Topic: Building Bridges through Theatre
Presenters: Jeremy Winchester and Samuel Richardson
Date / Time: Thursday, May 23rd, 6 - 8 PM
Location: Flint Youth Theatre, 1220 E. Kearsley St.

Samuel Richardson and Jeremy Winchester from the 7th Ward's Flint Youth Theatre hosted a workshop exploring theater and acting as ways community members and organizations can connect with one another.

Event Participants: Andy Morton, Jessica Coyne, Mary Coyne

While there were not enough participants at this event to follow-through with the planned creative activity, we did have a lively discussion of public theatre. Flint Youth Theatre Artistic Director Jeremy Winchester and Education Director Samuel Richardson shared their evolving process of community engagement. At Flint Youth Theatre, each season is organized around a broad theme and each signature production partners with a relevant local organization selected based on the relevance of its mission. These partnerships are based on the principle that out-of-the-theater workshop time with an FYT teaching artist, before and after seeing a play, would enhance the value of the lessons learned by watching the play itself. These Bridge Workshops, conducted in partner organizations' facilities, are designed to draw out the themes of each play using acting and improvisation techniques. In so doing, the young people were able to act out aspects of the plays, using their own words and imaginations, and so to engage in the active creation of theatrical material itself.