In the Limelight: enthusiasm, commitment and need

ABSTRACT

Located in the ‘poorest postal code of Canada’ – the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver – is free performing arts programme Project Limelight Society. This project draws on the art of theatre to support the well-being of those growing up and learning in an economically precarious environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Project Limelight
• youth
• the Downtown Eastside
• Vancouver
• free performing arts

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr Kirsten Sadeghi-Yekta is an assistant professor in the Theatre Department at the University of Victoria, Canada. Her research interests focus on theatre in war zones, theatre in developing settings, indigenous theatre and more specifically the meaning of language revitalisation, aesthetics and social justice within the field of applied theatre.

Notes

1. Evidence relating to the dearth of free youth theatre programmes, relative to those charging fees or operating under a ‘for-profit’ model is, at the time of writing, being generated by a research project called Performance in Unwanted Spaces, funded by a University of Victoria (Canada) Internal Research Grant and staffed by research assistant Anita Hallewas.

2. Although The DTES is commonly referred to as the ‘poorest postal code of Canada’, it is not in fact the poorest postal code in the country. Canada's poorest postal code is located in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The DTES is ranked 1571 of the 1578 poorest neighbourhoods in Canada (Statistics Canada 2011a).