Oakland High School to Present the Regional World Premiere of PROSPECT HIGH: BROOKLYN
By: BWW News Desk Nov. 14, 2016
Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) and Education at Roundabout (Jennifer DiBella, Director of Education) are pleased to announce that Skyline High School in Oakland, CA will present the regional premiere of PROSPECT HIGH: BROOKLYN. Written by Daniel Robert Sullivan and a team of New York City teenagers, Prospect High: Brooklyn was developed in partnership with Education at Roundabout and the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships. The play had its rolling world premiere in 25 high school productions across the country and in London, September 2015 - September 2016. Skyline High School will present the first Oakland-area production on November 16th at 7:00 PM, November 17th at 12:00 PM and 7:00 PM, and November 18th at 7:00 PM. Civic engagement activities and a talkback will follow each performance. Tickets are $10.00 and available on the school's website, http://www.ousd.org/skyline.
The Skyline High School production will be helmed by teacher and director, Awele Makeba.
Says Makeba, "Prospect High: Brooklyn allows us to explore significant issues that impact students, staff, and parents on a daily basis. Each scene begins with a real event that the teenage co-playwrights have experienced. Although the scenes are then fictionalized and the characters face extremes, the root cause of the conditions do exist and impact school communities globally. Do you see a mirror reflection of your school community or is this a window into the world of schools that you didn't realize teens experience? The play poses many questions. Here are a few that I hope audience members can answer: What can you do when you feel you are not being heard or understood? Who are trusted adults that you can talk to about most issues? How has trauma impacted your life, what are the triggers and how do you de-escalate? In what ways could violence have been prevented? How can we actualize the Student Bill of Rights of Safety & Well-Being? Please support our theatre-for-social change work. It can transform a life, a classroom, a drama program, a school, a community. We are elated that we've been invited to perform at the American High School Theatre Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2017. Join the dialogue and if you can, please help us to raise the funds to take Prospect High: Brooklyn to the world's largest arts festival and to continue this student-led work!"
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 25 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 were part of the rolling world premiere during the 2015-16 academic year:
Indianapolis: Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts and Humanities (September 2015)
Memphis: Ridgeway High School (November 2015)
Syracuse: Corcoran High School (November 2015)
Philadelphia: Academy at Palumbo (December 2015)
Providence: Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts (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)
Oklahoma City: Harding Fine Arts Academy (January 2016)
San Jose: Lincoln High School (January 2016)
Minneapolis: Southwest High School (February 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 (April 2016)
Austin: McCallum Fine Arts Academy (April 2016)
Baltimore: Baltimore School for the Arts (May 2016)
San Diego: San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (May 2016)
London: Showdown Theatre Arts (May 2016)
In New York City, the Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts performed the play in Roundabout's own Black Box Theatre in September 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 and was originally developed with dramaturg Shannon Deep. 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. Visit http://ProspectHighBrooklyn.com for reviews, images, or to request a perusal copy.
To learn more about the development of Prospect High: Brooklyn, please visit TCG Circle at the link here.
The Oakland cast includes Kyla Henderson, Nadia Brooks, Atlantis Clay, Charles Cheeks VI, Richard Nguyen, Donovan Zedd, Olive Blair, Jennet Nguyen, and Henavea Robertson, plus an ensemble. Tax-deductible donations can be made at https://squareup.com/market/skyline-high-school/item/theatre-festival-edinburgh-scotland.
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.
Education programs at Roundabout are supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Education at Roundabout uses theatre to enhance teacher practice and deepen student learning in New York City classrooms. Using the professional theatre resources of Roundabout Theatre Company, Education at Roundabout is dedicated to: transform the classrooms of New York City public schools; engage students in theatre experiences that explore the universal themes of the human condition; build a community of confident, expressive young people; foster a new generation of artists and arts administrators; and expand the impact of Roundabout's productions by providing historical, literary and social contexts in the classroom. roundabouttheatre.org/education
Education at Roundabout connects with students and teachers through customized school partnerships, residency programs, mentorships and workshops in the practice of professional theatrical skills, professional development workshops, internships, apprenticeships, backstage tours, talkbacks and pre-show workshops. For each Roundabout production, Education also creates Upstage guides, which include interviews, contextual information, teacher resources and activities, and presents a post-show Lecture Series hosted by Education dramaturg Ted Sod and featuring a distinguished artist, scholar, historian or critic.
Roundabout Theatre Company is committed to producing the highest quality theatre with the finest artists, sharing stories that endure, and providing accessibility to all audiences. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the production of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate and engage all audiences.
Roundabout Theatre Company presents a variety of plays, musicals, and new works on its five stages, each of which is specifically designed to enhance the needs of Roundabout's mission. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design, is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. The Stephen Sondheim Theatre offers a state of the art LEED-certified Broadway theatre in which to stage major large-scale musical revivals. Together these distinctive homes serve to enhance Roundabout's work on each of its stages.
American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
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