Transforming Lives Through Restorative Justice
Wednesday, May 1st, 2024, 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
290 Adelaide Street East, Room 406, Toronto, Ontario
George Brown College is pleased to be collaborating with the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board to host this one-day, bi-annual Social Justice Conference.
This event is funded by the Ministry of Education through the School/College/Work Initiative.
For more information about this event, please contact: Evan Murray at emurray9@georgebrown.ca
About the Conference
This one-day, bi-annual Social Justice Conference will help Grade 11 and 12 students gain an understanding of social and restorative justice in the hope of encouraging them to engage in civic activities in their communities and help make a difference.
A reading of the stage play Tough Case written by David S. Craig, will open the conference. This gritty, fast-moving drama depicts the resolution of a crime through restorative justice practices. Described as a ‘court room drama without the courtroom’, it engages the audience from the first line.
Following the reading, students will have the opportunity to ask questions of the performers.
Students will receive a brown bag lunch before breaking into smaller groups to discuss their experience with the play and get a tour of our St. James Campus.
About the Play
Tough Case Performance Synopsis
The stage performance of Tough Case deals with restorative justice – a concept and practice that brings the victim and the perpetrator of a crime together. It also brings all of those impacted, either directly or indirectly, to address responsibility, the needs of the victim, and actions that can repair the harms.
Beginning with the trashing of a senior’s apartment by a gang, we follow the emotional aftermath of the vandalism with the truculent but scared teen who’s charged, his talkative mother, the fearful senior, her outraged son and the restorative justice worker, who has a personal understanding of the teen’s background and brings the other characters together.
Tough Case was commissioned by Jennifer Llewellyn, Director, Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Community University Research Association in 2009. First produced in March 2011, it was written by David S. Craig and directed by Richard Greenblatt.
The performance of Tough Case is produced by Roseneath Theatre, a company that creates and produces original plays for youth and family audiences. Visit Roseneath.ca for more information.
The CAST of ‘Tough Case’
Amaka Umeh
Amaka Umeh's Bio
Amaka Umeh is an award-winning English theatre performing artist of Igbo Nigerian descent with a shameless love of puns, a major sweet tooth, and a soft spot for springtime. Recent credits: Three Sisters, Sizwe Banzi is Dead (Soulpepper); Love's Labour's Lost, Hamlet, Death and the King's Horseman, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Stratford Festival); Fall On Your Knees
(Canadian premiere tour). Film: The Strangers' Case (CBC Gem). Audiobook: Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (ECW Press). Training: Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre; Factory Theatre Mechanicals; Randolph College.
Gregory Waters
Gregory Waters' Bio
Gregory Waters is an actor and writer based in Toronto. He is a graduate of the National
Theatre School’s Acting Program and has appeared on shows such as Letterkenny, Transplant,
and Murdoch Mysteries, and in films such as The Silence, and Bella Wilde. Theatrical credits
include Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Panoply Theatre Collective and Grayson in
Roseneath Theatre's No Big Deal. You can check out the extreme and unhinged short films of
the Waters brothers at their website: waterswaters.ca.
John Cleland
John Cleland's Bio
John Cleland is an award winning actor who has been carving out a living in Canadian theatre,
voice, and film and television for almost three decades. John’s theatre career has allowed him to
work across Canada, including three years at the Shaw Festival. But as every theatre worker
knows, one cannot survive on theatre alone. Film/Television credits include Running with Violet,
The Addition, Down the Road Again, Frankie Drake, Murdoch Mysteries, Rogue, Degrassi, etc.
His voice work has included six seasons as Lte. Petrovsky on CBC’s Afghanada, numerous
other radio dramas for CBC and BBC, audiobooks (the most recent of which
was Gil Adamson’s Bestseller, Ridgerunner), cartoons (Alien TV, Remy and Boo and Red
Ketchup to name a few) and commercial campaigns including being the voice of Ford Canada
for 10 years. John is most proud of his two children, Lucia and Pascal, who continue to deepen
his understanding of life, art and philosophy and who constantly teach him how to be in the
world.
Linda Goranson
Linda Goranson's Bio
Linda is so happy to be reading Tough Case. In the past year and a half, she has done the plays Driving Miss Daisy, On Golden Pond and Drinking Alone; the TV shows Reacher and The Umbrella Academy; the movie The Devil's Void; and the web series We 3 Queens. She has won Canadian Film, TMFF and Yorkton Festival Best Actress awards, and starred in The Painted Door, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short. She has been acting since she was 5, and professionally since she was 15. How lucky to have a job she loves.
Stephanie Belding
Stephanie Belding's Bio
Stephanie is thrilled to be performing Tough Case again with Roseneath Theatre and this stellar group creative souls. Last seen in Arbez Theatre’s PAZ at the Toronto Fringe, Stephanie’s selected credits include the title role of The Trial of Judith K with Thought For Food Theatre, multiple shows with YPT, Persephone Theatre, and GCTC; Imprints with Theatre Gargantua Demon Voice with Touchstone Theatre, and three seasons with The Shaw Festival.
TV/Film credits include recurring roles on Murdoch Mysteries, Shadowhunters, Incorporated, Workin’ Moms, Tiny Pretty Things, and Remedy; Star Trek: Discovery, Schitt’s Creek, Kim’s Convenience, 50/50, and The Void.
Stephanie is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada. Big fan of baseball, spontaneous dance breaks, and high fives. Stay curious and kind. Art matters. Thank you for making the time to see live theatre, it’s good to share the same space with you. @stephbelding for socials.
Agenda
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
9:30 a.m. – 10 a.m. | Registration |
10 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Welcome and Opening Remarks Take 5 for Safety Land Acknowledgement |
10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Tough Case Performance |
11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Q&A with cast |
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | Lunch |
| 12:15 p.m. - 12:20 p.m. | Remarks |
| 12:20 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Instructions for remainder of the day |
12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. | Groups 1-4: Tour of the college Groups 5-8: Break-out groups led by college faculty |
1:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Groups 5-8: Tour of the college Groups 1-4: Break-out groups led by college faculty |
2 p.m. | Conference Concludes |
About the Centre for Community Services & Early Childhood
George Brown College’s Centre for Community Services & Early Childhood offers a broad range of community-focused programs that relate to the practice of social and restorative justice. These programs, each of which is taught from a social justice, anti-oppressive approach, combine classroom theory with hands-on learning to prepare you for a rewarding career.
