Young Players Theater was thrilled to have partnered with P.S. 58 The Carroll School this spring season in launching our first Theater for Young Audiences production of Speaking Up! We developed the original production, and our debut performance, specifically with PS 58 in mind.

Over the course of Young Players Theater’s residency at PS 58 during the month of April, each student attended one of two performances of Speaking Up! One for Kindergarten-2nd grade and one for 3rd-5th grade. Performances were followed by a post-show workshop with each class in which students were introduced to one of the Speaking Up! actors and engaged in a lively Q&A session. One of YPT’s teaching artists then lead students in a poetry-based lesson, in honor of National Poetry Month, that mirrored the lesson taught in the classroom scenes of Speaking Up!

3rd through 5th grade students delved into a lesson using some of Langston Hughes’ dream-based poetry, resulting in a performance of their own creation. Kindergarten through 2nd graders created their own versions of Maya Angelou’s poem, “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me at All.” When students delved deeper into the poems and created their own mini-performances, they explored and developed their own theatrical voices, just as Ella, the lead character does in Speaking Up!.

It was a pleasure working with the PS 58 community!