Play Description
I Carry with Me, written by Heather Cherron von Atzigen, is a play that looks at the differences and commonalities in what we carry as human beings from different racial and cultural backgrounds. What we carry can hurt, show similarities, educate, be shared, and enlighten. This play is designed to catalyze audiences to want to stand up, make changes in these stories, and discover actions they can take to foster inclusive and supportive spaces for people of all cultural backgrounds.
The scenes that make up the presentation look at the following themes: combatting harassment based on Islamophobia in a public space, navigating situations of Anti-Asian sentiment in the workplace, and understanding what active, supportive allyship looks like when a loved one experiences Anti-Black racism.
I Carry with Me is a Forum Theatre play, meaning the first act of the play shows a “worst-case scenario” drawn from consultations with community members. After the play has run through once, audiences are then invited by a facilitator to intervene in the action. Audience members can replace characters, suggest changes and try out their own strategies to result in a positive alternative ending.
This interactive process, called “rehearsing for reality”, is a safe place for participants to learn, build skills and then take those skills out into the wider community. It increases the community’s capacity to tackle racism and discrimination at a grassroots level, leaving participants feeling empowered and prepared to create change.
Content Note: This presentation depicts situations of racial tension and harassment.
Call for Community Partners
MCT is performing this play at various community-engaged spaces in Toronto in the week of Mar 1-7, 2026. We are currently looking for partners who will host and organize a performance for the communities they engage.
If you are not able to host a performance at your space, we would also appreciate recommendations of other organizations who might be interested in hosting, and/or sharing our promotional materials about the tour.
Interested in bringing a free presentation of “I Carry with Me” to your community during our tour?
Contact Project Manager, Maranda Tippins for more details:
What Audiences Are Saying About “I Carry with Me”
“Freedom Off Our Backs”
“Freedom Off Our Backs” is an original song written and performed by playwright Heather Cherron von Atzigen to complement I Carry with Me.
Song Credits:
Heather Cherron von Atzigen – Songwriter/Performer
Jocey von Atzigen – Performer
Alan Cohen – Producer
Artists
Heather Cherron Von Atzigen
Playwright | Performance Facilitator
Heather Cherron Von Atzigen is an accomplished artist with a diverse background in theatre. Approximately 27 years ago, Heather was introduced to Theatre of the Oppressed by Mixed Company Theatre, where she has been an associate artist now for many years, developing her acting, joking, and writing skills. She was part of the cast of “DISS”, which was nominated as an ensemble for a Dora Mavor Moore Award. This season, she wrote, created a song, directed and co-facilitated “PUSH” a virtual Forum Theatre piece about the culture of sexual assault on post-secondary campuses. She also performed as Marissa in MCT’s tour of “Two-Sided Mirror” in the Fall of 2022.
Simon Malbogat
Director | Performance Facilitator
Simon Malbogat co-founded Mixed Company Theatre in 1983 and has been the Artistic Director since 1989. In 1992 Mixed Company Theatre became a CTO (Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed). Simon has over thirty years’ experience as a director, dramaturg, teacher, actor, and workshop facilitator. Teaching highlights include University of Toronto, Concordia University, York University, Humber College, Brock University and Queen’s University. Simon has facilitated hundreds of workshops for youths and adults in Europe, South America, USA, and Canada and has facilitated over 1,000 Forum Theatre presentations. Simon has led workshops in Turkey, Brazil, Finland, and the Ukraine. In Toronto, Simon has been involved in developing the arts in the community with programs for families, women, seniors, youth, homeless adults & youth and persons with disabilities.
Script Development Process
To develop Forum Theatre scripts, MCT engages communities in workshop sessions to understand the current and pressing social issues facing those groups. In these sessions, MCT artists lead the community through various games and exercises to understand the group’s experiences and perspective on the topics. From these workshop sessions, the MCT artists draw out a “universal story” of the oppressions facing all the groups, to use as the foundation of the script. A “universal story” encapsulates aspects of each person’s stories, rather than any one individual’s experience.
In this project, MCT facilitated online workshop sessions in March and April with multiple groups to understand their lived experiences of race and privilege. From the ideas shared in all the sessions, MCT’s playwright, Heather Cherron von Atzigen, wrote the script for I Carry with Me.
Development Team
This presentation was originally created and performed virtually by the following artists in 2023:
Heather Cherron von Atzigen: Workshop Facilitator | Playwright | Performance Facilitator
Simon Malbogat: Director | Performance Facilitator
Julia Hune-Brown: Workshop Facilitator | Choreographer
Sean Rees: Virtual Background Designer
Luciano Iogna: Actor (“Al”)
Alicia Plummer: Actor (“Bystander” / “Shepbourne” / “Masego”)
Kelsey Rideout: Workshop Facilitator | Actor (“Faiza” / “Joannie”)
Jobina Sitoh: Actor (“Officer 2” / “Mailynn”)
Pavla Uppal: Workshop Facilitator | Actor (“Officer 1” / “Fitzgerald” / “Jamie”)
2026 Tour Funded By
