Theatre isn’t just a place – it’s an art that can transform spaces as everyday as an office into sites of human connection and creativity. Louise Casemore has a vision for her immersive theatre project, exploring the workplace and job interview process through audience participation. It’s an opportunity for the Edmonton playwright to build a world where the audience steps into the imagined workplace and interacts with actors, getting to live through the hiring process rather than simply observing it from their seats. And her vision is being made possible through a grant from Edmonton Community Foundation (ECF).
“I’m very interested in the mechanics of how story and experience can weave together, and so finding narrative opportunities that can, you know, reach beyond just the gimmick of an experience is something I’m really interested in, especially with this type of project,” says Casemore. She beat out 24 other applicants to be selected for the Write Here Immersive Theatre Creation Program, run by Thou Art Here Theatre, a small theatre group dedicated to immersive theatre and telling Edmonton stories, and funded by a $50,000 Community Grant from ECF. Over the next two years, Casemore will develop and eventually launch her immersive theatre project, working with the theatre company to refine and hone her ideas.
“The arts play a critical role in creating a vibrant, connected city,” says Melisa Zapisocky, Grants Associate at ECF. “By supporting both arts organizations and individual artists, we help ensure that Edmonton continues to be a place where creativity thrives, stories are shared in new and exciting ways, and our community is enriched through the power of artistic expression.” Some of the funds will go to Casemore over the next two years so she can carve out time for writing and developing the project. The rest will go to hiring actors to bring her writing to life and a dramaturge to refine the project for theatre.
Her project, Other Duties as Required, is a nod to the vague language added to job descriptions of many workers, a catch-all for the multitude of unrelated job functions in the modern workplace. She’s looking for empty office space to give her theatre project a true anchor, to get audiences into the office mindset and ratchet up the immersion.The community grant will be supplemented with other fundraising and grant money to bring Other Duties as Required to life. Artistic Director Andrew Ritchie of Thou Art Here said that local focus is an important part of the company, using not only Edmonton playwrights and actors but telling local stories.
“I love this place, and I think we can be more proud of being Edmontonian, and we can tell more of our story, and I think more of our stories should be told here and also on a national stage,” says Ritchie.
“I think Edmontonians can be hard on our own city sometimes. And I want to try to tell the stories of this place, because I think they’re worth being told.”
Ritchie says that initial grant will help them kick off fundraising, looking for another $50,000 for production costs to get the show to the stage. It’s an initial investment having a huge impact on the arts community in Edmonton.
Edmonton has a large theatre community — one that audiences shouldn’t take for granted. Without programs like Write Here, says Ritchie, shows wouldn’t make it from conception to a run at the Varscona or the Roxy. It’s easy for a script or concept to sit in a drawer, an idea that never finds its voice and comes into bloom as a full production. “Plays only live when they’re in front of the audience,” says Ritchie.
This will be the second time Thou Art Here has run the program, which debuted in 2023. That year, they supported three playwrights from concept to workshop. Kijo Gatama was one of the playwrights in the program’s inaugural year, developing her show A Tale of Two Bundles about black-owned hair salons in the city. The program allowed her to get important feedback on her work and see it through to a workshop with actors. “I think you don’t understand how powerful the words you write (are) until you hear someone speak it out loud,” says Gatama. “The actors, I have to give them so much credit. They brought it to life. Every day felt like we were getting closer to these characters being real people.”
This story comes from the Winter 2025 Edition of Thrive Magazine.
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