Seasons of Immigration On Tour 2009

Bring heartwarming physical-comedy to your region

This show will be touring in 2009 -2010. If you are interested in bringing the show to your community please e-mail us here.

update : 03.27.08

1400 People Celebrate Seasons of Immigration at
Centre in the Square

A magical night filled with laughter and high energy!!

March 18, 19, 2008 | Centre in the Square

The MT Space would like to thank all of our audience members who attended Seasons of Immigration at Centre in the Square for their overwhelming support and for the standing ovation at the end of the show!

We were extremely delighted to see our record audience of 1,000 people at the Tuesday night public performance, and we were equally as happy to see the 400 students who attended the Wednesday matinee! The Waterloo Region Record has described the Tuesday night crowd as "one of the largest audiences ever assembled for a local professional theatre presentation."

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our friends at the Centre in the Square for giving us this opportunity and for their generous hospitality.

As well, we would like to offer a big thank you to our audience members, sponsors and partners for filling our hearts and our dreams at The MT Space.

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Related Media:

• Immigration Stage / Review (Waterloo Region Record)
• Footage Shot by Phil Bast / Interview (Waterloo Region Record)
• Seasons of Immigration comes to life at Centre / Review (Waterloo Chronicle)
• Every new arrival comes with a story / Preview (Observer)
• Martin DeGroot on Theatre in the Region / Op/Ed (Waterloo Region Record)

from left | Athena Guy, Olga Barrios, Nicholas Cumming, Tanya Williams, Badih abu Chakra, Gary Kirkham

Photo: Frank Chen

The Season of Immigration to the West 2006

Laughter, tears and triumphs ... all in one suitcase!

January 24-29, and May 12, 2006 | The Registry Theatre

Seasons of Immigration had its main run in Kitchener where it played for packed houses and garnered overwhelming critical acclaim.

Immigration is a worldwide occurrence and involves the movement of people from one country to another. The process of moving to a new country and a new culture is a daunting venture explored in the 80 minute play called The Season of Immigration to the West.

The story begins with the decision to leave the homeland and move to the western world, the land of freedom and opportunity. Each character discovers that immigration to Canada involves an immediate confrontation with, not only the cold and vastness of the land, but the pursuit to prove one’s self in this fast-paced lifestyle. The six performers create the physical as well as emotional turmoil as they go through the steps of leaving their country, flying to Canada and the complexities of landing and entering customs.

Set on a bare stage using simple props and costumes, the story is told through physical movement, light-hearted text with live painting and soundscape. The characters explore issues of adaptation, language barriers, racism, loss of parental control, and the need to maintain cultural integrity while struggling with a redefinition of self in a foreign land.

Developed in a workshop process, the Season of Immigration to the West is a collaborative work combining six performers, a director, a text developer, a dramaturge, a musician, a vocalist, a writer, a painter and almost thirty generous story-tellers who opened their hearts.

Comments & Feedback:

"I was honoured to be in the audience to see the work you put into this creation, it truly was lovely to watch."

- Audience member

"I believe everyone in the audience received from you a piece of their own identity. Maybe a little forgotten for some of us, painfully fresh for others, but unquestionably our own stories were told on the stage yesterday."

- Audience member

"I had tears in my eyes while listening to the great vocalist and musician of the show while the artist kept on painting his beautiful, inspiring painting."

- Audience member

"...fast-paced and fun to watch."

- The Waterloo Region Record

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The Season of Immigration to the West - Workshop Presentation - 2005

collection of stories debuts at conference

June 13, 14, 2005 | The Registry Theatre

The Season of Immigration to the West was the concluding performance of a seven-week intensive workshop inspired by a collection of immigrant stories. The project began by gathering stories, articles, and interviews from immigrants to the Waterloo Region. From this collection, major themes and point of interest were identified.

The workshop focused on exploring cultural experience through physical expression and improvisation techniques. The participants of the workshop used improvisation in gesture, movement, body language, and spoken work to create a theatrical performance about immigrants and immigration.

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