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Students from the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford have been working on their plays for more than eight weeks. The program, led by teacher David Robertson and sponsored by Pitney Bowes, is set to help the students improve their literacy skills through reading and script writing. The Young Playwrights Festival begins at 6:30 p.m. at Stamford's Palace Theatre.
"In addition to improving literacy, this 8-week program nurtured creativity, cultivated the students’ modes of self-expression, and improved self-esteem," a press release said. The work also provided students with a creative outlet that is not offered in schools, it said.
“This has been quite a journey for these students,” said the Palace’s Director of Education Carol Bryan. “Watching them find their voices as they completed the assignments was incredible. It awakened their public speaking skills, and a few of the students who are burdened with social anxiety disorders found the program helpful in alleviating some of their apprehensions.”
The students will perform a one-act play in the Upper Lobby of The Palace.
“Writers are the lifeblood of the theatre, and The Palace sees this type of program as essential to engaging the next generation of artists and audience members," said Producing Artistic Director BT McNicholl. "These young writers have created plays filled with unexpected humor, keen insight and powerful depth of feeling, all stemming from their own experiences with real-life, current subjects, including bullying, family challenges and social politics.”
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