Superior Theatre’s summer youth training project was conceived of by Donna Marie Baratta who grew up in Thunder Bay and who always had a desire to give back to the community in a way that was centred around theatre. When Donna Marie lived in Thunder Bay full-time, she taught at three dance studios and at Westgate CVI and would witness every day the transformative nature that the arts had on young people. She has seen the arts give students purpose and fulfill them in immeasurable ways.

 

This program aims to create positive and healthy opportunities for youth to become involved in the community and learn in a supportive environment.  Superior Theatre Festival wants to give youth an opportunity to learn and harness their own potential. Our philosophy is that students should learn a variety of approaches to the material and be exposed to teachers that are masters in their art area.

 

Sound pedagogical practices are important because a student learns better when the teachers are focused not just on what they are teaching but how they are teaching it.  It is important to Superior Theatre Festival that our artist/educators have experience teaching youth in a variety of settings.

 

Our summer program will focus on skill building and mentorship; we want the students involved to be integrally involved with the festival and also to build a bridge from drama as an educational tool and form to the understanding that drama can indeed be a professional pursuit.  Each year the structure of the Young Company change slightly depending on the needs of the current Festival. It could be 3 weeks of rehearsals to be a part of a large show with other adult actors or 3 weeks of rehearsals creating a show that showcases the young company of actors in leading roles. 

 

Through our summer theatre program we aim to mentor youth and foster their potential to be involved with the festival in the future and create the possibility of youth mentoring other youth. Our aim is to build our students’ character which is very difficult to measure quantitatively. Qualities such as self confidence, creativity, risk taking, an ability to communicate and a real desire to be inquisitive about the world around them are what we aim to foster in our students. The Festival's Artistic and Managing Director and board members understand the importance of sharing knowledge and experience in the arts as a way of cultivating creativity and imagination to create learners who can be creative in all aspects of their lives whether or not they pursue theatre as a career.