Teens Can Now Register For Chance Theater SPEAK UP Summer Program Through June 3rd

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is proud to announce the return of its summer youth program, Teens Speak Up. Now in its 16th summer, Teens Speak Up gives local junior high and high school students the opportunity to connect with their peers and Chance Artists as they write, design, and perform their own original play. Through this process, students will also grow concentration and awareness, emotional freedom and connection, and self-confidence. Chance Theater Resident Artists Darryl B. Hovis and Education Director, Karen O'Hanlon will guide students through the six-week program, which begins on June 17, 2019 and culminate in four public performances on July 27 and 28 at 11:00am and 7:00pm.

"Speak Up - Take a 'Chance' has allowed me to express myself in an artistic manner and for once I felt like I had a artistic voice and it mattered. I felt like I was part of something great, positive, and important."
- Daphne R., grade 9

"In my opinion, the most valuable aspect of the workshops were collaborating with one another. Listening, speaking, and learning from unique students from different schools. Programs like this end rivalry, and prejudice throughout the district. Suddenly theater is not a competition, but a celebration of arts, and reflection of human experiences. It was an honor to work with these students." - Amilcar, grade 11

"Speak Up is different from a lot of other programs being offered in that it gives students an opportunity to take ownership of the entire show, from conception to production," said Darryl Hovis, a Speak Up instructor. "It really immerses them in the entire theatrical process from start to finish. This gives them a greater degree of ownership as individuals and as a collective. Since the show is created collaboratively through devised theater methods, they work as a community to create a work that addresses their concerns and validates them as an important part of that community, and the greater community as a whole. It helps them find their voice as artists, and, more importantly, as people."

Since its inception, hundreds of students have experienced the Speak Up program free of charge thanks to the generosity of donors. This year, funding has been provided by Assistance League of Anaheim, California Humanities, Orange County Community Foundation, and Katheryn Baker.

MEET THE INSTRUCTORS

Darryl B. Hovis is an actor, director, and designer, and is the TYA Producing Associate at Chance Theater. He earned his MA in Theatre Production at Central Washington University and studied acting at the Professional Conservatory at UCSD under Anna Shapiro (Steppenwolf) as well as South Coast Repertory under Karen Hensel. He is the co-founder and artistic director of the Culver City Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, where he developed an intensive arts program for high school students in theatre, film, music, and art, and has gone on to develop theatre programs at other Southern California high schools, as well as Theatre International at Leysin American School in Leysin, Switzerland. He has directed a multitude of productions, some of his favorites being Therese Raquin (Chance Theater), Rent and The Threepenny Opera (Samohi Theatre), Machinal and Resurrecting Antigone (UniTheatre), and The Miracle Worker and Treehouses (AVPA). He dedicates his work to God and to his wife, Angela, and three children, Dylan, Andrew, and Julia.

Karen O'Hanlon, a Philadelphia area native, is Chance Theater's Education Director and a proud resident artist. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from East Stroudsburg University and has worked as a teaching artist, actress, and director throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware. At the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, she spent several years teaching and directing for the First Stage program, as well as their in-school residency program. Karen was the regional director for Creative Theatre, where she worked to bring after-school and summer camps to children throughout the east coast. In addition, she has worked with several outreach programs designed to help at-risk youths and teens find their voice through creative expression. In California, Karen taught Theatre at Fairmont Private School, where she produced student-driven new work. Karen is also a coach and judge for the Orange County middle school debate program.

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