The Artful Dodger

I initially mis-typed the title, so that it read the Artful Didger.
Hm, that would've raised some interesting questions about the post that was to follow.
Many possibilities came to mind, and to my credit, 99% of them were PG-rated.
Did you have the same knee-jerk response to attempt to anticipate what on earth a title like that would be a prelude to?
C'mon, you know you did. Didger?
(heh heh, get it? Didger/Didja? ok, it's not a very funny joke, and I promise I did not plan this. It's just the screwy way my brain works sometimes.)

Anyway, I feel like the Artful Dodger today because I'm taking a wee bit of a break from work over here at BTW. Being a little delinquent, surfin' the Net a bit while waiting for my brain to recharge.

If you're interested to see what I'm working on, check this action out! Come and support theatre, come and support our youth! Shoot, come out and support me!
Yeah, this is a golden opportunity for those of you who missed Blacks Don't Bowl and feel guilty about it to make it up to me. Just joking. Sort of. Only if it it hurts your feelings or something. If not then, I'm not playin'.

(There was a cute picture too, but check it out, I'm sick of trying to format it for this blog and get it right. Just picture in your mind a whole mess of cute black kids arm in arm):

YouthWorks: Questioning Our Identity

YOUTHWORKS END OF YEAR PRESENTATIONS

AT THE BLACK THEATRE WORKSHOP SPACE

Press release
For immediate release

Montreal, April 10, 2006 – Led by Montreal’s own Tamara Brown, a group of fine artists have teamed up to prepare YouthWorks’ talented students for their performances scheduled for May 6 and 7 in the Black Theatre Workshop Space.

YouthWorks is inviting you to come along on a journey through identity in three pieces:

• Scenes from Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery.
  A girl comes of age in Southern USA. This charming play by Shay Youngblood evokes a girl’s loving relationship with a mother who abandoned her and the amazing women who raised her.
  
• Death of the Bourgeois Dream.
  In his new creation, Jason Selman looks at the tribulations of four young adults. Two things bring them together: their passion for music and their struggle with identity in a sea of Black stereotypes.
  
• What If.
  In a world where the news is full of stories of murder and crime, it is can be hard to tell who the victims are. Written by the cast, this play tells the heart-wrenching story of three women who are caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A Note From the Program Director:
When we first approached this year’s participants, we asked them to speak about the issues most prevalent in their hearts and minds right now. The overwhelming consensus addressed the many ways that they struggle to identify and reflect their true self-image to themselves and to a society that pressures them to fit into a mold that chafes, a reality presented by the media that doesn’t resonate for them. From the outpouring of their hearts, in this, our 35th season at Black Theatre Workshop, I am reminded of the ‘Reflec’tions’ of Rachel Van Fossen in our Season Program: ‘…good theatre can be said to hold a mirror up to society, and so to reflect us as human beings back to ourselves.’
-Tamara Brown

Information: Naïma Phillips
Administrative Coordinator
Tel.: 932 -1104 ext. 226
Fax: 932-6311
youthworks@blacktheatreworkshop.ca

YouthWorks:
Questioning Our Identity
Black Theatre Workshop
3680 Jeanne-Mance, Suite 460
Metro Place-des-Arts
May 6 and 7, 2006
3pm, 5pm and 7pm
Reservations:
(514) 932-1104 ext. 226
Free admission

DIG IT!!!!