NuYu Popular Theatre of MOSAIC performed in front of 140 immigrant and refugee youth and adult “allies” at Fresh Voices From Long Journeys Youth Conference on December 08, 2014 at SFU Harbour Center. The organization Representative for Children and Youth, together with the Vancouver Foundation, organized two days of dialogues and workshops at the Fresh Voices 2014 Summit. The Summit was a rare opportunity for government, business leaders and policy makers to listen to, and begin engaging with, immigrant and refugee youth.The NuYu Popular Theatre group performed on the first day of the two-day conference which focused on youth and family. Six past and current NuYu youth performed two scenes which were based on the real life experiences of the youths themselves and were centered around gender inequality and newcomer family struggles in a new country. Each scene presented a challenge or struggle and was shown twice to the audience who were very engaged and excited to participate in the interventions. After each intervention, the audience was asked to share their ideas on change and dialogue ensued around solutions to the challenges faced by immigrant and refugee youth.By having the opportunity to perform at the Fresh Voices Youth conference, NuYu was able to show the youth audience and adult “allies” the power of Popular Theatre methodology and its ability to provoque dialogue around social issues. Many of the youth also showed interest in learning more about Popular Theatre and particularly about the NuYu Theatre program. NuYu youth also had the opportunity to network with other youth leaders in the community and be part of the conference.For more information, please visit: mosaicbc.org/nuyu.
