Canadian immigrant community-based theatre

This study explores the potential of Canadian immigrant community-based theatre as a means of promoting empowerment among newcomers. Alongside an integrated literature review, the paper centres on a case study of a group of five Canadian immigrant women and their coordinator who participated in a community-based theatre project in Toronto called Tomorrow's Time, funded by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and facilitated by Working Women Community Centre. The development of the group and the play, the actors' involvement, the roles of the funder, facilitators, and directors are described and discussed. The paper concludes that the processes involved in community-based theatre contributed to the participants' personal and social empowerment in terms of developing confidence, acting skills, integration within communities, and involvement in peer education. Additionally, findings support the critical necessity of a sensitive director, equitable compensation of participants' contributions, and inclusion of participants' narratives as characteristics of successful community-based theatre.