Yale School of Drama Spotlights APTP

Playing the Neighborhood:
YSD Alumni Use Theatre To Transform Communities

by Ryan Davis and Matt Cornish

Click here to download the full article

Throughout its history, Yale School of Drama has graduated artists and administrators who see theatre as a means of community growth, particularly when the artistic process is motivated by a concern for their neighborhood and the people who live there. Many of these artists are reaching out locally. From coast to coast, they can be found committing their talents and skills – honed and refined during their three years at the Yale School of Drama – to communities in need of artistic outlets to stimulate a sense of themselves and their world.

In the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, Carol Ochs runs the 52nd Street Project, introducing youngsters to the creative exuberance and sense of accomplishment that comes with writing for the stage. David Feiner, at the Albany Park Theater Project on the northwest side of Chicago, works with young artists to stage vibrant productions that address teenagers’ lives as immigrant and working-class Americans. In the diverse metropolis of Los Angeles, Juliette Carrillo, Shay Wafer, and Geoff Korf have spent years working with Cornerstone Theatre, weaving theatrical tapestries of civic exchange and shared understanding.

These alumni devote themselves to fostering the artistic expression of people who might otherwise never make theatre, and to eliciting and staging personal stories that capture the hardships and dreams of marginalized American communities. The result is mutual service: these communities find a platform for self-expression, and the theatre institution itself discovers unknown aesthetic traditions as well as the urgency and resonance of fresh ideas.

Download the full article and interview with David Feiner

Used with permission from the Yale School of Drama Annual Magazine,
© Yale University 2010
Visit the Yale School of Drama online at http://drama.yale.edu/