Last night, we hosted an Information Session at the Halifax Music Co-Op, our projected venue for the 2017 workshop staging of KAMP. Thanks to our generous volunteers and supporters in attendance, we had a warm and welcoming reception, including this amazing rainbow layer-cake created by Maggie Hammel. 

This was a first step in reaching out to people who might be interested in seeing the show – when and if we can produce it –, creative partners who might be able to help us realize the show, and sponsors who might be able to help us afford the hire a creative team, rent a rehearsal space, and present this to an audience. Thank you to the lovely people who attended, and spoke to us, and our volunteers who made the night run so smoothly. 

Our lovely host for the evening, Lara Lewis, navigated us through the evening, with assistance from her stunning "Vanna White" for the evening: Quincy Russell. 

Long-time DaPoPo supporter Robin Metcalfe presented an informative talk and slide show. He focussed on the emergence of a discourse around homosexuality in Germany in the mid 19th century, the emergence of a vibrant queer community in Berlin, and the Pink Triangle – the symbol used to designate homosexuals in the camps, later reclaimed by the queer community –, and the catastrophic turn of events with Hitler's rise to power, and the enforcement of Paragraph 175, the legal criminalization of homosexuality. 

The inimitable Elle Noir, a staple of the Halifax queer community, performed, conjuring music from the 1920s – specifically American jazz music, all of which was prohibited by the Nazi party, and labelled "degenerate", and racially inferior music. The score for KAMP is somewhat of an homage to the rich musical soundscape of Weimar Germany, and its international influences. 

Ian Mullin, Kyle Gillis and Jake Willet (Kyle and Jake are not pictured) – all members of our original workshop cast at the DaPoPo Live-in Festival last year – volunteered their talents, joining co-creator Jamie Bradley and Garry Williams to perform excerpts from the show. 

Adam Reid and Sebastien Labelle, of the Queer Acts Festival and Mayworks Halifax Festival respectively – were there to express their support of the project. DaPoPo has presented work in both Festivals; we are, again, so grateful to be collaborating on this project.  

Our venue sponsor for the evening, John Bogardus of the Halifax Music Co-Op, with whom was have been in joyful and engaging dialogue about this project, pledged his support for this ambitious project. 

Now all we need to do is raise $100,000.- (many times the usual budget available through traditional funding avenues), finish writing the show, hire our crew. The evening ended on an encouraging war-cry from our audience: "We can do this!" 

And even if we don't yet quite know how we are going to do this, we know it will be a community effort.