Gwen and Andraea have both spent time in recent years creating with rural Manitobans. Andraea was honoured to be a part of Theatre Project Manitoba’s award winning Chautauqua, and last year Gwen spent time coaching actors in Pinawa and creating Small Town Ghost Stories. 

Over the next three years, in partnership with Pinawa Players, we at One Trunk aim to create a show that is tourable in rural Manitoba. The result is the performance of a play. However; the play is flexible! It is a container for collaboration. Think of it like a mad lib theatre experiment. Each performance will be in a new community, and the performance will change in response to each new community it is in.

Talking Roots will allow rural citizens opportunities to engage in professional art. They’ll see themselves and their communities represented onstage, which in turn will build confidence and interest in the arts. As artists, we get learn how to create a product that is fun, malleable, and responsive. It’s a win - win opportunity to find the sweet spot between high quality professional work and meaningful audience/amateur artist engagement. 

If you think your community or local theatre troupe might be a good fit for this project, we would love to hear from you!