The concept is simple.

There is one person onstage, sharing a personal story about an event in their life that changed them.

This person could be an actor, a musician, a student, professor or parent. But each story they tell is raw and speaks to reconciliation, hope, betrayal, love and forgiveness.

Trespass, the latest production from Dark Glass Theatre, features five different storytelling shows that reveal true stories from a diverse group of people.

Each show will have eight speakers and four musicians telling stories no longer than eight minutes long.

鈥淭he music and the storytelling will all be quite varied. (They promote) the idea of building bridges between different groups and individuals and breaking down barriers,鈥� said Angela Konrad, founder of Dark Glass Theatre and professor at Trinity Western University. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 at the core of what Dark Glass is interested in doing 鈥� that whole idea of coming face-to-face with another鈥檚 perspective.鈥�

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The concept of the show was inspired by a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., which is also written on the theatre company鈥檚 website: 鈥淲e must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.鈥�

鈥淲hat we want to do at Dark Glass is tell stories about people who we wouldn鈥檛 normally meet, thereby decreasing judgment, increasing compassion and fostering empathy,鈥� Konrad said. 鈥淪o the ideas in that Martin Luther King quote are very much about that as well 鈥� about trying to get away from demonizing the other.鈥�

Trespass will take place in Abbotsford on Sept. 22 at 2 and 7 p.m., in Richmond on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m., in Vancouver on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. and in 91原创 at the on Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. Watershed will also have a special menu and drinks prepared for those who would like to have dinner before the show.

The roster varies at each performance, with some storytellers doing more than one show. The topics range from stories about identifying as LGBTQ, to stories about working at a safe injection site in Vancouver. One woman will share things she learned from secret letters smuggled out of gulags in the Soviet Union.

鈥淲e鈥檝e worked really hard to have the stories be quite diverse in every way that you might want to define that word,鈥� Konrad said.

鈥淥ne of our storytellers is a First Nations woman who went to three different residential schools.

鈥淭here is a retired prof from Trinity named Lynn Szabo, and right after she retired from Trinity, she fell when she was supposed to speak on campus. She slipped on the ice, and she broke both of her feet so badly that she is now in a wheelchair.

鈥淚n one case, there鈥檚 one guy who鈥檚 telling his story about being a cancer survivor and also being a black man in America.鈥�

Each storyteller was personally invited to be part of the show by Konrad and her team. Initially, they were going to do an open call, but after receiving great response from those they asked, the spots were quickly filled.

鈥淭here were lots of people who said no, too,鈥� Konrad admitted. 鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 risky, you have to be vulnerable, and sometimes people would initially say 鈥榶es鈥� and then say, 鈥榓ctually I can鈥檛 talk about this.鈥� And that鈥檚 understandable.鈥�

Tickets for Trespass are $20 online, or $25 at the door, with proceeds being used to help fund Dark Glass Theatre鈥檚 next show, Ruined.

For more information or to purchase tickets in advance, go to .

entertainment@langleytimes.com
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