thefoundationlab.com


SN@P was a collective creation built by 24 junior high youth for performance at the 2007 Calgary International Children's Festival	The play brought to life the stories & struggles common to junior high youth. These youth experienced fear, power struggles and existential anxiety as they moved away from their traditional forms of authority (teachers, parents etc) as the youth learned that those teachings did not correspond with how they saw the real world working.	In creating and presenting the play we reminded ourselves of the maladptive power structures at play and considered new, adaptive forms of authority.


Through games, theatre and story telling, the youth gained an understanding of their behaviours, explored where those actions came from, determined through the development of wisdom if that action was the best choice and developed new approaches.	When translated to the stage, the audience was now given the chance to learn from their explorations and stories. The audience began to explore and problem solve the issues with the SN@P participants acting as peer mentors.	This project was realized by The Foundation Lab, in partnership with The Calgary International Children's Fest & Aspen


"This process was definatly worthwhile, it really makes me think about how our world is and what we need to do to change it. i think its probably one of the most important pieces i have ever seen, let alone acted in. i think that most people, when they think of theatre they think of enjoyment, and somthing to do to get away from everyday life, somthing to make them forget about their problems for awhile.	but sn@p made people stad up and listen, sn@p made people realize thaat if we ingore it problems wont just go away. they'll just get bigger and bigger, pretty soon their going to overwhelm us. we gave kids our age a chance to put themselves in that situation. and we showed them how hard it is to do the right thing. but also how NECESSARY it is to do it. we can change the world. if we have the courage to get out their and stand up for whats right.	so many people we think of as heroes, just stood up for what was right,did something out of the ordinary, out of everyday life and they changed peoples way of thinking. i have a feeling with sn@p. we changed peoples way of thinking, and in my veiw, that makes us heroes." Emily, Sn@p Participant