Stage Door News
Toronto: “The Youth/Elder Podcast” brings queer intergenerational conversations to the fore
Friday, September 13, 2019
The world’s largest and longest-running queer theatre moves beyond the stage to take a deep dive into the queer community’s generation gap.
About the podcast
How does our queer community share a space? Half a century after queer lives broke into mainstream consciousness at Stonewall, our community is larger and more diverse than ever. Our histories overlap as much as they diverge, our struggles have changed but also remain the same. Our need to come together, to share and celebrate our histories, victories, losses, loves, and lived daily experience has never been greater.
Responding to this need for queer, intergenerational connections and spaces, The Youth/Elders Podcast features personal stories, lived histories, and candid conversations between queer youth, queer elders, and folks in between. Recorded weekly at the Toronto Public Library in the Fall of 2018, discussions touch on everything from identity and relationships to activism and the loss and creation of community spaces.
With this new project, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre - the world's largest and longest-running queer theatre – makes its first foray into the digital realm, expanding its reach beyond its home in the heart of Toronto’s Gay Village. The podcast, which features conversations from the Fall recording sessions, is hosted by artist and community activist Vanessa Dunn. The first episode, In the Sheets and on the Streets was released on September 12th, 2019.
The podcast continues the intergenerational work started by the company with 2017’s “revolutionary theatre” piece (Now Magazine), The Youth/Elders Project. Beyond the podcast, this important dialogue continues offline throughout the year at Buddies with In Conversation, a series of intergenerational community chats hosted by podcast co-facilitators LeZlie Lee Kam and Daniel Carter.
The recording of The Youth/Elders Podcast was made possible through the support of the Toronto Arts Council’s Artists in the Library program.
About the host
The Youth/Elders Podcast is hosted by artist, community worker and entrepreneur, Vanessa Dunn, whose practice focuses on the creation and exploration of spaces and projects informed by politics, identity, community and performance. Her experience as both an artist and activist has positioned her as an active and vocal member of Toronto's queer community. As lead singer of the feminist queer art rock band VAG HALEN, Vanessa has toured nationally and internationally, performing at the Venice Biennale, Luminato, Bournemouth Arts Festival, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and more. As a performer and director, Vanessa's work has been a part of Summerworks, Habourfront's HATCH, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and the University of Toronto. Vanessa co-directed Buddies’ 2017 production of The Youth/Elders Project, and will be on stage in the upcoming season at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre for the show, MINE.
Resources and contact
For more information on the podcast, including show notes, check out:
Listen to The Youth/Elders Podcast on Apple Podcasts:
Also available on Google Music, Stitcher, and Spotify.