Ottawa’s Youth Infringement Festival (YIF) is celebrating its 26th year of supporting and staging local youth theatre. From March 6–16 at the Arts Court Theatre, local artists aged 16-25 are paired with local professional theatre artists who provide mentorship in writing, directing, stage managing, and ultimately performing their new works.
The 2024 festival includes an impressive line-up, which feature a medley of different shows—from flat-earthers to psychological manipulation, and even an improv troupe. Apt613 emailed with both co-producers of the festival, Maggie Harder and Seth Thomson, as well as the festival’s general manager Jake Nevins. Check out what they had to say about this important and entertaining event about youth theatre in the city.
Apt613: This is the 26th year of the Youth Infringement Festival. How has it changed or transformed over the years, and how has the Ottawa theatre community responded to it?
Youth Infringement Team: YIF has always been heralded as a creative incubator in Ottawa—the main goal of YIF is to give youth theatre experience they wouldn’t otherwise have. Every year we get participants who have never done theatre before, or are returning to it after a long hiatus. We also get youth who are looking for pre-professional arts experience and plan on doing theatre as a career. Because of the age max, there is a lot of turnover and not a lot of folks are familiar with YIF in its infancy and YIF now. It is a constantly evolving conglomerate of artists, which means the art is always new and fresh and reflective of the times! For example, during heavy COVID years, lots of shows about the end of the world.
Jerome!, featuring Charlotte Raycevich. Photo by Maggie Harder.
Apt613: What makes showcasing theatre or art from young people so important in our communities?
YIF Team: It’s a cliché, but young people are our future! And if we don’t give young people the opportunity to try new things and create, it is way harder to access arts spaces in the future. Being a teen or a young adult new to the professional world can often mean there are limited resources to get your name out there—the whole “need experience to get the job but need the job to get experience” conundrum. Showcasing theatre and art from young people means that young people in our communities are supported in reaching those next steps.
Apt613: What do you hope audiences take away from this festival when they come and watch these shows?
YIF Team: I hope audiences walk away having resonated with the art they watched, whether they were moved or had a laugh, and feel compelled to continue supporting youth art. Often art, especially for young people, is the first on the chopping block in dire times (which we are currently facing). I feel it’s also important to note that, while the pieces at our festival this year are really spectacular, making something show-stopping is not the goal—simply the act of having created something is the success in and of itself. Supporting creating simply for the sake of creating is vital to make sure arts for young people stay alive and thriving!
The Youth Infringement Festival takes place at the Arts Court Theatre from March 6–16. Tickets for any of these shows can be purchased on their website.
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