Video and Culturemap Feature: Changing Lives Youth Ensemble, Theatre Action Project, Austin

Feature published by www.austin.culturemap.com, November 28:

This youth theater is Changing Lives

Advice crafted for and by teens, onstage at a school near you

By Erica Lies, 11.28.11

Early on a recent Saturday morning, eight students from the Changing Lives Youth Theater Ensemble performed at the We Are Girls conference in an Austin High classroom packed with middle school girls. One by one, the actors stepped into the spotlight to introduce their characters.

"Just because I'm a slut doesn't mean I don't deserve respect."

"Just because I'm into academics doesn't mean I don't know how to have fun." The honest, frank language is characteristic of a Changing Lives show.

A joint program of Theatre Action Project and Safe Place, CLYTE is a theatre arts program comprised of paid 14-18 year old actors who tour to middle schools and community events in Central Texas, presenting original plays focused on teen social issues like bullying and relationship violence.

A documentary feature on Changing Lives by Sean Schiavolin and Christopher Morse for inCONTEXT (12 min., 40 sec.) :

[Apple users: can't see the video? Click to go to YouTube]

[ . . . . ] A number of initiatives and media campaigns to draw attention to the detrimental effects of bullying have sprung up in recent years, but most focus only on the bully and the target, turning primarily to adults to stop the harassment. Changing Lives, however, employs a unique model that uses theater to teach kids strategies for interrupting destructive patterns.

The ensemble spends a semester conceiving of and writing a play with the help of TAP and Safe Place program directors, Nitra Gutierrez and Susie Gidseg. Beginning with image-based games and exercises from Theatre of the Oppressed, the ensemble often shows a problem and then a moment of intervention where that problem can either be solved or exacerbated. [ . . .]

Click to read more at www.austin.culturemap.com . . . .

Upcoming: Changing Lives, Theate Action Project at Vortex Repertory, July 10

Found on-line:

presents

Summer Showcase

The Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble
Saturday, July 10, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
at the Vortex Repertory, 2307 Manor Road (Google map)

The showcase will feature short scenes and work from ensemble members. Themes include sexism in pop culture, bullying, harassment, and technology’s impact on the social lives of teens. Work will also be featured from the SafePlace program “The Media Project.”

Come join us for an afternoon of theatre as we examine social issues relevant to today’s teens.

Summer Theatre Training for Youth, State Theatre, Austin

Received via e-mail, news about summer theatre classes for youth at the State Theatre, Austin.

Fairy-Tale Theatre for ages 5 -8, one-week sessions, 9 a.m. to noon, June 14, June 21 and July 5;

Theatre Academy for ages 9 - 16, two-week sessions, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., July 12 - 23; and

Camp Paramount for ages 6 - 18, two weeks, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., August 2 -13, culminating in a production staged on the Paramount Theatre stage (fully subscribed; waiting list inscription available).

Further information available at www.austintheatre.org.

Upcoming: Perhaps Tomorrow, Changing Lives Youth Ensemble, Theatre Action Project

Found on-line, a blog posting by Theatre Action Project at tapstories.blogspot.com:

The recent suicide of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince in South Hadley, Massachusetts has brought attention to the serious impact of cyberbullying. Prince was harassed in school and after school by text messages and on Facebook. After weeks of harassment she took her own life.

The Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble is taking action locally by reaching out to teens and their parents through their current touring performance, Perhaps Tomorrow, an original play created by the teen ensemble to engage young people in dialogue about issues of cyber bullying, girl aggression, rumors, homophobia and dating relationships. The play models ways young people can support each other and stand up for what they believe is right.

“All these issues are what we see in our high schools; its normal but that doesn’t mean it’s right,” said Remandra Crow, Youth Member of CYTE.

The Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble is program that TAP and SafePlace created in 2003 to address these social problems now, and to train leaders to generate solutions for the future. This program puts the powerful tools of peer education and theatre in the hands of youth who want to stop the cycles of domestic and dating violence. The 15 youth members from High Schools all over the Austin area are paid to create and perform their piece during their Spring tour of the Central Texas Area.

Since 2003, more than 10,000 people have seen the powerful performances of the Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble. It is free to book the youth ensemble to perform at any Central Texas school, church or community center. Contact Nitra@theatreactionproject.org to schedule the ensemble to perform at your site or if you are interested in joining the group.

Come check out an upcoming show:

* April 15: 6 p.m., Del Valle Middle School
* April 22: 6:30 p.m., Manor Performing Arts Center
* May 4: 6:30 p.m., Burnet Middle School
* May 6 : 7 pm, Griffin School
* May 22 : 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Carver Museum