Street Spirits Theatre Company: A Memorial Through Various Writing Styles

Prince George, BC. 1999.

A brilliant social worker, poet, playwright, and theatre activist named Andrew Burton decides to start a youth group based around theatre. It started as a way to get kids off the streets, get them invested in something that made them feel involved.

The first play this group of youth put on was at Art Space, a performance space above a beloved local bookstore. A poster was created for the event with local art. It read:

A Headlines Theatre Power Play
CASEY
Community Against Sexual Exploitation of Youth
September 16, 17, 18 at 8pm

It was a success. The group found their name all by themselves. They called themselves Street Spirits.

Street Spirits practice a variety of theatre forms, mainly using a style of theatre called Theatre of the Oppressed, created by Brazilian theatre master Augusto Boal. The idea is to create a play with no happy ending, only to invite the audience to the stage to change the dreary outcome and make it better - to create change. Street Spirits also weave in a variety of other techniques by Boal, a couple favorites of many being Cop in the Head, and Rainbow of Desire.

Street Spirits tackle a variety of different and difficult topics, some of which include drug use, sexual exploitation, bullying and harassment, domestic violence, and homophobia.

In this volume are ramblings from a former Street Spirits member, in various forms and styles of writing mediums. During this member's time with Street Spirits, writing became a very strong part of their identity and self discovery, and how they perceived the world around them.

"We are changing the world, one performance at a time."
~Street Spirits Theatre Company~