The Rose Theater's Brian Guehring to Receive AATE Award

Imagine getting a diverse group of teens to cooperate in a creative endeavor that lasts for months, pushes boundaries, and asks them to reveal their innermost hopes and fears not just once, but every year for fifteen years.

Now imagine if a collective group of the most esteemed theater professors and artistic directors agreed that one person provided the most innovative programs for young people to express themselves and wanted to recognize that achievement.

You've envisioned Brian Guehring's work as founder and co-director of The Pride Players and the winner of the 2013 Lin Wright Special Recognition Citation.

The American Alliance for Theatre and Education has announced Guehring will receive its highest honor for his work at The Rose Theater for whom he "established special programs, developed experimental work, made a distinctive educational contribution or provided meritorious service thus furthering theatre and drama for young people".

The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) is one of the most prominent organizations nationally who connect and inspire a growing collective of theatre artists, educators, and scholars committed to transforming young people and communities through the theatre arts.

"This award demonstrates the widespread value of the programs Brian has developed and speaks, yet again, to the impact our theater has on the national scene," said Matt Gutschick, Artistic Director at The Rose.

Guehring is the Director of Education and Playwright-in-Residence at The Rose Theater. In 1999, he founded the Pride Players as an outlet for exploring issues facing gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and straight allied teens. The program brings together teens who use improvisation to write skits, scenes, parodies, poetry, songs and true story monologues to address their common concerns. More than 9,500 teens, parents, teachers, counselors and family members have seen the productions. The Pride Players have toured to national theater conferences, as well as local schools. The program was awarded the 2006 Human and Civil Rights Leadership Award from the National Education Association.

Written comments about Guehring from the members of the AATE Awards Committee:

Brian excels in every category included in the Wright award...Brian is a prolific playwright and many of his plays have been produced by several prestigious theatres. He has been represented at New Visions/New Voices; He has been an invaluable member of the Omaha Theater Company for 14 plus years where he has directed, co-directed, and acted; is co-founder of the nationally recognized Pride Players which were featured as the keynote performance for the AATE Conference, 2012. The list of his contributions and accomplishments is astounding. The lives he has touched are already a living legacy.

Brian has been an outstanding advocate and innovative producer of work for and by LGBQT youth. The incredible work of Pride Players has led to a network of complimentary programs across the country, echoing the importance of this work.