Keywords

Theatre for Young Audiences, Youth-centered, LGBTQ, Youth, Theatre, Devising, True Colors, The Theater Offensive

Abstract

True Colors: Out Youth Theater at The Theater Offensive is a Boston based program that focuses its theatrical and social mission on engaging Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered (GLBT) at-risk, youth and the community that surrounds them. Through the process of generating an original touring production, True Colors employs theatre as a tool for personal, social, and artistic expression, empowerment, and activism. The program's balance of both process and product focused goals creates an environment of multifaceted engagement and provides an example of how art can thrive in a structure of youth outreach. Though directors and facilitators guide the process and final product, a fundamental mission of True Colors is to provide a student or youth-centered experience where inspiration, decisions, discussions, and leadership generates directly from participants. By observing and participating in the creation of one of these productions, I explore the impact of this student-centered structure on the personal perspectives and artistic growth of the GLBT participants and the artistic process of creating the production. My goal is to discover True Colors' effectiveness of achieving its mission to both create an impactful and positive process for the youth and also develop a final product that is artful and evokes social change. Additionally, by studying similar programs, I establish a basis of comparison against True Colors in order to develop a broader view of the field and evaluate the variances in methodology and the impact on youth and communities.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2010

Advisor

Boyd, Belinda

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Theatre

Degree Program

Theatre

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0003167

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003167

Language

English

Release Date

August 2010

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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