City Theatre's Shorts Cuts Educational Tour Concludes

City Theatre packed up its shorts and hit the road for the SHORTS CUTS educational tour that brought engaging and fun programming to thousands of students in Miami-Dade County from January through March 2016.

Directed by Jessica Farr, SHORTS CUTS is an entertaining outreach program comprised of age and theme-appropriate short plays. This anti-bullying and self-respect program brought thematic short drama into Miami-Dade County public schools and provided students with live theatre performances, post-show discussions with the cast and crew, and the opportunity to learn about careers in the arts.

"I am honored to have worked with the City Theatre creative team on the SHORTS CUTS 2016 tour," said Farr. "The exciting content composed of works with South Florida roots engaged the students from diverse perspectives and on many nuanced levels."

City Theatre commissioned four women playwrights with South Florida roots to write original plays for its middle school SHORTS CUTS 2016 tour. These four award-winning playwrights captured Miami's diverse experiences and cultures to reflect, impact, entertain and teach the young audiences on the tour.

The SHORT CUTS play line-up included:

The Aftershock by France-Luce Benson

Two misunderstood young girls, one Haitian and the other African-American, are lumped together by prejudice and ignorance, and believe they could not be more different. Left behind at recess to sort things out, they find common ground and a timid and unlikely friendship built on empathy and kindness.

No New Friends by Jessica Farr

Amidst middle school peer pressure and the desire to be liked, a friendship is split when staying true to oneself means sacrificing popularity. The two former friends are then forced to decide which is more important, and what it means to be your authentic self.

Ten or Something Years From Now by Lauren Feldman

Little H has just frighteningly bullied Percy when the two are visited by their older, future selves. The older selves reveal that this youthful mistake has left a permanent mark on both adults. When erasing the past seems impossible, present and future selves endeavor to forgive and move forward.

FREE-K by Vanessa Garcia

Delfina is not like her classmates-to them, she seems entirely other-a fish out of water. A bilingual, Cuban immigrant with a powerful message, Delfina lets insults roll off her back like water, and through her unique and resonant story, challenges the very notion of what it means to be "other."

The SHORT CUTS cast included Chasity Hart, Andres Maldonado, Diana Garle, Inez Barlatier and Dominic Smith.

For information on next year's tour, contact Melody Fakhourie at melody@citytheatre.com or call 305-755.9401 ext. 12. For more information on City Theatre, visit www.citytheatre.com.

The SHORT CUTS educational school tour was made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, and the following sponsors: Carnival Foundation and The Children's Trust.

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