The art of theatre often excludes many people; we believe that it doesn’t need to! Rising Sun Theatre has been serving the Edmonton area community as a non-profit organization since 2004, providing cognitively disabled adults the opportunity to be included and involved in making theatre.

Over the years we’ve had the privilege of seeing the impact our work has had on the members of our acting team. Our work has helped build members' confidence, skills in communication, self-expression, and teamwork and has given them a voice in the community. For all of us in the organization and for our audiences, it’s been a joyous gift to see actors come out of their shell, share their ideas and show audiences their many abilities. Storytelling is for everyone!

Here's what we recently heard from a cousin and helper to one of the actors in our company: "Bob (not his real name) has just been transformed by being in your theatre company. I've never seen him like this! He's happier and more active, he talks a lot about the theatre, he goes out and talks with more people, is more confident and shares more of his thoughts and feelings with me. It's amazing!"

Last season brought many wonderful milestones. From our successful special event, Magic & Music, where we exceeded our goal (Thank You!), to our sold-out show, We Got Rhythm!, we are looking forward to what the future holds for the whole Rising Sun team. We hope to grow and serve the community in more ways and provide more opportunities for the differently-abled among us. But we need your support, not only to grow our services, but just to keep doing what we do now.

Since we make our shows available to even those on low incomes, our ticket sales don’t bring in a lot of revenue. And since arts granting agencies recently cancelled the programs that were our main sources of funding, we’re only able to carry on our work through your community contributions.

What do your contributions make possible?
- Providing weekly creation and rehearsal sessions, facilitated by our lead professional theatre artists

- Bringing in guest professional artists to help us learn specific skills like singing, dance and movement, puppetry, mask, improvisation, and more 

- Our acting company’s creating of their own original plays, using their experiences, ideas and imaginations 

- Designing and building sets, props and costumes 

-Creating music for our shows

- Public performances where we share our lives and joy with audiences

- Meet-our-artists sessions after every performance with food and conversation

And, if we can raise enough funds:
- Offer more workshops and classes to the disability community 

- Take our shows out to more places and wider audiences

This is where contributions from supporters like you come in. Can you chip in to keep us going and growing? Every dollar makes a difference. You can play an essential role in our productions and put smiles on the faces of our actors and audiences!  

We understand that not everyone is in a position to give at this time. Should this be where you find yourself, all we ask is you help spread the word by sharing this campaign with your community and beyond!

Whether you’re a longtime supporter, or this is your first interaction with our organization, on behalf of the whole Rising Sun team, we thank you for your support and cannot wait to show you where it leads us. 

Should you wish to watch the journey, we encourage you to check out our website or follow us on Instagram (@RisingSunTheatre) and on Facebook (Rising Sun Theatre Players).