This year, the SummerWorks Performance Festival is showcasing the world premiere of Growing Up Regent, a play rooted in the lived experiences of Toronto’s Regent Park community. The project is the combined effort of a multitalented cast and creative team:
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Actors: Abdullahi Ali, Tony Le, Amanda Pileggi, Zahara Edwards, Rafidah Min Naing, John Cleland
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Lead Writers: Abdullahi Ali and Spider R. Hetherington
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Additional Writing: Mandeq Hassan, Tony Le, Amanda Pileggi, Peter Cockett , Ola Njoku, and Jackie Batsinduka
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Spoken Word: Ola Njoku and Giselle Jones
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Dramaturgy: Paula Wing, and Sheena D. Robertson
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Direction: Sheena D. Robertson
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Production Manager: Mandeq Hassan
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Stage Manager: Keara Hicks
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Production Design: Nancy Ciccone
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Projection Design: Laura Cardeño
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This Kick Start Arts collaboration casts a light on the resilience of a neighborhood community often misrepresented in mainstream narratives. The play centres around the aftermath of the tragic shooting of sixteen-year-old Travis, exploring themes of grief, guilt, and the premature responsibilities thrust upon young people. As Travis’ chosen family grapples with their reality, the play poses the question: What would you do for the people you love?
Growing Up Regent originated from The Regent Park Project, a collaborative initiative for youth participants that sought to capture the essence of Regent Park through various media. In free classes offered every Monday evening, the participants delved into the realms of acting, writing, filmmaking, and theatre. The team “decided to adapt The Regent Park Project into Growing Up Regent because we wanted to explore how the different characters in our universe might have made different choices.”
Growing Up Regent isn’t their first adaptation: they have also adapted The Regent Park Project into a TV pitch and a feature film. “So we’ve done a lot! And it’s been incredible to play with the focus in each of the adaptations, and see, for example, if our lead characters had taken a slightly different path . . . what would that look like? Who would that affect?” And as they explain, the question is more than just a narrative device: “That is the reality that people in our community and many communities across Toronto face – one different life event or choice can shift the trajectory of your life and all the lives around you.”
Authenticity lies at the heart of Growing Up Regent: They stress the importance of centering and accurately representing the voices and experiences of Regent Park residents. “Our original web series, The Regent Park Project, and by extension Growing Up Regent, all came from a creation process using story circles.” Thanks to this collaborative writing process that started in Regent Park a decade ago, “all of the main themes and many of the experiences depicted in the play come from the real-life experiences of our company members and community members.” They explain that “most of our writers and collaborators have either been born and raised in Regent Park (or communities like it) or have worked in the community for years. It’s been absolutely central to our mission and our work in the community that all of our creative endeavors come from the community itself”.
Because of this, Growing Up Regent does not shy away from difficult subject matter. “Grief, guilt, and growing up too fast are all, unfortunately, parts of what it’s like to grow up as a young person in a community like Regent Park,” they note. Death, violence and loss are “a reality that can’t be ignored. While it was important to include these hardships and how they affect the choices young people have to make, we also wanted to include humor and the ways community always shows up – in moments of sadness, as well as in joy.”
The team hopes Growing Up Regent will resonate not just with the Regent Park community, but with audiences across Toronto and beyond. Through the play and the wider Project, they aim to dismantle stereotypes and highlight the heart and resilience of the community as they navigate a time of change. “Honestly, folks in the community already know these stories – Growing Up Regent is their story,” they maintain. “Really, what we’d like to do with this play is to impact the folks in the rest of the city: those who haven’t interacted with Regent Park outside of the news headlines or driving through the city. We want to peel away the stereotypes and focus on the heart of this community, which is the connections people have made across cultures and time. That resilience exists in the people of Regent – no matter how far people are spread during revitalization, or how many condos go up,” they observe.
The developmental journey of Growing Up Regent was accelerated by two key moments. The first is the live reading done at Soulpepper Theatre in 2023, which marked a “real turning point” for many involved. “This was the first time our writers got to see actors read the lines they’d written out loud. Getting the chance to work with a professional dramaturge and a professional actor – and then to see how the audience reacted – was incredible. It made things real after so many months of creating.” And getting into SummerWorks was another memorable moment: “For many of us, it’s our first time doing theatre, so to have the opportunity to share our work on such a prestigious stage is an honour.”
As they look forward to the premiere of Growing Up Regent at SummerWorks, The team is grateful for the opportunity to share their work. “We are so happy to be able to share with the world this project we’ve been working on over the last few years, and especially to do it in Regent Park! Creating this piece using our innovative youth-centered approach and getting to share our stories is exactly why we do the work we do,” they enthuse.
Looking ahead, the team also has a polite request. Growing Up Regent is living proof of the impact of The Regent Park Project – and they hope to continue this work in the community and beyond. But it takes a village to sustain initiatives like these: “We currently have a GoFundMe happening. This fundraiser will help cover the costs of the play (it isn’t cheap to pay everyone fairly!), and anything additional will go towards running our free initiative and developing our next project”.
© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine, 2024
