We are a collective who are taking the stories and opinions and truths of our community and putting it out for the world to see, as we have intermittently these past two years. We advocate and essentially stand for our community, and much more: our peers. We do what we do because, ultimately, we want the information and messages we convey to be digestible. To be welcomed into schools, like ours. 
For many of us in the cast, MGCI was at some point (for some still is) a stomping ground; it’s our high school. For others still, the neighbouring surroundings are home. One thing’s for certain: it’s a lot of familiar faces and people I’ve definitely crossed paths with (even just shoulder-checked in my rush to class).

So when you’re faced with putting on a show for the very people you are representing AND ALSO trying to reach your message to? Well, that puts a different kind of nerves in you. Will they like it? Will they laugh? Will they get us? Are we readable? Have we been doing our peers justice? On a personal level, my anxiety was through the roof. And yet, when I entered that library, and saw those familiar faces, I was nothing less than ready: ready to see our new cast members dip their feet into our well-acquainted waters, and ready to show my pseudo-home what I’d been doing for the last two years with this project.

As an original-and-ongoing cast member, I can’t explain to you how moving and exciting it was to see our recently-inducted cast not just shine, but become family in the oh-my-goodness-we-did-it high that comes after every show. But I wasn’t just stoked at their incredible performance; I was blown away by our reception. There were easily 50+ students and faculty present, and every single one of them were engaged and in the moment with us (our talk-back even consisted of healthy, heated debate around consent). All of our cultural markers resonated even deeper, and that rush of community came flooding back in a wash of nostalgia and just gratitude. 

On top of that: Shira had chosen MGCI to be the home-base for her PhD, and for the first time, she was able to show her work’s worth within school walls; we, the former and current students and humans of the community, were able to show what the arts can do when combined with passion and a will to teach.

There’s something to be said about coming full circle, and, though I still can’t put words to it, I can safely say we did just that today.

Fringe and Summerworks? Get ready for us. This ball’s still rolling and we’ve just picked up some fresh steam.

Follow us @SExTEdShow / #SExTEd

- Post by Mary Getachew, SExT Cast Member & Assistant Social Media Coordinator

​

The year I met him, I made a New Year's resolution: I will only be in loving, healthy relationships.


Until then I had continuously found myself in a pattern of heartbreak and disappointment. I must be inviting these kinds of men into my life, I thought. I can't put up with this anymore.

I was desperate to start fresh. I needed to cleanse myself of all relationships where I felt guilty over wanting things that made me happy, insecure about myself, and like I wasn't enough. I was tired of trying to get boys to like me. I wanted to be in a relationship that didn't exhaust me mentally and emotionally all the time.

So I made a list of 98 things that I wanted in a man (not joking). These things ranged from the deep and personal (must have strong sense of social responsibility) to the questionably superficial (must enjoy food as much as I do). Then I dreamt about what it would be like to be in that loving relationship. It was my first real exercise in manifesting my desires and projecting out to the Universe exactly what I wanted.

And then I met him. And it wasn't long into the relationship that I realized: Wow. THIS is what a healthy relationship feels like! How did I put up with anything else before this?

My Top 5 "AHA!" moments that I was in a Healthy Relationship:

1.  I share my dreams and my fears with him. And I don't hold back.
In previous relationships, I found myself compromising or downplaying my dreams for another person. Men were often intimidated that I travelled so much in my work and that I loved doing it. I remember once telling a frustrated boyfriend that "I'm not going to want to be an actress forever!" (HUGE red flag went up, but I ignored it for a few more months longer before we ended things.) The moment I was able to tell my biggest dreams to my partner and not be afraid that he would run away, I knew that I was in a relationship that was different.

When I went through rough times, it felt different too: he listened to me and I felt like he was going through it with me. In other relationships, I felt a disconnect - like my boyfriend was just waiting for me to stop crying and cheer up because it made him uncomfortable. Now being able to share my highs and lows like this with my partner makes me feel less alone and more optimistic for the future. 

2. I stop trying to make him like me. 
When we try to get people to like us, we censor ourselves. We are conscious of what we say, how we act, and how we dress among other things. It's a freeing feeling when you realize that you don't need to worry about that anymore. That all those genuine things that make you you are seen, not ignored, and even loved. 

3. He's weird with me.
He dances in the kitchen with me. He freestyles with me to random songs in the car. We talk in accents. He loves it when I go somewhere like Medieval Times and scream like a crazy person. His weirdness matches my weirdness. It's weird and it's awesome.

What is acting?

Rehearsals are well into swing and the cast is now preparing for their upcoming show at Marc Garneau Collegiate for Sexual Violence Awareness Week. From time to time, we have guest artists come in to teach some workshops and this past Friday it was all about Improv with Second City's Josh Murray.
​