Me Power

I checked out "Me Power" this weekend... This was put on by The Circle Playhouse, directed by Josh Bloch. It is a theatre initiative to create community for Youth in Care or formerly in care.

I was really surprised at the end of the show when only 3 people came out for a bow -- they are played multiple characters, and actually I would have guessed there were 6 or 7 of them in the cast -- they did a great job of making the whole piece feel very full! The production was a great example of using everything that you have; I understand that one of their actors went back to Latin America just 2 weeks before the show - so they changed everything around - kept her character as a audio character who wrote home to friends about her life.

The characters talked about some hard stuff: alcoholic parents, feelling isolated, not being "good enough", seeking approval from parents -- brave stuff!

And on top of that, they were so funny!!

An interesting audience make-up too. Actually, I think it was the most age-diverse audience I've seen. The youths' peers were present, as were program coordinators and other professionals who had helped out in various ways. You start to wonder who's teaching who, though -- which is lovely.

(yes, Isaac, this was another ulla-positive post!)