Review: Binti's Journey

L-R: Ijeoma Emesowum, Sodienye Waboso, Allison Edwards-Crew, 

Thomas Olajide (Photo: Greg Edwards)

The Untainted Heart
by Gregory W. Bunker

Binti’s Journey is a journey worth taking, young or old. The story is set in present-day Malawi and is centred on the changes 13-year-old Binti endures after losing her father, her only surviving parent, to AIDS. Based on the young adult book The Heaven Shop by internationally acclaimed Canadian author Deborah Ellis, and produced by Theatre Direct at the Young People’s Theatre, you might be forgiven if you’d think such a play was only for youth. And in the beginning, the slight overdramatization suggests this. Certainly, young people have the most to gain from seeing the play—it is, after all, about the multi-faceted and far-reaching consequences of HIV/AIDS on the individual, family, community, and our generation at large. But this play is so well-crafted, and its message of HIV/AIDS awareness so well-delivered, that anyone who sees it will find it to be an entertaining, thought-provoking piece that educates in the best kind of way.

The Story: Yves Simard on I On The Sky

(photo credit: Robert Etcheverry)

Me and I on the sky
...a parkbench in New York City begins a journey
by Yves Simard (Scriptwriter and director)

As a performer, I’ve spent a significant part of my professional life on tour. I had the chance of meeting many interesting individuals. I also had the opportunity of witnessing people living their own lives in their own unique way. In fact, one such experience provided me with the basis for the I on the sky project.  The whole idea for the show popped into my mind as I was between performances in New York City.  When you are on tour and not performing, you often have free time you may not know what to do with. In this instance, I decided to go out for a walk in Central Park. I walked for a while taking in the sun and seeing the many individuals going about their daily lives. I decided to sit down on a bench and look up at the beautiful blue sky.  As I saw the people walking by, I suddenly realized that I didn’t know any one and that in fact, I was something like a temporary immigrant in the USA. Which got me thinking about people you come across in the streets. 

In fact, you don’t know most of the people that pass you by. You have no idea where they come from, where they’re going or even why. I was sitting on a park bench, the weather was beautiful, the sky was blue… and I was homesick. That is what I was feeling at that moment. 

First-Person: Edward Roy on Beyond the Cuckoo's Nest

The Unspoken

Translating the darkness of the teen years to theatre

by Edward Roy

As I write this I’m deep in technical rehearsals for my new play, Beyond the Cuckoo’s Nest, opening on May 9th at Young People’s Theatre. Beyond the Cuckoo’s Nest follows the story of three young people dealing with mental illness and mood disorders. Although the subject matter of mental illness is an underlying issue in the play as a writer I felt it was extremely important to focus on the relationships between the characters and explore the challenges they face as teenagers dealing with each other, their desire for acceptance within their peer groups, and the “outside world”. As the story unfolds we watch how the young characters, under the guidance of their adult group facilitator, struggle to navigate their way through tough life choices and the consequences they face when they deny the realities of being a teenager dealing with mental illness.