Zuppa goes global as it celebrates nearly 30 years of art in Halifax

Zuppa's HereNowThis final gathering event at Memorial Hall in Morecambe, UK, is pictured. (Source: Alex McLena)

Armed with their phones, people in Morecambe, a town near Lancaster, England, used an app to conduct a massive scavenger hunt. They explored public spaces and streets for performers putting on a unique show that encouraged them to think about the past, present and future of their town.

The organizers of this event were several thousand kilometres away.

HereThisNow was an offshoot of the This is Nowhere project, which debuted in Nova Scotia in 2018 under the banner of Zuppa, an artistic group that is celebrating nearly 30 years in Halifax and beyond.

Zuppa began in 1998 as an idea between Ben Stone and Sandy Gribbin, who wanted to launch a dinner theatre-type group.

“They wanted to do shows and serve soup,” said Stewart Legere, associate artist director with the group. “Zuppa is Italian for soup. They discarded the idea, but kept the name.”

Zuppa started by doing outdoor, physical theatre, but over the years the group evolved, incorporating tours, community art projects and work in digital spaces. Legere joined them 20 years ago as part of the ensemble.

“I went to see one of their shows and my mind was blown,” he said. “I was shown you can make your own work and make exciting things. I was so drawn to it.”

One of the group’s major projects was This is Nowhere, which was funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter program.

“Companies could apply for ideas that were outside their normal scope to celebrate where we come from and where we’re going,” Legere said. “We worked with a local computer programmer and developed an app to have a citywide scavenger hunt. You wandered around the city and found undercover performances.”

Zuppa brought HereThisNow to Morecambe in 2025 and they hope to expand the project to other towns.

“It’s a pretty unique model,” Legere said. “You leave a city with a legacy thing they get to use.”

As Zuppa marks its 28^th anniversary this year, it’s also celebrating 17 years of its popular concert series.

“The concert has become one of the favourite things we do,” Legere said. “It’s a fundraiser event for the company.

“The company has always been very close with the music community. We take a theme from something going on in the world and reach out to a bunch of musicians.”

This year’s theme is Pennies from Heaven: Songs About Cold Hard Cash. It will be held at St. Andrew’s Church on Coburg Road in Halifax on Thursday.

Legere said Zuppa plans to have a busy year despite the Nova Scotia government’s recent budget cuts for certain arts programs.

“Art exists in every community around the world,” he said. “Art and artists always persevere. How do we value these things? How do we make sure these aren’t taken for granted and disappear?

“Artists reflect our experience back at people so we’re reminded life is worth living. Artists create things we use in every moment of the day. We really punch above our weight.”

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