A return to playfulness as a driver of change
I have no real idea what the future holds
I don’t pretend to know either
But I hope we’ll hold onto the playfulness we’ve managed to find in sad things
I hope we’ll make it contagious
To bridge the gap that separates us from the people who think art is obsolete
A load of superfluity
I hope our stubborn resilience will have been worth it
That bitterness won’t drain everything we have left
That we’ll remember the importance of having a good time
No matter when
In spring and in winter
So that our future confinements will be lighter
I want us to remember how much we miss theatre when another lockdown comes
So that we’ll be less forgiving of the people who wrench it away from us again
I want us to remember how absurd we thought it was to do graduation shows in the middle of a pandemic
With masks two metres apart no audience
To remember our feeling of helplessness
Our flashes of anger and our worries about the future
I want us to remember our fits of laughter in the rehearsal room
That feeling of admiration when we saw a classmate sharing their artistic brilliance with us
Our desire to do the same to respond to absurdity by giving it the finger
I want us to remember the privilege of being amazed despite the ugliness of the world
I want us to remember what we are made of
Of light and humanity
Of the playfulness that dwells in us and must be shared
I want us to preserve art as a playground
A sacred ground where freedom has no limits
Irdens Exantus
National Theatre School of Canada
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About World Theatre Day
Created in 1961 by UNESCO, World Theatre Day is celebrated annually on March 27 by theatre communities around the globe. This year, we chose to turn to the next generation of artists and creators who have graduated from theater schools across the country into a world that was crumbling and in which the very necessity of the performing arts was being questioned.
Today you’ll see the faces of theatre school graduates on the NAC's Kipnes Lantern, and we asked three of them to take the pen for the occasion. See it all here.
Learn more
Professional Association of Canadian Theatre (PACT)
2022 World Theatre Day messages by Debajehmujig Theatre Group, Makambe K. Simamba and Mishka Lavigne
2022 World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People message by Lionel Lehouillier
Conseil québécois du théâtre (CQT)
Quebec message for World Theatre Day Théâtre by Rebecca Deraspe
Mot du Théâtre franco-ontarien 2022 by Karine Ricard
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