Presented by SkirtsAfire Festival with Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre in Association with The Shoe Project Charity
Shoes accompany us on our journeys. They are with us wherever we go, they say who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.
March 11* @ 7:30pm & March 12 @ 4:30pm
Gateway Theatre
8529 Gateway Blvd NW
Tickets are $21 for students/seniors and $27 for adults (plus applicable fees) and there are 10 Pay-What-You-Can tickets available per performance. Tickets are available here.
Due to limited capacity, we highly recommend securing your seat in advance!
Festival passes available now. Get 3 shows, 5 shows or an All Access Pass!
*Following the show on March 11th, be sure to stick around for a special musical performance by 2022 Shoe Project participant, Noreta Lewis-Prince. Click here for more info.
The Shoe Project is a national initiative that amplifies the voices of Canadian immigrant and refugee women through storytelling. Whether selected by choice or imposed by circumstance the shoes we wear can make or break a journey, shape our experiences, and open doors to our future. The Shoe Project 2023 is Edmonton’s second live iteration of this compelling project. In December, a group of immigrant and refugee women began working with veteran Canadian playwright Conni Massing to write stories of their arrival and adaptation to Canada centred around a pair of shoes they have worn. When their stories are completed, each woman will be coached by local theatre professionals and then tell their story for audiences in a revelatory public performance.
Click Here for the Plain Language Description
The Shoe Project is a community-art* theatre project that happens across the country. Newcomer women share their stories of coming to Canada. The stories are centred around a pair of shoes they wore during their arrival and settlement journey, or that impacted them. They work with professional theatre artists (Conni Massing, Pat Darbasie, and Alyson Connolly) to shape their solo stories and ready them to be heard by an audience. As in a play reading format, the stage is simple and the scripts are read without memorization.
This is the second time The Shoe Project has occurred in Edmonton. Each time, new women tell their unique stories centred around shoes as a metaphor of the past, present and future journey.
*Community art: art created for and by a community with professional artists coaching the process.
Click Here for the Content Warnings
The Shoe Project deals with subject matter around immigration, refugee camps, war, and other hardships while fleeing a country and travelling to a new one. While many stories can be uplifting and happy, there will be some tragic, sad, and harrowing stories shared as well. If you have any questions or concerns or would like more information, please email us at info@skirtsafire.com.
“I have never imagined I could be standing in front of an audience sharing a personal story in English. The Shoe Project has been the most empowering experience of my life.” — Natalia Rodriguez Bussi, Uruguay
“I’ve been blown away. Those women are amazing, their stories [are] bold and brave and filled with humour, love, and all the travails of making their journeys here. I loved the various shoes, the boots, the “slippers”. What an outstanding project!” — Catherine Mitchell, publisher
THESE PERFORMANCES WILL OPEN YOUR HEART AND TRANSFORM YOUR PERCEPTIONS OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CANADIAN
Featuring:
Mila Oz, Turkey
Christiane Abuimama Endeguele, Cameroon
Naviatou, Cameroon
Ruth Sun, China
Taiba Atimadi, Afghanistan
Rana Nakhal, Syria
Nargis Attaiee, Afghanistan
Rachel Amani, Ivory Coast
Muska Sharif , Afghanistan
Nasrin Hashemi, Afghanistan
Artistic Team:
Amena Shehab, Project Coordinator
Betty Hushlak, Associate Producer
Conni Massing, Writing Mentor
Alyson Connolly, Voice & Speech Coach
Pat Darbasie, Acting Coach
The Shoe Project’s mission is to advance education by providing programs, courses, workshops and seminars to immigrant and refugee women to develop their written and oral skills, as well as their leadership skills.
Thank you to The Shoe Project Charity for their guidance and contributions towards the Edmonton chapter of this initiative.
To find out more about the shoe project charity based in Toronto, visit https://theshoeproject.online/
