Mr. Speaker, today is World Theatre Day and worldwide people are celebrating live theatre in their communities.
Live theatre creates energy and spirit. It is a catalyst for ideas, understanding, creativity and economic development. It helps us look at ourselves and better understand who we are as it explores the meaning and value in our lives.
As the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres messenger Mieko Ouchi says in part:
Drama shows us again and again that we are made up of many selves and wear many different identities....any place that even a single performer and a single audience member can gather, theatre can offer a potent and powerful moment of communion and connection for the performers and viewers watching the same human experience acted out before them. That is what theatre does best.
I wish to congratulate all those who work in theatre, including those at the Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque and at the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Prescott, in my riding of Leeds—Grenville, as they celebrate World Theatre Day.