EORO uses one-to-one mentor/youth
relationships to support youth as they learn tools of playwriting.
We start our first week of the intensive workshop with exercises
to help the young writers develop the story they'll be telling.
Some of these exercises are improvisation techniques new to
the students, to get them to feel comfortable, to open up,
to work in metaphor, to wear a mask — to prepare to tell
a story. We work to build a sense of community and a basis
for trust for both youth and mentors.
The second week we pair off one mentor to each youth. The
young writers take the tools learned in the first week, and
start building their plays. The mentors are trained to support
the writers through the construction, asking questions all
the way along. They help the students to develop character
profiles, to delve deeply into their own lives and hearts
to interpret their characters, but the creation comes from
the students.
The program concludes with a staged reading of the plays
on Friday, the day of the performance! Professional actors,
generously donating their time, come to rehearse the plays
while the young writers and their mentors watch. The performance
that evening is before the families, friends and peers of
the young writers, the institutional staff, and often the
public. The young writers' amazement and pleasure at seeing
their plays come to life is tremendously rewarding to mentors
and actors alike.
Our mentors are trained in the process during orientations,
and are guided through the first week with the Artistic Director
leading the program. Many of our young writers may have faced
difficult circumstances in their lives. We provide training
and guidance to mentors on how to address issues that arise.
Read more about job opportunities
as a mentor, or how to volunteer
to perform a young writers' play.
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View a short video
clip showing our workshop process and a student play being performed.
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If you have questions
about this process, contact
us, or come to one of our performances, many of which
welcome the public (see our
calendar).
Meet some of the
artists that participate in EORO's programs. |
