CMU School of Drama


Monday, October 04, 2021

The Rep launches programs to bring art to all segments of the St. Louis community

BrandAveStudios | stltoday.com: Hana S. Sharif, artistic director of St. Louis Repertory Theatre, has a mission beyond putting first-rate theater on The Rep’s stages: She wants to bring the joy of live theater to all segments of the St. Louis community, especially historically underserved groups.

2 comments:

Phoebe Huggett said...

I was interested from the first statement, this group does not solely care about putting on first rate theatre, but instead bringing theatre and art to groups across the city, not only for them to witness it, but for them to participate in it as well. Especially in their distinction of bringing the ability to participate in theatre to eldery folks. I really enjoy this decentralized push to help tell the stories of everyone who participates in these workshops, not just the stories told by the productions that they would put on and focus on, and how this actually connects the people, not just shows but opportunities to meet and talk and form community that form around and accompany those shows. This also feels like a very sudden change in how they are managing their resources, and I’m curious how that was managed.

Kaylie C. said...

It makes me so happy to see theaters in St. Louis being featured on this page more often. While my hometown has a lot of problems, St. Louisans have never wavered in their investment to the community. Unlike other places I have lived, particularly Michigan, the past and present racial injustices have motivated people to work harder to improve the city rather than convince them to abandon it. Theaters have been at the forefront of this for a long time. The Rep has consistently done great work to make theater more accessible. It is great that they have labored to diversify their approach and have developed programs for all ages, as most theaters focus their education efforts on just children. I am hopeful that The Rep finds that these outreach programs have the positive impact they are seeking and that people come back for more in the form of ticket sales.