Whew! It’s been such a crazy day. A crazy-good day, that is!
We started off this morning with an intern workshop led by the Producing Director here at BSC, Richard Parison. He was so informative and so willing to answer our questions. It was incredibly interesting AND there were free bagels to be had, which always makes for a happy bunch of interns!
Aside from that, I have spent all day long working on editing a video for the Playwright Mentoring Project (or PMP). I haven’t talked about this program much yet, but it definitely deserves to be talked about! PMP recieved one of 15 Coming Up Taller Awards in 2007. The Coming Up Taller Award is the absolute highest honor you can recieve as an arts education program in the US. It’s like winning the Super Bowl, only the First Lady presents it, and you don’t get a giant ring (or go to Disneyland). I didn’t realize that PMP had recieved the award until I arrived here… I had a “moment” and I think my supervisor thought I had gone mad. Oh well. It’s extremely exciting.
Anyways, the past few days we’ve been interviewing past participants from PMP. It’s been such a pleasure to meet all of them and hear their stories. That is definitely the most beautiful thing about the Project; it gives these teens the power to tell their stories so freely. I personally believe storytelling is one of the few things that can bring people from all cultures together, and I also believe it has an intrinsic ability to heal. It was such an honor to be able to hear stories from these young adults who have experienced more than you would ever think, and have come through it all by telling those very stories.
I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry! You’ll be able to hear their stories soon, too! I’m working on a super-short video now, but soon enough I’ll have a “director’s cut” for your viewing pleasure.
Happy Wednesday! By the way, isn’t it freezing outside? I’ll answer that question. It’s FREEZING outside!!!