Dialogues for the Vaccine Hesitant and Those Who Love Them

Free Plays and Podcasts Available Starting December 14

Vancouver’s Boca del Lupo Theatre has partnered with the Dr. Peter Centre
to produce four short scripts from playwrights across the nation to explore
different root causes of vaccine hesitancy.  They range from fear of
needles, through to reducing the harm of spreading mis-information, and the
understandable wariness in racialized communities when it comes to
government mandated procedures.

Algonquin/Irish playwright Yvette Nolan’s play, The Case of You is one of
the four scripts in the project.

Inspired by Boca del Lupo’s national Plays2Perform@Home project, free
digital book versions of these plays will be available for all to see and
share.  These scripts are meant as practice dialogues for people who might
find themselves in any number of difficult conversations, especially as
folks gather for the holidays.

Boca del Lupo also worked with four theatre companies from coast to coast
to record the plays and will be releasing four podcasts to accompany the
digital books. These podcasts include performances of the plays by
professional actors, as well as interviews between Boca del Lupo’s Artistic
Director, Sherry J Yoon and the playwrights along with special guests and
experts.

The playwrights are: Omari Newton, Yvette Nolan, Mary-Colin Chisholm, and
Karen Hines. Our partner theatres are Eastern Front Theatre (Halifax),
Centaur Theatre (Montreal), Manitoba Theatre Centre (Winnipeg) and One
Yellow Rabbit (Calgary).

Boca del Lupo’s Sherry J Yoon and Artistic Producer Jay Dodge said,
“Throughout the pandemic our focus has been to centre artists to help us
make sense of these extraordinary times. When the Dr. Peter Centre
approached us about working on the vaccine roll out, we had to say yes.  We
approached four playwrights who’s lived experience might offer insight and
support to those of us who are hesitant ourselves or have loved ones in our
circle who are.”

“We think of these as theatrical conversations embodying the difficult
situations that many of us are finding ourselves in.  Whether it’s a
discussion you are having with yourself, or someone in your circle, we hope
these short plays will help you navigate this issue with compassion and
empathy.”

Scott Elliott, Executive Director of the Dr. Peter Centre, said, “We know
there are many reasons for people to feel distrustful towards the vaccine
and our healthcare system in general. For many of us who do have confidence
in the vaccine, we are worried about the safety of our loved ones.  Boca del
Lupo’s ‘Dialogues for the Vaccine Hesitant’ are designed to build empathy
towards people on both sides of the conversations and give us tools to
navigate difficult conversations.”

Valerie Thai, the award winning graphic designer who created Boca del
Lupo’s Plays2Perform@Home, also designed the graphics for Dialogues for the
Vaccine Hesitant.