www.broadwaynews.com: The Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s “Art” has announced the launch of a new initiative. Named the Art and Process Education Fund, the program will aim to expand access to theater for underserved New York City public school teenage students. The fund is being fiscally sponsored by the Broadway Education Alliance Inc. (BEA), a nonprofit committed to advancing equity and excellence in theater arts education.
4 comments:
I think I’m still confused exactly what this project is in terms of the production itself but it does warm my heart to see more people understanding the importance of arts education. I will say I’m not sure what they’re doing with Art that sets it apart from any other educational youth theater program beyond the fact that right now it’s so known. One of the things I personally hold very close to is the accessibility of theatrical work, if I had to pay for a penny of my education prior to college I wouldn’t be here now. I’m glad so many companies are trying to get more youth involved, I just hope that this doesn’t mean the kids who can afford to be involved. One of the community theaters I spent most of my middle school years in just adjusted their program guidelines after recently having a new theater built; all participants pay to be involved. With performers, sure, I see that everywhere, and it does suck but it makes sense given the expenses for a production that go to each performer ie. costumes and scripts. To charge their youth crew program though? It’s so disheartening to see. To be charging the students involved on the crew makes me so mad. Why in any world would it be appropriate to charge someone to go do work? If I was offered a position running a broadway show and they tried to bill me I’d say no, why would that be okay for a teeny tiny youth theater? No prestige, just a nicer space now. In my time with the company the theater itself was completely falling apart, but what I learned from the work I did was so much more valuable than any specific kind of theater space. Anyways, Art seems cool. I hope kids aren’t expected to pay a fee to participate.
The thing that struck my attention in this article was the show. When I realized this show had Neil and Bobby, I felt the need to see it. I also just think that the show itself is one to watch. I've seen a show kinda like this one, and it was really entertaining to see art being produced on stage, though I don't think this show does that. Anyways, I think the education programming coming out of it is a really wonderful idea. Exposing these students to the arts and what can come of it is a great way for them to get some idea of theatre and the stories that can be told. I also think it is very important to expose these kids to the theatre because, like the article said, they could be the generation of artists. By creating this specific curriculum around the show, it will allow students to gain a connection to not only the show but also a connection to the arts. This connection could result in student involvement in future theatre projects. I think this is a really important initiative to introduce into more schools and to implement into future curricula due to the access to the arts it provides students.
I think that a lot of artists want to bring their work to underserved communities and make their work accessible to as many audiences as possible. It can be hard though for artists to do that and still get paid though if they aren't being backed by something like a non profit like Broadway Education Alliance. I think this sets a great example for how to get art out to more people. I think its great that they also are providing some other art education to the students, it seems like a great way to make the experience more whole. I think often there is a lot of talk about making shows accessible but not a lot of action or real commitment to that accessibility that creates any kind of real impact. This is the direction I want the industry as a whole to move towards, a more people and less profit motivated way of thinking.
An issue that I often talk about with my friends is the accessibility of theater and it is quite nice to see a show take that into consideration. One thing that I am extremely grateful for (and know how big of a privilege it was) is that my high school/middle school took its students to at least one local show per year. I will say that I think that they should have taken into account that a lot of these students who they are providing tickets for will not be white and will not all be male, but they only have white men on stage for this show. Part of making theater accessible to people is not just adjusting prices but also allowing people to see people who look like them on stage. The local theaters near me when I was younger had a lot of strong female lead shows including ones that they genderbent and that was eye opening to me. Representation matters just as much as making theater affordable.
Post a Comment