Guest writer: Joe Cloutier,
Founder of Inner City Drama & Inner City High School

I can’t remember any books in my house when I was a child. I left school at age 15. As time went on,I began to secretly wish that I could go to school. I can ’t remember exactly when I read my first book. I think I was 17 or 18. I still remember the book though. In that book I learned about the benefits of positive thinking. Next, I discovered the novels of John Steinbeck. He described a world that I could relate to. I read anything by Steinbeck that I could lay my hands on.

In the revolutionary days of the '60s I was unhappy with my life and the conditions in which I lived. The back-to-the-land movement called me away from inner-city Toronto. I lived on a farm with other like- minded people.Most of my roommates were university graduates. Their conversations, books and trips to the local library lit a fire under me that still burns today. I couldn ’t read enough; the energy crisis,the environment, social issues, alternative lifestyles and self-sufficiency all kept me reading.

In the quest for self-sufficiency, I decided to become a carpenter. After taking a carpentry course in Toronto I came to Edmonton in the oil boom of the early '80s to work and to gain some experience. Along with learning about my new trade an interest in social issues and the plight of many inner-city youth continued to grow. I started a volunteer woodworking program at the McCauley Boys’ and Girls’ Club. I found the experience of working with the children at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club a joy.

That experience inspired me to take some upgrading and register at the University of Alberta as a mature student. I was overjoyed to be in a Bachelor of Education program studying to be industrial arts teacher. Once at university I had a taste of literature, history, sociology and philosophy and I wanted more. I changed my major from industrial arts to social studies. The more I studied and read, the more inspired I became.

In my senior year of that program, I took a drama course to cure my own shyness.

I experienced first-hand the power of drama. If that power, I thought, could be focused on the social issues that many inner-city youth must overcome before they can succeed in school, what a powerful tool drama could be! I continued to study drama and raise money for drama programs in the inner-city. The City of Edmonton funded our first program in 1986 and still supports our youth support programs today.

My work with Edmonton’s at-risk youth reminded me of my own experience growing up in inner-city Toronto. I began to see myself as being in a unique position. I understood much of the reality and psychological pressures that many inner-city youth face and I had an insight into the world of academia.I never stopped appreciating how fortunate I was, being able to attend university. My sense of being fortunate created a feeling of responsibility towards other inner- city youth and I wanted to continue my community work and pursue graduate studies in education.

I thought it a great loss of human potential and a great detriment to our society that many inner-city youth did not complete high school. I knew from personal experience that many of these youth were not lacking in intelligence, just in opportunities. When I graduated with a bachelor of education degree, I decided to begin a graduate program in education and continue developing popular theatre programs in the inner-city. In this work I depended on the advice and talents of Edmonton’s popular theatre workers who were also associated with the University of Alberta. Their advice was instrumental in helping me to respond to issues that were raised in our drama programs.

The beauty of popular theatre is that it allows the inexperienced and inarticulate to do sophisticated social analysis. Youth use popular theatre to explore their own social reality,draw their own conclusions from the exploration and choose personally appropriate responses. The work reached a new and more professional dimension when Alexina Dalgetty became involved with Inner City Drama in 1990.

We offered drama programs in five inner-city locations,created and performed plays about social issues faced by the youth.Issues such as racism,violence, prostitution and various forms of abuse were the subject of our plays. At the play’s end the actors and audience enter into discussion about the issues presented in the play. To date,we have performed for and entered into discussion with more than 7000 people in and around Edmonton.

In 1993, some of the youth in our drama group had come to terms with many of the issues that were blocking their development, had a permanent place to live in the house we rented, and saw education as one of the only ways to change their lives.Inner City High School was established as a private school in 1993.In 1995, it looked as though the school would close. We formed an association with Edmonton Catholic Schools that kept the school open. Thanks to that association many youth have used and continue to use education to change their lives. We also continue to perform plays about social issues. The issue of homelessness among Edmonton’s youth has been most recently explored in our popular theatre presentations.

Now, my children have been read to and exposed to many books,and the daycare took them to the library.We also introduce the students of Inner City High School to the joys of reading,learning,and discovery.

The story of Inner City Drama and Inner City High School is the subject of the video Beating The Streets and is available from the Edmonton Public Library.