THE NEXT
THE ONE OF A KIND

​Produced by the Vancouver International Children’s Festival
Led and directed by Deb Williams

 

Rehearsal/Creation Intensive: May 2027, Granville Island
Performances: May 31–June 6, 2027
50th Vancouver International Children’s Festival

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WE’RE LOOKING FOR ONE-OF-A-KIND ARTISTS.

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Actors. Dancers. Singers. Musicians. Circus artists. Comedians. Movers. Writers. Storytellers. Creators.

And especially people who are a little bit of everything.

ONE OF A KIND is an intensive month-long creation, storytelling and performance experience for emerging and early-career artists ages 19 and up .

Led by award-winning actor, playwright, director, comedian and storytelling teacher Deb Williams, a small ensemble of artists will spend a month exploring their own childhood stories, their talents, languages, cultures and individual skills — and turn them into an original piece of theatre for young audiences.

The finished work will premiere as part of the 50th Vancouver International Children’s Festival, May 31–June 6, 2027, on Granville Island.

This is not a traditional acting workshop. You won’t be handed a finished script and told who to be.

We want to find out what happens when you bring more of who you already are into the room.

Over the intensive, Deb will share more than 40 years of experience in theatre, comedy, storytelling and collective creation. Together, the ensemble will experiment with personal story, physical theatre, improvisation, comedy, movement, music and whatever unexpected skills the artists bring with them.

You’ll learn how to find the stories worth telling, shape material for an audience, create from your own lived experience, work collaboratively and turn an idea into something that will wow the audience young and old. 

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WHO SHOULD APPLY?

We welcome emerging and early-career non-union performers and creators, including artists who are currently training or have recently completed their training.

We are particularly interested in artists who:

• Speak more than one language

• Bring diverse cultural and lived experiences

• Have unusual, surprising or multidisciplinary performance skills

• Are curious about creating their own work

• Want to explore personal storytelling, comedy, movement and physical theatre

• Are generous collaborators and willing to play, fail, try again and surprise themselves

Actors are welcome — but you absolutely do not have to be only an actor.

Sing opera? Fantastic.
Play the accordion? Bring it.
Dance? Juggle? Beatbox? Write poetry? Do martial arts?

We want to know what makes you one of a kind.

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THE EXPERIENCE

The selected ensemble will spend approximately one month creating and rehearsing together on Granville Island.

Artists will:

• Train in storytelling and self-created performance with Deb Williams
• Develop original material from their own lives, imaginations, languages and skills
• Work with professional theatre artists, directors, writers and producers
• Collaboratively create an original show for young audiences
• See work by extraordinary artists from Canada and around the world at the VICF
• Meet and connect with visiting artists and theatre professionals
• Perform at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival on Granville Island
• Receive a TYA performance fee for the Festival performance week

The environment will be rigorous, playful, inclusive and supportive. You do not need to arrive knowing what your story is or what you want to create.

That’s what the month is for.

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DATES

Creation and Rehearsal Intensive:
May 2027 on Granville Island
Primarily Monday–Friday, approximately 9:00 am–5:00 pm, with some weekend work.

Performances:
May 31–June 6, 2027
at the 50th Vancouver International Children’s Festival, Granville Island, Vancouver.

Final rehearsal, and performance schedules will be confirmed with selected applicants.

 

HOW TO APPLY

Please send:

1. A letter of interest - Tell us who you are, why this project interests you and what you might bring into the room.

2. Your headshot

3. Your résumé

Send applications to deb@theflame.live.

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Don’t worry about writing the perfect letter. We are much more interested in meeting you.

Tell us about your languages, your artistic practice, your strange skills, your passions, your curiosity and the things you can do that might not normally make it onto an acting résumé.

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Selected applicants will be invited to an audition/workshop.

COME MAKE SOMETHING THAT COULDN’T EXIST WITHOUT YOU.

 

ONE OF A KIND — 2027

Vancouver International Children’s Festival × The Flame