905 Road Show Recap

Thank you to everybody who came out and all our participants of the 905 Road Show!

The Road Show was a hit, and we loved venturing out to the 905 neighbourhoods, which were all so welcoming. Our first stop was in Brampton at Davis Campus, Sheridan College. The evening was full of talent with readings from Ian Williams and Sarah Tsiang, including students from the Creative Writing Program; musical entertainment by guitarist Jarek Dabrowski and Musical Theatre students who performed Broadway numbers; on the spot art by visual artist Tazeen Qayyum; stand-up comedian Zabrina Chevannes brought the house down with the final performance.

The most unique aspect of the evening was seeing Tazeen create her art piece in real time projected onto the screen onstage alongside everybody’s performances. We were all impressed by the flawless performances and the upbeat energy of the performers and audience.

The next stop was at Guilty Dog Coffee House in Mississauga for an intimate gathering of writers and poets, as well as lightening up the mood at the end with some laughter brought to us c/o Zabrina Chevannes. We appreciated how the writers, poets and musician Robert Ross set the stage by sharing the inspiration behind the pieces they’ve decided to share with us. Anupa Mistry took it a step further by inviting her brave parents to the show as she read a non-fiction piece about her teenage years and her parents’ influence. Luckily, the story was very heart-warming and revealed that her parents are individuals separate from the many titles they carry.

Our final destination was in Newmarket at Covernotes coffee and tea house. We, along with the audience members, thoroughly enjoyed the intimate setup of coffee houses, which provides a warm, welcoming and cozy feel like you’re being entertained in the privacy of your own home.

Visual artist Henna Kim started the evening off by sharing one of her art pieces from her collection I Come to the Garden Alone (2009).

Local writer Mollie Coles Tonn did a fantastic job hosting the evening at one of her favourite spots in Newmarket. Anna Yin and Keith Garebian returned for another night reciting their very touching and powerful poetry. Spoken word artist Sheniz Janmohamed composed a piece about her frustrations of having to answer the question of “where are you from? ” which she shared showing that she comes from a lot of different places: Canada, Kenya, India; and that there is no simple one answer destination. The evening was broken off into segments with readings and musical performances by musician Steve Porter and grade 11 student Kyle Sarjeant.

The combination of different art forms coming together was a real treat and we hope to bring this format to other neighbourhoods in the future.