BTG PLAYS! Receives Youth Reach Grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council

Berkshire Theatre Group has announced that it is the recipient of the Massachusetts' Cultural Council's Youth Reach Grant which will fund BTG PLAYS! partnering with JRC Youth. BTG PLAYS! with JRC Youth will provide twelve at-risk teens from Pittsfield's Juvenile Resource Center with theatre skills to build confidence and communication ability, and will train them to be assistant teachers/mentors for children in BTG playwriting residencies. 

The Youth Reach Grant totals $30,000, to be distributed over the next three years through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Berkshire Theatre Group was also awarded a $25,800 Partner Grant via the Cultural Investment Portfolio for 2013. 

"BTG PLAYS! with JRC Youth” is about the blossoming of young people. It is about the capacity of theatre to empower them to communicate more powerfully. BTG will invite twelve interested youth who are facing tough challenges to unleash themselves into a world in which it is possible to live fully, to express themselves more clearly, where one can tell one's own story, where one can learn how to listen.

The JRC youth in this program will be immersed in a six month theatre experience at the Colonial, two afternoons per week from January through early July, 2013. The youth will participate in Master Classes with Kate Maguire in small groups twice a month for one hour sessions. In these intensive sessions that will focus on character studies, voice and physical work, they will be able to reflect not only on their emotions but they will begin to understand others. 

Associate Education Artist, Travis Daly, will conduct weekly classes with the participants, in which they will partake in theatre games, relaxation exercises, journaling and storytelling from their journals. As time goes on, students will participate in interactive lectures with Travis on the varieties of roles in the theatre.

The students will then participate as assistant teachers/mentors for young students at the after-school theatre program in Pittsfield elementary schools. While working with the young children, they will have the chance to implement curriculum ideas that they developed in the classroom, and they will serve as a director, stage manager, or sound designer, etc. for performances in the school.                                                          

In addition, for approximately three hours per week, the students will work in a theatre department and be mentored by a BTG staff person. Departments include working in the ticket office, back stage on set construction, fundraising, marketing, ushering, house management, audience services, facility support or administration.

The inspiration for this program came from the experience of one young JRC student in 2011. Daly best describes this as: 

"As a teacher with BTG, I had the pleasure of working with Celina in 2011 at Pittsfield's Conte School. Celina, a senior, had left classes at Pittsfield High because of social issues. She was finishing up her credits at the JRC. Through a JRC staff's suggestion, I met Celina and told her about BTG PLAYS!. She was very interested and I invited her to shadow me as an intern. We worked together Tuesday-Thursday after school at the Conte, working with 2nd-5th graders on acting and stage design. I learned that Celina was a former Conte student herself. We would meet before each class to discuss that day's lessons. She was a natural with the children and her dedication to the project was tremendous. She was always engaging the students in a positive way. Her genuine care and willingness to help the kids succeed made her a mentor for 35 students. Celina is currently studying Early Childhood Education at Berkshire Community College, hoping to be a teacher.” 

Ms. Maguire and Berkshire Theatre Group believe the BTG Plays! and JRC Youth partnership will provide students with the confidence and resources to make positive changes in their lives and their futures.

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