I hope, I dream, I wish.

For a while, I have wanted program a season around the phrase, I Wish. It’s a sentence that in adults we might find naïve, but in a child we find both wonderful and inspiring. Wishing is about daring to aspire. It is also about keeping the imagination open to possibility. And, of course, it is an open-hearted expression of hope.

Quebecois playwright Jean-Rock Gaudreault has said, “The main difference between children’s plays and adult plays is hope. ... it is irresponsible to tell a child a story without hope.” And YPT’s inspiring founder Susan Rubes always said, “It has to be the best, it’s for children”. With those two inspiring thoughts in mind, we have programmed our 2012/13 season with eight wonderful expressions of keeping hope alive... and hanging onto the wonder of wishing!

Wishes often come true but they rarely come free. As young people grow up, the need for them to connect actions with consequences becomes increasingly important. The reality that choices must be made is hard to accept. Does growing up mean the end of wishing? I fervently wish for everyone who attends our next season to come away with the flame of hope brightly alight in their hearts and minds.

Allen MacInnis,
Artistic Director