Our Story – Why We Exist
We know theatre is spectacularly fun. At Quest we also know that theatre can bring an added range of extraordinary benefits for young people. We use theatre to help a child explore who they are, discover the world around them and build the kind of world they want to live in. We do this by asking good questions and answering them with exceptional theatre adventures.
How do we help a child understand that sometimes personal success is outweighed by the success of everyone? How do you teach a child that a little act of kindness can really make a difference? How do we convince a child that giving someone an advantage can make things fair? How can we convey how much courage is necessary to stand up for what you believe in? How can we create a happy, healthy, and inclusive society for everyone?
We delight in pursuing the answers to these questions, and others like them, as creative, meaningful, and responsible community builders, who enthusiastically celebrate the inspiring journey of young people.
Our Impact – What We Do
Quest Theatre creates community through exceptional theatre adventures for young people throughout Alberta. We envision a galaxy where theatre is valued as an essential part of growing up.
Quest supports this vision with our weeklong School Residency Programs, our School Touring Productions, our Seasonal Drama Camps & Classes, and our other Community Engagement Activities. We encourage community as we bring theatre to young people in schools and community spaces throughout Alberta, with a special focus in our community of Marda Loop in Calgary. The Quest experience is often a child’s first experience with theatre. We access and impact children in a way that reaches across economic, language, ability and geographical barriers. Our programs bring joy, spark imaginations, and create experiences specifically designed to support a young person’s exploration of identity, contribution, belonging, and community.
Our Programs – How We Do It
Professional School Touring Productions
Quest Theatre has been touring the Alberta school system for over 35 years. We have extended beyond our Alberta borders with productions of Snow Angel (2014 – 16), The Umbrella (2015 – 2016) and We Are All Treaty People (2016 – 2019). Our offices and rehearsal hall are located at the beautiful cSPACE Marda Loop Arts hub.
Visit our website, join our mailing list and get the latest updates on our current Season.
School Residency Programs
With 35 years of experience working in the Alberta School System we understand the challenges of delivering quality Arts Education. Our programs are an effective strategy for realizing curriculum-based learning outcomes while promoting creativity, critical thinking, risk taking and teamwork.
Students work in groups with Quest creator facilitators, who are professional artists in the Calgary theatre community. Over the course of a week, each class develops a performance piece. On the final day all creations come together to perform for the school community. The program addresses each child’s learning style and assists in building confidence, exploring issues, working together, and communicating in new and creative ways. There are no barriers to participating in our theatre-creation programs. All students are included regardless of physical, mental, or emotional challenges.
Visit our website for more information.
Seasonal Drama Camps
Kids can be shy or enthusiastic, intellectual or physical, imaginative or quiet – but they all have great stories to tell! Creating a show in just one week is an exhilarating and exhausting experience! Fortunately, we are blessed with artists that love sharing their passion for theatre making with young people. Quest Theatre camps support different levels of creative development, celebrate every creative twitch, and most of all, nurtures the organic ridiculous and brilliant ideas of your child!
Summer and Spring Camps are held annually. We currently operate out of cSPACE Marda Loop.
Visit our website, join our mailing list to receive our newsletter and get the latest updates on upcoming online classes and in-person camps.
Play for All!
Quest Theatre is committed to creating community through exceptional theatre adventures for young people throughout Alberta. This includes accessing underserved communities, marginalized communities, and youth at risk.
More than 28% of our work is delivered to schools, communities and families that could not afford our programming without financial support. We have a list of priority funding schools and a bursary program that we support through our Play for All Fund. We also work with organisations like Kids Up Front to find young people who want to have a theatrical adventure but cannot afford it without support.
Play a transformative role in the life of a child by donating to our Play for All Fund. Every little bit helps as we pool donations together for greater impact. Help us in our goals to ensure theatre is an accessible experience for all young people.
Visit our website to make a donation and make a difference in a child’s life today!
Donation Matching
Quest has been a proud charity partner in the Shaw Charity Classic Birdies for Kids program since 2019. Donations through the program are matched up to 50%, so contributions can go even further!
What can we do with your donation?
Every dollar helps us bring theatre to those who need it the most. There is no such thing as a small donation.
$1 Hand sanitizer: we love playing in schools, but let’s face it…
$5 Craft supplies: glue, googly eyes, markers, yarn, pool noodles, fabric and glitter so kids can make props at Drama Camps
$15 Pizza to celebrate final performance day for kids at Drama Camp
$30 A Quest Hoodie for an Artist
$50 Instructor fee for a short drama activity for community events!
$100 tank of gas to get a performance to a rural school!
$200 Average cost of one Costume for an actor – including their shoes!
$400 One-week camp for a kid who can’t afford it!
$900 Brings a one hour show to an Elementary school
$1,000 to create a professionally prepared study guide for a new show!
$3,000 Brings a full-day program (a play and related activities) to a school that can’t afford it
$9,000 Pays for an Artists in School full-week program for a local school that can’t afford it
$11,000 Covers a full-week program in a rural school, including fees, transportation, and accommodation for four amazing Artists
$30,000 Covers the costs of a two-week professional school tour
$60,000 Buys Quest Theatre a new touring van