Arts alumni collective creates social justice theatre.
Theatre of the Beat was founded by University of Waterloo grads Johnny Wideman (BA ’09), Rebecca Steiner (BA ’12), Kimberlee Walker (BA ’12), and Leah Harder (BA ’09) in 2011. They got their start on campus, creating a biographical play about Conrad Grebel archivist Sam Steiner (BA ’73). The show was entitled Gadfly: Sam Steiner Dodges the Draft and followed the transformation of a self-proclaimed bigot to social justice activist during the Vietnam war. The company has been ‘staging change’ ever since. To date they have performed their unique brand of social justice theatre in theatres, festivals, schools, churches, and even prisons, reaching a collective audience of over 20,000 people across Canada and the US.
Following a pastoral boundary crossing that shook the Kitchener community, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada began deliberating on proactive ways to educate their congregants on the realities of sexual misconduct, and hopefully prevent future abuses. Having gained a national reputation for tackling taboo topics in artful ways, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada approached social justice theatre company, Theatre of the Beat to create a play that would act as a conversation starter.
And so, six months before the #metoo movement emerged, Theatre of the Beat began developing an original theatre piece designed to tackle the topic of sexual abuse within Church communities. It is called #ChurchToo, harkening back to the global conversation surrounding survivors and truth-telling, and premiered at the Conrad Centre in Kitchener on Sept. 21, 2018 to a sold out house.
“Sex is a taboo topic in many church communities,” says artistic director and dramaturg Johnny Wideman. “Which makes sexual violence a painfully shameful topic for victims.” In order to address this dynamic head-on, Theatre of the Beat commissioned writers from across North America to process their own reflections on church and abuse in a series of 15 minute playlets. The scenes were then combined by Wideman and handed over to director and UWaterloo Theatre and Performance prof. Matt White, who then developed the piece with four actors.
“Our methodology is based around creating space to process avoided topics artfully,” added Wideman. “Theatre in itself doesn’t make change, but it kicks open the door. And if we do our job right, our audience will see to it that that door stays open.”
#ChurchToo is heading out on a national tour this fall with performances taking place in church sanctuaries throughout Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. You can follow the tour online here.
