Story Theatre Company

Discipline: Theatre
Homebase: Victoria
Regions Available: Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley &, Howe Sound, Vancouver Island Lower, Vancouver Island Mid, Vancouver Island North, Interior, North, Remote, Kootenays, Virtual
Languages: English
Themes: Mental Health, LGBTQ2SIA+, Disability, Anti-Bullying, Climate Change and/or Environmentalism
Grant Eligibility: Eligible for 70% AIE

Story Theatre is a theatre for young audiences (TYA) company that has been igniting imaginations and encouraging literacy for over 40 years. Our mandate is to create and tour theatre productions that enhance and complement young people’s learning experiences. ACCESS: We tour our work to schools and public spaces in order to provide high-quality arts experiences in a format that is accessible for a wide-range of children. Engagement with the arts is intrinsic to a quality education, so our organization works hard to make sure kids across BC have equitable access to the same artistic opportunities, regardless of where they live. EDUCATION: Story Theatre’s style showcases narrative-based storytelling forms and improvisation techniques in hand-crafted original productions. We commission the creation of new plays written by emerging Canadian playwrights and artists with vibrant perspectives who share our value for empowering the next generation as leaders of change. PARTICIPATION: Audience paticipation and building skills together plays part in all of our programming at Story Theatre because we understand that children learn through movement, play, and hands-on engagement. Story is part of each of us and we are all a part of the show! Whether you are interested in our workshops, digital productions, or staged plays - Let us help you find your own story! You can do it, too!

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Performance(s)

1002 Nights by Izad Etemadi

School Year: 22-23
Discipline: Theatre, Storytelling
Offered Languages: English
Grade Suitability: K - 7
Duration: 50 mins + Q&A
Capacity: 500
Tech Requirements: electrical outlet
Available Formats: In Person

An update to the seminal Arabian Nights story collection featuring pop music, puppetry, and poems by Rumi. Scheherazade and her sister Dunyzade love stories! They live with stories, beside stories, inside stories, and through stories. One night, their sleep is disturbed by a poet's nocturnal lament so they go forth into the unknown with nothing but each other and their narrative tales. Through songs, storytelling and some good jokes, the adventure leads them to the source of the heartbroken sobs that now wrack the Kingdom nightly. They are the wails of a young Prince, conflicted by family duty and looking for the freedom to be themselves. Do Scheherazade's stories have the power to support them? 1,002 Nights is a brand new Canadian play written by award-winning playwright Izad Etemadi. The touring production is directed by Kate Rubin, with design by Sophie Fuldauer and original music by Roya Yazdanmehr & Farhad Khosravi. All schools who book a Story Theatre performance can look forward to receiving our high-quality Teacher's guide, which includes a hybrid of video, audio, and tactile activities for pre- and post-show student engagement. Want to learn directly from the artists in the play? Same day classroom residencies are also available upon request.

Improv Jam: Participatory Performance

School Year: 23-24
Discipline: Theatre, Storytelling, Spoken Word
Offered Languages: English
Grade Suitability: K - 5
Duration: 60-75mins
Capacity: 100
Available Formats: In Person

Part performance, part workshop, and tons of laughter and fun! Story Theatre employs professional artists who specialize in Improvisation, narrative-based storytelling, and theatre education. Traditionally, an Improv Jam is a community-building event where anyone can get involved. This Improv Jam event begins with a captivating demonstration of Improvisation techniques and games and then switches gears to ask the students to get up and play along! Our seasoned company of performers will expertly guide students through hands-on lessons in oral storytelling, active listening, making offers, and saying yes. Get in touch to chat with us about this highly-participatory performance opportunity that is sure to be a hoot! Local schools on lower Vancouver Island are welcomed to request an individual performance (up to 4 classes max), with up to 3 full demonstrations allowable per day (12 classroom reach). Schools beyond lower Vancouver Island can expect to receive three performances/demonstrations in a day, reaching closer to 300 students or 12 classes per day. We're all making it up in this life from moment to moment and that's what Improv is all about. Let's jam!

