatre, and the Cultch. Lili is the playwright of Mx, Resident Curator at rEvolver Festival, and the Community Engagement Producer at PTC. Lili is currently working on two new plays, Infest and Maroon, as well as several ongoing community initiatives to uplift Black artists and Black arts history in so-called Vancouver.
Valerie Sing Turner (she/her/hers)
Valerie is a multidisciplinary artist who performs, writes, directs, and produces. She is founding Artistic Producer of Visceral Visions, and Creative Director of CultureBrew.Art, which features a national searchable database of BIPOC artists working in the performing, literary, and media arts. An acknowledged leader on issues of diversity/decolonization in the Canadian arts sector, Valerie was artist-in-residence with National Arts Centre for In the Shadow of the Mountains, her 10-actor play centering three generations of a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation, Chinese-Canadian, and Japanese-Canadian family, recently curated/livestreamed as part of the 2022 Advance Theatre Festival; and she is co-directing the animated film adaptation of a chamber operetta, Did I Just Say That?, for which she wrote the libretto.
Sedina Fiati (she/her/they/them)
Sedina is a Toronto based performer, producer, director, creator and activist for stage and screen with over 15 years experience. Proudly Black and queer, Sedina is deeply invested in artistic work that explores the intersection between art and activism, either in form or structure or ideally both. Sedina worked with Generator for 3 years, focusing on providing mentorship, program development and coordination for the Artist Producer Training Program. Sedina is currently Artist-Activist in Residence at Nightwood Theatre and proud founding member of the Black Pledge Collective – an initiative to dismantle anti-Black racism in theatre.
Alen Dominguez (he/him)
Alen is a Mexican-Canadian theatre artist and the current Managing Director for Neworld Theatre, a Vancouver-based award-winning company that creates new plays, performance events and digital works that centre stories and perspectives that seek to dismantle systems of oppression. He holds a BFA from UBC and is a proud co-founding member of the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition and a member of the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency, a network of artists and organizations working at the intersection of culture and climate in Canada.
