The Young Professionals Company At OCT Presents BREAKING CHARACTER

The Young Professionals Company at Oregon Children's Theatre (OCT) presents a three-part series of online performances, Breaking Character. This series highlights the teen voice and perspective of the talented YPs through original stories and songs.

"Frames of Mind," the first performance on Tuesday, December 15, features seven self-written and performed monologues and stories. Crafted from their unique voice, each piece was developed in collaboration with Director/Dramaturg Matthew B. Zrebski. On Thursday, December 17, the YPs present "My Story in Song," a cabaret-style musical showcase. To wrap up the series, the YPs will perform an original play, "Below the Camera, Outside of the Box," on Tuesday, December 22. Given only the prompt "what is an artist's responsibility during a time of crisis?" and discussing issues and topics important to teens, the YPs were guided by Director/Teaching Artist Andrea White to devise a show for their voice in this current time.

The Young Professionals Company (YPs), the award-winning teen mentoring program at OCT, rose to the unique challenge of producing shows for a virtual platform amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "The Young Professionals Company is continually pushing and challenging our teens to think outside the box, to innovate and learn. The current situation is doing just that," says Dani Baldwin, Artistic Director of the Young Professionals Company. "We see this season, as unusual as it is, as a learning opportunity for YPs to experience a new way of performing and producing shows."

Breaking Character was filmed and edited in a variety of ways, each designed to enhance the style of the performance when moved to a virtual platform. "Frames of Mind" was filmed live (and socially-distanced) at Curious Comedy Theater, prior to the latest restrictions on gatherings in Oregon, then edited together by a Young Professional. Originally, the cabaret was intended to be filmed and streamed live through a socially-distanced performance; however, plans were changed due to the latest restrictions, and each YP was then filmed individually and edited together, using Zoom software to record the cabaret-style banterings and interactions between cast members. The original play, "Below the Camera, Outside of the Box," required more technical finesse to give the appearance of all the performers being together in one space, though all were filmed separately. "This year, with the cancelation of our traditional, on- stage season, we have had to reimagine how to bring art to our families," said Artistic Director Marcella Crowson. "It has been a challenge, but we are excited to bring new ideas, innovations, and talents forward as we navigate this new way of performing."

This year, because of the COVID pandemic, the Young Professionals season will be entirely virtual; in addition to Breaking Character, they will perform In the Forest She Grew Fangs by Stephen Spotswood in January, as well as Impulse (the annual improv troupe performance) in February. These online performances will be accessible and affordable, but they will encourage donations to help offset the production costs. Donations can be made online at octc.org/donate.

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