Time and Fate at MacGregor Park

It was a sunny October Sunday when I went to see a theater performance at MacGregor Park located north of the junction of College and Lansdowne.  The play was based on a map of the area from 1884, where the children had a free reign to create the story line and use their imaginations collaboratively for the purpose of staging an outdoor show.  The audience was in for a ‘blast from the past’ journey around the park as the different chapters of the play unfolded.

Everything about the production was interactive.  Thanks to the youth group that helped with the making of the incredible utensil orchestra, life sized props, sets and costumes, all designed by Tatjana Hutinec, performers, crew and the audience were all in for a treat.  The set melded into the Autumn landscape as the audience participants carried the long train traveling to a new place.

Kristen Fahrig, a Toronto based designer, sculptor and educator who initiated the community play, uses Art mediums to bring people together on a community level.  Kristen facilitated the benefits of the kids working together; encouraging their own ideas, where their imaginations proved to be extremely entertaining, from the audience hopping on board of the ‘All Hallows Train’ to smooth - on the spot problem solving, where the director Jane Wells and choreographer Jaclyn Buckley assisted with dance moves and script lines upon amusing moments of distraction. 

The play was a story time you would have at home with your family but on a multi-medium community environment.  The Mac Gregor Park project contributed a positive challenge, broad thinking, interpersonal and team building skills.
 The children got to workshop with professionals, collaborated with peers and shared a creative, translating into real life - purpose.

A myriad of imaginations came together in this fantastical event and I very much look forward to Kristen’s future community projects! Kristen’s work as a ‘Cultural Animator’ is currently being funded by the Canada Council for the Arts.  In December She will be holding free workshops for local kids after school in the Art Room at West Toronto Collegiate.   www.kristenfahrig.ca