Open Pit is happy to announce that Joel Bernbaum, from Saskatoon, will be working as our project dramaturge on The Yukon Verbatim Project!

Joel is an actor, playwright, journalist and the artistic director of Sum Theatre. He is a graduate of Carleton University, where he did his Master’s Thesis on Verbatim Theatre’s Relationship to Journalism. In 2014, his verbatim play Home Is A Beautiful Word premiered at the Belfry Theatre and his play Operation Big Rock premiered at Dancing Sky Theatre. Later this year Sum Theatre will tour his play My Rabbi (created and performed with Kayvon Kelly) to Edinburgh, Victoria, Vancouver, and Saskatoon. As an actor, Joel has performed across Canada and in Europe.

"As a theatre artist and journalist, I see verbatim theatre as an infinitely potent opportunity for both artistic creation and community engagement. Open Pit’s artist’s are proposing an ambitious and pertinent project: They want to know what people in the North feel about their connection to the land. I am impressed with the proposed scope of the project, and the fact they have already cultivated several community partnerships. This type of artistic project engages and strengthens communities in both the process and the product. It is wonderful to see. "

http://www.sumtheatre.com