Story
The Puente Theatre Society’s Storytelling Our Lives on Tour was a collaborative project between professional theatre artists, immigrant women, and immigrant services organizations in seven BC cities: Victoria, Duncan, Nanaimo, Courtenay, Campbell River, Kelowna, and Penticton. With $15,000 from Innovations, real-life stories of immigrant women were told on stage by five professional actors and a chorus of 20 to 30 women from each of the communities visited. Stories were told using music, dance and mask performances. Prior to the shows, several skill-building workshops were held to prepare the local participants for the performance.
On average, 30 women attended each of the six different workshops, alongside nine workshop leaders, five actors, and five Puente project members. Two children and 18 immigrant women took part in the final chorus of the play with more than 170 people attending the final performance. Overall, the project engaged and served about 2,000 people. Women who took part were able to establish links and friendship with others, practice their English, raise self-esteem, and achieve a sense of belonging in their communities.
