We are in that emotional place

 

I stumbled across a video on TikTok from the 30th Anniversary celebration of Les Misérables. An ensemble of world-class performers were doing the closing song at the end of Act One, "One Day More". I found myself get choked up as the song arrived at its end. Tears were dripping down my cheeks. You see, it took me right back to the Keyano Theatre stage as our ensemble belted out that beautiful song to one sold out audience after another back in 2014. We were many voices who were one with the people in the crucible of the theatre for an experience that none of us will ever forget.

What non-theatre people might not realize is what happens before the show opens. We spend hundreds of hours in rehearsals, learning lines in the halls, and deeply connecting with the artistic team and our fellow players. Most of that formative work happened in spaces and places that could soon be serving other purposes at Keyano College. 

Some have commented that the job of the college is education and that repurposing arts spaces for academic pursuits makes complete sense. That is what the college exists to do; to educate. Are you saying that acting in a play, dancing in a recital, or singing or playing in a concert are not educational? Just because you don't emerge from an arts experience with a piece of paper and a couple of letters to add to your name doesn't mean it hasn't served the college's higher purpose of educating. In fact, I would suggest that the education provided by having dedicated arts spaces may be equally or even more profound and life-changing than academically inclined programs. I can think of countless examples of lives that were changed, enriched, and in some cases saved, by what has happened over the decades in the Keyano Arts Centre.

Why did I cry hearing that song on TikTok? Why is the situation with the Arts Centre in Fort McMurray causing such a response? I believe it is because it takes all of us to that emotional place. We may try to be rational about it, but inevitably the emotions kick in and we feel compelled to speak out, to fight, to do everything we can to change minds and hearts.

To draw an analogy to sports. We know that the experience of playing on a hockey team, at any level, involves lots of practice and a lot time spent in dressing rooms connecting with coaches and fellow players. It's not just about what happens during the game. In fact, there is a whole culture and experience that exists beyond the stands that fans never get to see. Imagine if you will that you arrive at the rink to the news that your traditional dressing room is being repurposed and that now you'll have to get dressed in a public washroom. Or, maybe that room where you stored all your gear between games is being turned into an office. Now you'll have cart the equipment back and forth to your house if you want to keep playing. You'd probably be a little upset and would be compelled to speak out, to fight, to do everything you can to change minds and hearts. 

If you want to get a sense of why there has been such an emotional response from the arts community in Fort McMurray and the broader arts community of people like me who have moved away, read the Epilogue of "To The Barricades". Participants from the Keyano Theatre production of Les Misérables shared their perspectives of how their lives were enriched from the experience.