The Creative and Brave Company of the Children’s Theatre Workshop presents their third annual performance, “This Way Isn’t Working,” May 3 and 5, 2019. The Creative and Brave Company (CBC) is a free and voluntary program for Toledo-area teens where they select a social issues topic and create original theatre to promote dialogue and awareness about the topic.
The company of young people, representing six different high schools in the Toledo area, selected the topic of gun violence back in September 2018. They interviewed six people in Toledo from a variety of backgrounds, transcribed the interviews into a script, and will present them in a staged reading.
“The performance was inspired by the 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida, and the subsequent student walkouts in April,” says Executive Artistic Director Aimee Reid. “Many of the CBC students were affected by those events and felt compelled to continue the conversation using their skills in theatre performance.”
In previous years, the CBC presented on issues of mental health and identity politics, using original poetry, scenes, and monologues. This year, however, they chose to bring other voices to the stage.
“This style of performance was made popular by the play The Laramie Project, which centers around the murder of Mathew Shepard in 1998,” says Reid. “The students are performing the actual words of their interviewees, as well as some of their research and their reactions to the process. It’s little wonder it took us nine months to assemble the performance.”
The 2018-2019 Creative and Brave Company is:
Luna Cherry
Lyric Clifton-Bowen
Katie Crawford
Seth Crawford
Regan Drown
Jack Haynes
Tyler Knehr
Isaac Slater
Darby Stevens
Emma Swanbeck
Luna Cherry
Lyric Clifton-Bowen
Katie Crawford
Seth Crawford
Regan Drown
Jack Haynes
Tyler Knehr
Isaac Slater
Darby Stevens
Emma Swanbeck
The performance is on May 3 and 5 at 6:30 pm at the Tansey-Zimmerman Theatre in the Collingwood Arts Center. It is free, thanks to a grant from Leadership Toledo’s YIPEE program, and lasts about 45 minutes.
For additional information, contact the CTW office at office@ctwtoledo.org or call at 419-244-5061.