Workshop(s)

Find Your Own Story - An Oral Storytelling Workshop

School Year: 23-24
Discipline: Theatre, Storytelling, Spoken Word
Offered Languages: English
Grade Suitability: K - 5
Duration: 1hr
Capacity: 30
Available Formats: In Person

Being a community means learning how to share our stories with one another! Let us help your class tell their own stories out loud in a fun classroom visit full of humour, creativity, and compassion. Story Theatre employs professional artists who specialize in drama and theatre education and who work in a devising process to empower children to create and share their own theatrical work. We all have a story to tell and there are lots of skills that can help make telling our own stories more fun to do. Using a variety of improvisation techniques, theatre games, and world-building devising exercises - let our team of highly experienced teaching artists uplift your classrooms to hand-craft their own stories with care. Workshops for local schools are priced individually, and discounts may be requested by schools who request more than 6 workshops. Local schools within the CRD are welcomed to request an individual storytelling workshop for a class, or a series of workshops in order to reach a wider group, up to and including your whole school. Teachers are welcomed to work with us to craft a thematic approach for the workshop if that is helpful to your lesson planning. Start crafting your special storytelling workshop today! 6 workshops per day per school max!

Improv Jam - Classroom Workshop

School Year: 23-24
Discipline: Theatre, Storytelling, Spoken Word
Offered Languages: English
Grade Suitability: K - 5
Duration: 1hr
Capacity: 30
Available Formats: In Person

An Improv Jam is a community-building event where everyone can get involved. In this workshop for classrooms, Story Theatre will demonstrate classic Improvisational games and techniques and then switch gears to ask the students to get up and play along! Story Theatre employs professional artists who specialize in Improvisation, narrative-based storytelling, and theatre education. Our seasoned company of performers and teaching artists will expertly guide students through age-appropriate, hands-on lessons in oral storytelling, active listening, saying yes, and making offers. Get in touch to chat with us about this highly-participatory workshop opportunity that is sure to be a hoot! Local schools on lower Vancouver Island are welcomed to request an individual classroom workshop, with up to 6 workshops per date. Discounts are available for schools who book more than 4 workshops.

Classroom Residency(ies)

Contact Me: 250-220-0407, Email, Web

Find Your Own Story: Artist Residency

School Year: 22-23

Story Theatre employs professional artists who specialize in drama and theatre education and who work in a process to empower children to create and share their own theatrical work. We all have a story to tell and there are lots of skills that can help make telling our story more easy and fun to do. Using a variety of improvisation techniques, theatre games, and world-building devising exercises - let our team of highly experienced teaching artists uplift your classrooms to hand-craft their own stories with care.

Find Your Own Story: Artist Residency

School Year: 23-24

Story Theatre employs professional artists who specialize in drama and theatre education and who work in a devising process to empower children to create and share their own theatrical work. We all have a story to tell and there are lots of skills that can help make telling our own stories easy and fun to do. Using a variety of improvisation techniques, theatre games, and world-building devising exercises - let our team of highly experienced teaching artists uplift your classrooms to hand-craft their own stories with care. Individual 1 hour workshops begin at $200 (for two teaching artists). Local schools are welcomed to request on-off storytelling workshops, whereas BC-wide schools may build a series of workshops that creates a residency focused towards a specific topic. Unique residency themes such as Inclusion and Belonging, Empathy, Anti-Racism, Improvisation, Oral Storytelling, Literacy, Play-Building, and Future-Building are themes our artists have experience exploring with grade k-7. Please reach out to craft a unique residency based on your school community's needs!

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Testimonials & Reviews

I like Story Theatre because they make you disappear from you life and enter the story. It feels like you are experiencing everything they're telling you first hand. VERY creative.VERY fun. Ruby, Age 10, Victoria

Wow! What a performance and what a powerful message! Rave reviews for your physicality, intensity and the way you brought home the point of your performance! Teacher, Terrace, BC

We LOVED the play, the songs, the interactions with the audience. I wanted to commend you on such a superb job! Lorene, A Grateful Mom, Invermere

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