urbanNOISE is an annual initiative working to unleash the positive potential of youth in the culturally rich Rexdale and Jamestown communities through a FREE urban arts Youth Training Program (YTP) and Festival that values leadership, community, and social change. A project of Expect Theatre and Arts Etobicoke, urbanNOISE is aimed at creating an ongoing space where the urban arts are fused with social activism as a means of encouraging and energizing youth to critically identify, examine, address, and improve their personal conditions and those of their communities. urbanNOISE Youth Training Program (YTP): Program Particulars: Beginning April 2008, urbanNOISE participants will begin working with professional artists in a series of hands-on workshops that celebrate the urban arts. This program will provide youth with an opportunity to discover new ways of expressing themselves while building self-confidence, fostering teamwork and stirring creativity. As part of their curriculum, youth will be involved in numerous aspects of producing a performance or visual arts piece. Each artistic piece created by the youth will personify the urbanNOISE theme - UNITY - that will be used to speak about issues of violence. Through these experiences participants will then be given the opportunity to gain public recognition by showcasing their art in front of family, friends and the general public at the FREE urbanNOISE Festival taking place Saturday, September 27 from 3-7PM on the grounds of North Kipling Community Centre. urbanNOISE’s YTP operates from April through June on after-school basis. Each workshop consists of the same group of participants. Workshops may feature a guest artist. The guest artist could provide training on specific workshop skills that would compliment the work covered by the lead teaching artist. Workshops may also feature an optional one-day weekend field trip. Please note that we require total dedication from the participants of this program. urbanNOISE is NOT a drop-in program. Youth must be able to attend all of the sessions in their workshop(s), including any rehearsals for and performances at the urbanNOISE Festival. We strongly encourage youth to converse with her/his parent or guardian about participating in urbanNOISE. Artistic Directors: Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley Project Manager: Nawfal Sheikh Co-Producer / Fundraiser: Louise Garfield About The Artistic Directors:
One of Mullin and Tolley's most notable productions was their 2002 new work, "Romeo/Juliet Remixed" (remounted in Toronto in 2003 and Philadelphia in 2004). This multi-media production was nominated for five Dora Awards (General Theatre category) including Outstanding Production, and won for Outstanding Choreography. The show received critical acclaim from the CBC, Globe and Mail, National Post, the Toronto Star and was recently featured in the prestigious New York theatre publication "Stage Directions". Their recent play, STATIC was an exploration of man's deepest fears told through theatre, light, sound, visual art, dance and video in a series of performance installations. STATIC, part of Harbourfront's Freshground Commissioning Program, was performed throughout Haborfront Centre, and will ran September / October 2006 as part of the New World Stage Festival. Mullin and Tolley also created the hour-long radio drama, The Tunnel Runners. This new work, commissioned by the CBC was broadcast nationally on CBC Radio 1 as well as broadcast internationally on Radio Canada International in the summer of 2006. Mullin and Tolley are also the Artistic Directors of urbanNOISE, an annual international urban arts festival launched in 2006. urbanNOISE is a two pronged project including intensive training for youth by leading industry professionals, followed by a large scale urban arts festival which brings top urban artists to the stage. urbanNOISE was inspired by Tolley and Mullin's work on the PROPS Project. Over an eight-month period they worked directly with high-risk youth in one of our country's most dangerous hot spots of gang activity, Jamestown. Together with 50 youth, they created the ground breaking multi-disciplinary theatrical production, "Fillin’ The Blank", about life in Canada’s hip-hop heartland. |
Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley have been working as a writing and directing team for over ten years, creating cutting edge productions that explore modern urban life. With a strong focus on hip, diverse story lines, their shows have attracted international media attention and have been embraced by a wide range of audiences, from rural east coast Canada to inner-city New York City.
