TALES OF THE GROVE is a sharing of our workshop discoveries. As life takes and gives so did our performers. We began with a great group of 14 students and now we are a few less. The capable youth ensemble here today has been able to morph into new roles and take on new tasks. This is a testament to the strength in creative ensembles.

Directed & devised by Susan Bertoia
Presented by the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, the Shadbolt Center for the Arts, & Surrey Arts Center as a part of Theatre Makers: Creation Workshop for youth ages 13-15 years
Inspired by the novel The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

Theatre Makers: Creation Workshop was a unique youth intensive series of workshops that alternated between Surrey Civic Theatre, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby, and the Push International Performing Arts Festival headquarters in Vancouver. We planted the seed in April, nurtured and cultivated the species until June, then our creation went into hibernation over the summer and we now remerge in September to share with you the fruits of our labour!! Youth participated in diverse and devised theatre processes that led to the creation of Tales of the Grove. It’s an original theatrical piece using 'adaptation' and ‘trees’ as the springboard for inspiration. Participants worked with performing arts professionals across a variety of disciplines - theatre, music, spoken word, lighting and production design. Professional theatre artist and teacher, Susan Bertoia, led the process and directed the final showing. Tales of the Grove is a pageant of physical movement; sound, music and spoken word text performed by a talented group of youth aged 15-18yrs who hail from cities throughout the Lower Mainland.