The teens gather behind the curtains, ready with anticipation for their big night: The presentation of the Shakespeare production they’ve been working on for almost two months. The anticipation builds as the curtain call draws near. As the cast of teens arrange the set and double-check the lighting and sound, they rehearse their lines one last time.
What makes this afterschool production different from others is that it includes teens from the Dallas County Juvenile Department. Many of the teens participating in the production are from at-risk neighborhoods and some have experienced disciplinary action by the county juvenile courts. “The Clink” by Steven Young, a comedy based on Shakespearean text, provides an avenue of rehabilitation for these teens as they work constructively to arrange the stage and design the show, dealing with real problem-solving and learning to communicate with each other
in positive and creative ways.
Since the beginning of April, 2016, these teens have been instructed on all aspects of theater, including costuming, lighting, sound and set design, as well as acting techniques and stage management. Jonathan Luke, the director of “The Clink,” is responsible for the training of the teens. He hopes they will gain a deeper sense of themselves through this program for both on and off the stage, he said.
“I’m working on this specifically with awareness. Vocally, physically and emotionally, and as it relates to the theatre,” he said, explaining the exercises he plans to use to prepare them for their performance. Using vocal warmups, tongue twisters, visualization techniques and imagination exercises, he hopes to tap into their creativity and inspire teamwork, utilizing lessons he has learned from graduate school at Columbia University.
The T-An-T (Teenagers And Theatre) Apprenticeship program is the brainchild of Executive Artistic Director, Teresa Coleman Wash and was started in 2008 as one of the student outreach programs and theatre series offerings. T-An-T, as part of their education program, combines a mixture of high school students and teens from the Dallas County Juvenile Department.
Also partnering with the North Texas Volunteer Truancy Program, the purpose is to provide an afterschool outlet for teens that enables them to work through problem-solving and develop creative and collaborative methods of conflict resolution, thereby reducing patterns of destructive behavior.
Teresa Coleman Wash, the founder and executive artistic director of the Bishop Arts Theatre Center believes this innovative theatre experience will encourage self confidence in the teens as well as enrich the rest of their education.
“Studying theatre, especially classical text, is an innovative way to teach text interpretation, encourage creative thinking and improve reading skills,” Wash said. “Our objective is to touch students with the arts in a way that informs the rest of their academic interests and transform their sense of personal potential by reducing the rate of recidivism.”
Participating in the program can cause greater development in the teens’ reading skills. In 2014, 91 percent of students in the program passed the reading portion of the STAAR test, the standardized testing system used in Texas public schools.
The work of the teens will culminate with their production of “The Clink,” which will premiere on Friday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a final performance on Saturday, May 21 at 3 p.m. at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center, at 215 South Tyler Street in Dallas.
