Teenage Playwrights

hitting the target audience

“You like the show? Great! You are our target audience!”

That’s what the director of the last show at the A.R.T. said to my 14 year old kid. If you look into a theater’s rehearsal hall you would think this is obviously true. In theater we often do things that are only really associated with kids:

head stands, dance circles ... frollicking

Shadow puppets

putting your water bottle on mr. cielinski's overhead projector to make an eyeball on the screen.

That’s what the workshop for that show looked like.

But only adults made this production:

This photo has drama club vibes, though, right?

I had a great email exchange about this production with the head of community engagement for a school who I am helping develop a theater-going/theater-making habit:

I am curious about one line in your email You Wrote:" the current show at the A.R.T. is a good one for schools ... with a full blown explicit sex scene. I know that team well. If you guys go and want some questions answered from the director or designers, please let me know. "

Do you think it is a good show for schools or did you mean Not a good show for schools?

Let's talk?

Not for schools. Not for …