Theatre students Simran Kang (left), Isabella Derilo & Alynne Sinnema in the 2024 production of Salty Scent of Home (Photo: Dean Kalyan)
Funded by a three-year, $200,000 Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council Partnership Development Grant, Department of Theatre professor Yasmine Kandil’s project — Celebratory Theatre for Building Inclusion, Resilience & Social Acceptance of Racialized Newcomer Immigrants & Refugees to Canada — is a partnership with the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, the Vancouver Island Counseling Centre for Immigrants & Refugees and UVic’s Psychology department, with participation by professors Monica Prendergast (Curriculum & Instruction) and Fred Chou (Educational Psychology & Leadership Studies). “We’re invested in learning how theatre — particularly celebratory theatre, where the participants benefit and the audience learns — can support successful integration and thriving of newcomers,” says Kandil.
A leading expert in applied theatre techniques, Kandil had previously partnered with ICA on 2022’s Homecoming: A Queer Journey — funded through a 2019 SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant — which focused on building empathy for LGBTQ2S+ immigrants and refugees. “People don’t want to be seen as pitiful or needing help,” she says. “They want others to see their rich culture, what they bring to the community — that they’re resilient, productive citizens, worthy of an equal share in society.”
Led by Kandil and Psychology professor Cathy Costigan, the 2024 Celebratory Theatre research project involved seven theatre students working with six ICA and VICCIR clients in a series of workshops in February and March, followed by a devised performance in May, which was then performed as The Salty Scent of Home to nearly 300 audience members in June — all aimed at testing how celebratory theatre techniques can impact the well-being, social cohesion and sense of self-worth of immigrants and refugees.
Costigan developed evaluation tools to test various measures (i.e., confidence, belonging, acceptance) both before and after the workshops and performance, which were then applied to the participants, students and audience members during the workshops and performance. “The data has come back positive that celebratory theatre is making a difference and impacting people’s acceptance of immigrants and refugees, as well as making a significant impact in the way that newcomers perceive themselves and chances of success in Canada,” says Kandil.
The Salty Scent of Home is also being presented as part of UVic’s Phoenix Theatre MainStage season, running October 9-18, 2025.