Vancouver Community staff work with youth on MISSING FROM ME production
MISSING FROM ME, a dramatic arts theatre production, recently ran for four days from May 4 to 7 at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre.
The play brought together a culturally diverse group of youth including those from Mongolian, Japanese, French, Squamish Nation, Greek, Kurdish, Chinese and Serbian heritages.
In an unexpected twist, eleven travellers at a train station must adapt to a sudden change in their plans. Due to the situation that is beyond their control, they are confronted with life altering decisions and end up discovering true inner strength and what family means to them. Issues addressed in the play involved abuse, transphobia, and the importance of support.
The event also provided the perfect venue for Vancouver Community Child and Youth (C&Y) mental health clinicians, Youth Addiction & Prevention Counsellors and public health nurses to connect directly with youth who may not otherwise have known that community-based health services exist to meet their specific and sometimes complex emotional needs.
As in the past, the theatre piece was written and performed by Vancouver youth under the guidance of project facilitators with incorporated feedback from VCH staff.
Child and Youth workers and nurses attended each performance to provide information and outreach to youth and talk about the services available from the Vancouver Community Child and Youth mental health and public health nursing team.
Vancouver Community health professionals who participated in MISSING FROM ME outreach included:
C&Y Mental Health Clinicians Darla Chorney, Joe Cowan, Tim Darvell, Janice Ebenstiner and Sherry-Lynn Lidemark; Concurrent Disorders Youth Counsellor Lisa Yeates; Family & Children’s Nurse Blazhena Leigh; and C&Y Mental Health Coordinator Wendy Weeber.
MISSING FROM ME was the latest work from the Some Assembly Theatre Company’s Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group Project. The project is now in its 15th year and VCH has consistently served as a key partner.
More information is available at www.someassembly.ca.