Ballou Senior High School students will showcase their deepest personal stories in an original stage production.
The Ballou Story Project, a free, live performance adapted from the dynamic writing of Ballou scholars, will take center stage on Thursday, April 13 at the school’s auditorium in Southeast.
“Young Playwrights’ Theater and Shout Mouse Press share a common purpose in providing a platform for young people to realize the power and value of their own voices and stories,” said YPT executive director Brigitte Winter. “This project is a testament to the way in which arts education can benefit young people and their communities.”
This year’s performance will be a little different from recent shows. This time professional actors will perform the student’s work. The monologues have been adapted from their personal statements in their college applications.
Since 2013, Shout Mouse Press, a nonprofit writing program and publishing house, has facilitated personal essay writing workshops with the students of Ballou.
The partnership, known as the Ballou Story Project, has resulted in three published collections: “How to Grow Up Like Me,” “Our Lives Matter” and “Humans of Ballou.”
Funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in conjunction with ShoutMouse Press and Young Playwrights’ Theater the show will feature and explore the power of one’s story, achievement in the face of adversity and speaking out in moments of injustice.