SOME ASSEMBLY THEATRE COMPANY AND ROUNDHOUSE YOUTH THEATRE ACTION GROUP (RHYTAG)
SOME ASSEMBLY THEATRE COMPANY
NEW Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group (RHYTAG) Project
‘Building Inclusion from Social Exclusion’
Award winning Some Assembly Theatre Company is looking for youth aged 13-17 to participate as creators and performers in its new Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group (RHYTAG) project ‘Building Inclusion from Social Exclusion’. Youth will work with professional playwright, director, designer Valerie Methot and professional artists in various art disciplines, on the creation of a theatre production for public audiences in the Roundhouse Performance Centre.
Theatre Project Schedule: Every Thursday 4:45pm-8:30pm starting November 5, 2026, until May 13, 2027, with some additional dates. Snacks provided. Daytime & evening shows May 5 – May 8, 2027, in the Performance Centre. (School will be missed for daytime shows)
YOUTH INTERVIEWS & AUDITIONS:
Roundhouse Room C, Music Room, Board Room
Mon Aug 24, Tues Aug 25 (10am-3pm)
Tues Sept 15, Wed Sept 16, Thurs Sept 17 (4-8pm)
Contact Valerie to sign up for audition/interview:
Some Assembly is celebrating its 27th year creating and producing plays that promote awareness, dialogue, wellness, and positive social change regarding issues facing youth. Some Assembly is the recipient of the City of Vancouver Youth Award for outstanding contribution to the youth community; the Deryck Thomson Award for exceptional contribution to community building and wellbeing; and the Give a Damn Award for its charitable work with youth.
Community partners and supporters: Roundhouse, Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, Ministry of Children and Family Development, City of Vancouver, BC Arts Council, Province of British Columbia, CLICK, Westminster Foundation, Johansen Larsen Foundation, Methotical Productions, Sarah McLachlan School of Music, Scene Ideas, Vancouver School Board, donors.
Some Assembly Theatre Company Launches 27th Season
Some Assembly Theatre Company and the Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group (RHYTAG) Project
Some Assembly’s Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group projects consist of new and returning diverse youth who work in collaboration with professional artists creating a new play each year for public audiences that addresses issues facing young people. Established in 2001, Valerie Methot as Roundhouse artist-in-residence developed the project using the artistic methodology she created while a Master of Fine arts student at UBC. She engaged in a youth outreach process in and around the Roundhouse, speaking with youth and sharing ideas about the new theatre project. With huge interest from youth community members, Valerie assembled Chandra Lesmeister and Jeremy Baxter to the team. The project led to the involvement of several guest artists and the development of Some Assembly Theatre Company, a charitable not-for-profit. Some Assembly is now in its 27th year of youth and professional artists working together, creating new and original plays that promote awareness, dialogue, wellness, and positive social change about issues facing youth. Some Assembly is the recipient of the City of Vancouver Youth Award for outstanding contribution to the youth community and the Deryck Thomson Award for exceptional contribution to community building and well-being.
Artist Biography
As a director, playwright, designer and visual artist, Valerie Methot is passionate about the creation of original collaborative theatre productions and providing opportunities for youth expression through the development of new works. The methodology for the Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group projects is based on Valerie Methot’s MFA creator/director thesis project at UBC. Using theatre as a tool to process trauma, challenging issues, and to promote positive social change, Valerie created ‘Treated with Tango’ to honour her friend who died of AIDS. This experience had a profound impact and was the seed to her Roundhouse artist-residency project. She tailored her thesis project’s methodology to focus on at-risk youth working with professional artists, creating plays to address issues that youth face and to inspire ideas for solutions. The success of the first project led to the development of Some Assembly Theatre Company, a registered Canadian Charitable Non-Profit Theatre Company, to which she is founder, artistic/executive director, producer, and director of 36 plays she created, and presented with diverse youth and artists. Valerie is writer and director of Treated with Tango, Getting the Trendies, EXPOSE, Marbles, and Take a Breath. She is director, dramaturg, and producer of Nicholas Harrison’s How Star Wars Saved My Life, a triumphant play that is based on a true story of an adult survivor of abuse from Catholic priests. Valerie was twice nominated for Canada’s Siminovitch theatre directing award and the Mayor’s Arts Award. Her plays, paintings and installations have been seen nationally and internationally. Valerie studied Royal Conservatory of Music and Western Ontario Conservatory of Music classical piano. She achieved a BFA in painting and drawing from Concordia University in Montreal and an MFA in theatre directing from UBC in Vancouver. www.someassembly.ca
Previous Shows
GLITCH (2026)
Youth faced with social pressures are pulled inside a giant cell phone, an absurd and terrifying world of information overload, competition, and unrealistic expectations. Met with the lure of trendy apps, a psychosocial battle for the highest number of human users escalates. Can the humans break free of the vicious cycle?
