The Possibility Project








For the penultimate stop on my travels I returned to New York City. I visited The Possibility Project, a long-running theatre programme to 'empower teenagers to transform their lives and communities'. The project runs a number of different programs and I was fortunate enough to attend a rehearsal with the participants on the foster care programme.

All participants must audition to be part of the programme, although no one is chosen on the basis of talent. The auditions are an opportunity to see whether a teenager would be comfortable with taking part in acting, dance and singing sessions and to find out more about the programme. This is followed by a nine month rehearsal period. Participants discuss the social issues that are affecting their lives, share personal accounts and improvise scenes based on real life experiences. Over the course of the rehearsal period the production team (largely made up of  the teenage participants) will develop a script for an original musical. This will be based on real life stories from the experiences of the participants, with a professional choreographer and musical director creating songs and movement for the show.

There is a strict rule that participants will never perform in a scene that is based on their own personal account, thereby creating a level of distance from their own experiences when it comes to performing the show. Following the performance the participants will design and deliver an issue-based social action project based on themes from the show.

It was a pleasure to see the level of energy and commitment amongst the teenagers on the foster care programme. I felt that the structure and length of the rehearsal period created a containing and supportive environment for teenagers who were facing a great lack of stability in their own lives from a young age. I felt that the Possibility Project provided a great opportunity for both personal development and expression whilst also raising awareness of important social issues related to trauma.

Popular posts from this blog

Drumming Through Trauma

Image
Following my time in Ohio I travelled to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In Cape Cod I had the opportunity to shadow Sam Holmstock, a talented and experienced musician. Sam facilitates a number of drumming classes with different populations and community groups in and around Cape Cod. I was lucky enough to be able to take part in some of Sam's classes, including the Drumming Through Trauma programme delivered through Cotuit Center for the Arts. Drumming Through Trauma is a weekly class that is primarily aimed at veterans suffering from PTSD, though it can also be accessed by other members of the community who have been affected by trauma in different contexts. The group meets each week for an hour and uses Conga drums to learn and play a series of rhythms. Many participants have been coming to the group for several years and it is clear that they have developed a level of proficiency as musicians. The group is also always open to new members, and Sam was a skilled teach
Read more

Fellowship Winners Announced

I am thrilled to learn I have been awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship. My Fellowship will see me travel to the USA to learn about how performing arts can be used to support healing from trauma. I work in a busy clinical service at a domestic abuse charity, and I am particularly grateful to my managers for supporting my Fellowship application. The therapeutic benefits of the arts are championed by experts in the fields of trauma, including Bessel van der Kolk (author of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma). I plan to learn about a range of models for using performing arts to assist those traumatised by abuse, violence and adverse life experiences. My aim is to bring back this learning to the UK to inform service development and help develop creative and empowering models for helping people improve wellbeing, reduce distress and reclaim their lives following experiences of trauma.  
Read more

Theatre of the Oppressed NYC

Image
Following an inspiring and thought provoking couple of weeks in South Florida, I travelled back north and arrived in New York City to spend three days learning about Forum Theatre with Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. Owing to dramatic and stormy weather my flight was delayed and I ended up arriving in NYC at 3am, allowing a very few hours sleep. Luckily the time I spent with Theatre of the Oppressed NYC was stimulating and engaging and I felt remarkably unaffected by my sleep deprivation. Forum Theatre is one of the techniques that falls under Theatre of the Oppressed, developed by Augusto Boal who drew on the ideas of Paulo Friere. Forum Theatre aims to enable groups of people who are experiencing oppression to use theatre to enact their lived experiences. The audience are invited to discuss and comment on the problems facing the oppressed person(s) and suggest alternate courses of action that the protagonist (or their allies) could take. Rather than verbally explain their idea
Read more