Syracuse High School to Present Regional World Premiere of PROSPECT HIGH: BROOKLYN
By: Sally Henry Fuller Oct. 31, 2015
The Corcoran production will be helmed by teacher and director, Greg J. Hipius.
Says Hipius, "We at the Corcoran Association of Student Theatre (C.A.S.T.) are all very excited to bring Prospect High: Brooklyn to our Central New York community. The play paints a far more accurate portrait of many of the life issues faced by our own students here at Corcoran High School than most other theatrical attempts I have seen. Our young performers have relished the opportunity to tackle the challenge of a work with such local relevance and timely, moving, authentic content. The students' preparations have not only stretched their capabilities as artists, but have provoked many important conversations about the topics presented; it is their hope, and mine, that their production of the play will similarly prompt the opening and advancement of dialogue amongst our audience from our own community. Theatre can serve many important functions on our world, including a means of escape and a springboard for imagination, but it is the rare opportunity that Prospect High: Brooklyn affords us to use theatre as a catalyst for challenging our own assumptions about our own community that sets this project apart from others."
Conceived by Daniel Robert Sullivan (Tommy DeVito in Jersey Boys, Author of Places Please!) and co-written by a team of New York City teenagers, the play focuses on four intelligent, highly charged students and one seriously apathetic teacher. Prospect High: Brooklyn was created with the intent of offering a new collection of serious, true-to-life material for teenage actors. The play addresses themes of apathy, revenge, deep friendship, trans acceptance, casual racism, self-harm, and the power of both good and bad advice from teachers, all against the backdrop of an enormous Brooklyn high school. Prospect High: Brooklyn can be performed by 5 - 18 actors.
"The National New Play Network introduced the concept of a rolling world premiere in 1998, and I've always thought it would be great to offer that kind of arrangement to high schools. There is so much energy and power in teenage theatre-makers, but that positive force is often felt only locally. By introducing this fierce new play to the nation's high schools in a coordinated way, Roundabout is not only promoting the play with positive publicity, but the schools themselves. After much research, we chose 22 of the boldest high school theatre departments from across the country and can use this first-ever high school rolling world premier to recognize them and expose their power at a national level," notes creator Daniel Robert Sullivan.
Prospect High: Brooklyn was recently awarded semi-finalist status for the 2015 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Center and has been published by Smith & Kraus.
Sullivan adds, "I wanted to create an issue-driven, age-appropriate, ethnically-diverse, flexible-cast play that represents the extremes inherent in an urban high school environment. Through nine months of collaboration, these teenagers have introduced me to the issues and debates most important to them. We've structured these conversations into the play."
The following productions are currently scheduled for the 2015-16 academic year:
- Indianapolis: Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts and Humanities (September 2015)
- Memphis: Ridgeway High School (November 2015)
- Providence: Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts (November 2015)
- Syracuse: Corcoran High School (November 2015)
- Philadelphia: Academy at Palumbo (December 2015)
- Boston: Boston Arts Academy (December 2015)
- Bridgeport: Central High School (December 2015)
- Harrisburg: Capital Area School for the Arts (December 2015)
- Milwaukee: Milwaukee High School of the Arts (December 2015)
- Ann Arbor: Pioneer High School (January 2016)
- Louisville: Youth Performing Arts High School (January 2016)
- Minneapolis: Southwest High School (January 2016)
- Oklahoma City: Harding Fine Arts Academy (January 2016)
- San Jose: Lincoln High School (January 2016)
- Chicago: Niles West High School (February 2016)
- Tallahassee: Leon High School (February 2016)
- Dallas: Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy (February 2016)
- Philadelphia: Philadelphia School for Creative and Performing Arts (February 2016)
- Long Island: Nassau BOCES Long Island High School for the Arts (March 2016)
- Austin: McCallum Fine Arts Academy (April 2016)
- San Diego: San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (May 2016)
In New York City, the Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts will perform the play in Roundabout's own Black Box Theatre in early Spring 2016.
Co-writers of the play include Daniel Robert Sullivan, Paul Stoll, Aaliyah Stewart, Isaiah Latimer, Chanique Peart, Deshaye Tingling, Amanda Rodriguez, Jaylin Acosta, Brandy Brown, Azaria Guthrie, Rebecca Powell, Rachel Friedman, and Shannon Deep.
Prospect High: Brooklyn received a workshop presentation at Roundabout Theatre Company in April 2014 under the direction of Shelley Butler. It is currently being further developed at the Nevada Conservatory Theatre, in association with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, under the direction of Christopher V. Edwards.
The script is now available on Amazon and directly from Smith & Kraus. To learn more about the development of Prospect High: Brooklyn, please visit TCG Circle at the link here.
Daniel Robert Sullivan and Roundabout Theatre Company are participants in the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships, funded by the William & Eva Fox Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group.
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