Creative Writing
Performance – History
Combating Racism – Anti-Semitism – Bullying
Aligned to Common Core Learning Standards-in school workshops
Due to the success of 73 workshops from 2015 – 2019 in the U.S. and over 77 workshops in the U.K., Germany and France, Voice Theatre is creating new workshops combating bullying, racism, anti-Semitism, and defining the meaning of home.
“Voice Theatre came to do THE LEGACY PROJECT and students who were reluctant to read or write or take part in discussions suddenly became engaged. One student who had been hostile at best became a model student, showing a flair for improv. Another student wrote a full-length play; she became the first person in her family to graduate high school. These are only two examples of the many dramatic changes in my students, due to the Voice Theatre workshops.” – Bethany Goldpaugh, Kingston HS Teacher, Kingston, NY
The Legacy Project comprises 10 in-school sequential interactive workshops, a field trip to the play LEGACY a music theatre piece about Jewish refugees on the eve of WWII, followed by a talk back workshop. In workshops students write and perform their personal stories of racism, anti-Semitism and bullying and at the final talkback LEGACY actors alongside the students present the student stories.
In workshops 1-8 Voice Theatre teaching artists create a safe place and a bond of trust where they utilize improvisation, creative writing and research materials. In creative writing workshops, students share and write monologues focusing on their experiences of being the victim of or witness to racism, anti-Semitism and bullying. Comparing past and present we study the economic, cultural, political and historical factors that affected German teen refugees from 1933-1939.
In the 9th workshop students attend a free matinee of LEGACY followed by a talk back. At the talk back LEGACY actors and students perform student monologues for the matinee audience. Students and actors share how the play’s themes have influenced their lives. A 10th wrap-up session follows.
LEGACY is a play that unravels as a young American girl unearths the true story of her father’s cowardice and courage. Based on events from playwright Shauna Kanter’s life, this suspenseful story of refugees during 1939 in Germany is enhanced by our student stories of racism and anti-Semitism. Their stories create a bridge between past and present, further empowering our student authors and the audiences of their peers.
Because students have created and performed their own stories, The Legacy Project creates a path for students to tear down their walls of assumption and misinformation, and build bridges of acceptance. It is a space for them to celebrate the strengths of their differing cultures, languages and histories and to be united in a shared humanity.
10 In-School Workshop + Field Trip Synopsis
Writing, History, Improvisation, Sharing Personal Stories: Sessions I-VIII
Teaching artists will implement creative writing, improvisation and role-playing as students create improvisations and write monologues based on their own experiences related to racism, anti-Semitism and bullying. Students also examine what life was like for German teenagers from 1933-1939.
Performance & Post-Performance Workshop Session IX
All students attend a performance of LEGACY. Students participate in a post-performance workshop where their original monologues are read by themselves, fellow students and LEGACY actors.
Wrap-up Session X
Students and teachers complete questionnaires and in a feedback section we discuss how the play’s themes have influenced and changed their perceptions.
Schools that have participated in The Legacy Project:
New York City:
Seward Park High School, 10th grade
Washington Irving High School, 12th grade
Bayard Ruston High School for the Humanities, 10th grade
Chelsea High School, 10th grade
University Neighborhood High School, 9th grade
Upstate New York Schools:
Kingston High School, 12th grade
Hudson Valley Pathways Academy, Kingston, NY, 11th – 12th grades
Children’s Home of Kingston, 9th – 12th grades
Detroit Inner City:
Western International High School, 11th grade
Cass Technical High School, 11th grade
Mumford High School, 11th grade
North Farmington High School, 11th grade
Renaissance High School, 11th grade
United Kingdom:
Hartcliffe High School, Bristol, England, 10th grade
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Bristol, England, college level
City & Westminster College, London, England, college level
Middlesex University, Cockfosters, London, England, college level
Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, Scotland, college level
France:
Georges Lapierre High School, Bordeaux, 10th grade
Germany:
Helena Lange Schule, Hannover, 11th grade
History
In 1995, in cooperation with The Bristol Old Vic Theatre, Bristol, UK Voice Theatre produced Legacy.
Due to the unique compatibility of the educational workshops and theatre performance, The Legacy Project was one out of ten projects chosen from 358 submissions from the UK to be sponsored by the European Commission in The 1997 Year to Combat Racism. Invited by the Cultural Ministry of Hanover, (Kulturamt der Hannover), the Bordeaux-Bristol Association, The Resistance Museum, (Centre National Jean Moulin) and SOS-Racisme, LEGACY was presented and the integral educational workshops of The Legacy Project took place in Germany, France, in London at the Cockpit Theatre and then in New York City in 2003 under the title, The Gift. In NYC, we worked with five high schools implementing The Legacy Project. In 2011, LEGACY was produced at the Bermann Center for the Arts, West Bloomfield, MI. Voice Theatre conducted 36 workshops in 6 inner city Detroit high schools.
Previous Funding
Lufthansa, The Acacia Foundation, Association of Jewish Refugees, Lord Ashdown Charitable Trust, Avon International Education, Andrew Balint Foundation, Bristol City Council, The British Council, (London, Koln, Berlin), D’Avigador Goldsmid Trusts, The European Commission, 45’ Aid Society, Greater Bristol Trust, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Kulturamt der Hannover, Stadtsparkasse Hannover, Kessler Foundation, Lex Foundation, Niedersachsische Sparkassenstiftung, 1970 Trust, Pollitzer Foundation, Harry Ree Foundation, Spielman Charitable Trust, City of Westminster Foundation. Michigan Council for the Arts, the Skillman Foundation, Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, the NYC Board of Education, The WAWA Foundation.