Lights Up: Storytelling, the Stage and Human Rights Dialogue

Based on a workshop he co-ran with playwright and director Rahul Varma at the Charter at 40 Conference at the University of Alberta, Zachary Couture will explore the bounds and limits of theatrical storytelling for human rights advocacy. How can we use narrative and spectacle to begin important dialogue on social issues? How effective are theatre and art at mobilizing social change? Does it matter how and by whom a story is told for it to have political salience? And what is the role of community in using theatre for justice?

Zachary (Zakaria) Jericho Couture is an artist and scholar from Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta). He is of Palestinian and French-Canadian descent. Through storytelling, art and legal advocacy, Zachary hopes to advance solidarity work, as well as anti-racist and decolonial frameworks. He is currently a JD Candidate at the Allard School of Law at UBC.