Community Building and Forum Theatre in Maine

by Cathy Plourde

The Maine Alliance For Arts Education, a Kennedy Center Affilate, will shortly be releasing a report on its PENQUIS PROJECT: BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH THE ARTS IN OUR HIGH SCHOOLS.
The Penquis Project put theatre and creative movement artists in regular high school classrooms --English, Physical Education, History, Spanish-- for two week residencies, culminating in a conference at which the students performed pieces they created during their time with an artist. Sixteen high schools participated.

The goal of the project was to foster a more positive social climate in the schools. Using collaborative arts for community building is not a new strategy, but outside of inner city schools it does not often reach the general student population, especially at the high school level. The Penquis area of Maine is a rural setting, and some of the participating schools don't have any theatre or dance programming whatsoever.

Some of the individual schools addressed social issue and specific teen realities head-on, while other projects took a side door into community building by addressing a topic in their curriculum. Students and teachers involved in this first year's event are a part of the planning for next year's residencies. The artists, all professionals in their fields, were selected by their ability to be "teaching artists" and received additional training and support in community-building strategies. An article in "Arts Everyday," the journal of the Maine Alliance for Arts Education, is available right now, a full report with student, teacher and artist assessment is being written, and a 10 minute video documenting efforts so far is in production (available for loan or purchase later in the summer). Send inquiries to maaebangor@aol.com or call Susan Potters at 207-942-7003.

Much of the work I have done of late has been with the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence here in the States. Forum theatre-style presentations with youth at conferences, training adult facilitators who work with youth in abuse prevention/awareness school-based advocacy projects, or training the youth themselves. Besides the new youth centre project that you responded to, I will also be doing some work on tobacco-prevention/ intervention (with youth again) late summer and into the fall. In addition to this freelancing work, I will work with a one-woman play addressing eating disorders. I've hired one actor, and will have to direct and train another soon, to tour to schools, colleges and conferences.

Always happy to continue the dialogue.
Contact: cathy.plourde@att.net

Under Pressure 3, July 2000