Wilderness Theatre @ Crescent Beach

A pioneering outdoor theatre program through the Star Project

Meet Fieldschool’s new partner in the performing arts: The Star Project! Founded and run by veteran theatre-runner Jojo Payne, the Star Project is a respected, dynamic theatre program working with children and youth who are identified as neurodiverse, struggling with anxiety, or need an outlet to express their inner artist.

This exciting partnership cements our commitment to fostering self-expression, creativity, and collaboration, which will culminate in a learner-led end-of-season community production!

For more information about the Star Project, visit their website!

Kinds of performing arts we will explore:

• Theatre games
• Improv
• Singing
• Dancing
• Music
• Costume and set design

My passion for dance and performance began at the age of two as a ballet student. At age 16, this passion eventually landed me a scholarship to start training at the Midlands Academy of Dance and Drama in Nottingham, England. After three years of training, I graduated with Distinction and performed my Graduate Showcase at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London’s West End. From here, I built a career as an actor, writer, choreographer, director, television presenter, and arts educator.

Despite this varied career, my greatest professional passion, the project that I’ve dedicated my entire adult life to, is The Star Project: a unique, dynamic children’s theatre company. I founded the Star Project when I was only 19 years old, as a way of introducing youth from a wide range of backgrounds to the performing arts. This work also involved collaboration with Safeline Young Peoples Charity to use drama to help rehabilitate young people who had suffered abuse, neglect or other trauma. During this collaboration, I saw the most incredible transformations in confidence, self-belief, and trust. Working with those young people is a treasured part of my teaching history and changed how I saw the Star Project.

In 2018, I took my initiative international, moving to Ontario to build a wonderful performing arts community alongside The Dream Centre. I now live in Vancouver, and am excited for my next big adventure: this new and exciting partnership with VOS to create the brand new Wilderness Theatre program! I look forward to mentoring VOS students and guiding them through every step as they explore this creative platform in a life-changing moment in time.