TBD Theatre Project explored ideas of “home”

The TBD Theatre Project brought together people from the DTES and SFU communities to create a collaborative performance piece that they took to the street in early November.

Theatre practitioner Ippolito Chiarello is an Apulian actor and director. He visited Vancouver this fall to share his methodology for “theatreless” theatre, taking the performing arts out of the institution and into the public, where pieces of his play can be ordered à la carte for just a few dollars each.

Ippolito and fellow Italian artist Alessandra Pomarico were in residence at the SFU Woodward’s campus over a period of two weeks. They hosted free daily workshops in which they worked with a core group to explore this year’s DTES Heart of the City Festival theme, “Living On Shared Territory”, as well as what “home” meant to each individual.

In addition to his work with the group, Ippolito gave a free talk in the Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre on October 27, where he spoke about his practice and traded stories with the audience.

Photos by Becky Bonzom

The program was developed over the course of several months under the acting name “To Be Determined.” The name stuck — it was decided that this captured the essence of the project, since its goals were to meant to be determined by the workshop participants throughout the creative process.

The residency was sponsored by Musagetes Foundation, Vancouver Italian Cultural Centre, and SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement and co-presented by SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts, Creativa International, DTES Heart of the City Festival, Super Cool Tuesdays, and Megaphone Magazine.

The TBD Theatre Project culminated in a public performance piece that involved singing, dancing, and storytelling, which the group performed in the Woodward’s Atrium on November 4.

Photos by Becky Bonzom

Below is a full video recording of Ippolito and Alessandra’s October 27 public workshop.