OUR LAST TREE (2025)
OUR LAST TREE stands in a world where youth bring us the news, alerting us to the urgency to save our planet and each other. A stunning interconnection of artistry, humanity and care, this apocalyptic theatre production symbolizes the fate of this world with one special tree whose branches entwine with lifelines of countless hands.
I Know Your Secret (2024)
A psychological thriller theatre production that navigates social influence and the dangers of social media. Seven characters arrive to the home of Andy after only knowing Andy online. What happens next will have you on the edge of your seat.
The Identity Bureau (2023)
Set in the very near future, the Identity Bureau is a place that assigns identities and traits to all citizens. It’s the last day citizens can make identity updates and pay fines before the big system rehaul. Meant to create calm, the Bureau creates chaos as we witness the absurdity of not simply deciding to be who we truly are.
The Wait List Experiment (2022)
Eight youth who are on wait lists to see therapists have been recommended for an experimental pandemic peer support program, which takes place in the eye of somewhere unknown.
Breakwater (2021)
Follows six youth who face the effects of isolation and mental health struggles from a symbolic world- wide flood.
Uprooted (2020)
Three friends on an annual camping trip must suddenly face a threat to the BC forest they love. Youth take a stand for future generations and protect what they view as sacred.
Rewire (2019)
On the night of a symbolic lunar eclipse and major video game event, a group of youth come together to bravely tackle root causes of stress including poverty, grief, and sexual assault.
The Release Party (2018)
A celebration of youth expression in a pursuit to manage struggles with mental health, bullying, and suicide prevention.
Home (2017)
A powerful vision of hope from local diverse youth in the search for a healthy home, both within oneself and one’s community.
Missing from Me (2016)
In an unexpected twist, eleven travellers at a train station must adapt to a sudden change in their plans. Confronted with life-altering decisions they end up discovering true inner strength and what family means to them.
Webs We Weave (2015)
A dizzying merry-go-round of challenges we all face in our relationships.
Dream Catchers (2014)
In a countdown to graduation, nine teenagers struggle to catch their dreams as they are faced with the daunting questions of who they are and what comes after high school.
Sticks & Scones (2013)
Issues of bullying and how it not only involves the victim and predator, but also the entire community.
Cleverly Painted Rocks (2012)
A play about life, love and depression.
Keep the Change (2011)
An audition for a new reality show results in an interweaving of youth experiences with loss, rejection, abuse and life changing decisions.
Death and Scrambled Eggs (2010)
Opening with a house party, consequences are revealed following an experience with the drug Ecstasy.
Not a Fairy Tale (2009)
Meet Dr. Exigo, seller of dreams and seven girls in search of answers…plus a unicorn and a troll and oh yeah, a centaur.
Tic Talk (2009)
An exploration of the anxieties surrounding issues of bullying, gang involvement, drugs and computer game addiction.
Anybody (2008)
An exploration of the choices we make, the consequences, and how one decision could change everything.
Face Value (2008)
A play about identity and secrets.
Take A Breath (2004, 2007)
A community theatre happening passionately performed through dance, music, action, spoken word and raw artistry with a threaded focal point: ‘within our diversity, we share breath’.
Mirror Mirror (2006, 2007)
A play about life with depression
Synchronicity (2006)
A symbolic journey into the subconscious.
Consumed (2005)
An absurd comedy about trends and the roles we play.
COPE (2004)
Coping with life in a juvenile detention centre.
I Barely Know You (2004)
A crazed thriller in a Yaletown office building.
Express (2004)
A theatrical performance about life on meth.
Hotel de Ville (2003)
An interactive maze of a frightening hotel.
Way Out (2002)
An inside look at teen lives and struggles.