As American as Apple Pie:
GLBT Youth and PFLAG Parents Act Out:
A Happening Featuring Performance, Conversation and Apple Pie

Notes from the Director on Process:

The process of creating this performance was highly collaborative. We began by offering short performance workshops, both with PFLAG parents at one of their monthly meetings, as well as for a few weeks with the participants at Growing American Youth. We wanted to see what sorts of topics emerged, to demonstrate that everyone has important stories to tell and to identify who might be most interested in continuing.

There was a lot of conversation during which people identified issues of importance for them because we wanted this performance to strongly reflect the concerns of its participants. Conversation is also crucial in this kind of work because it emphasizes the vernacular voice over the written word. Often when people are asked to write, especially if they are youth, they go into what we call "English Composition Head" and self-edit in ways that inhibit the desirable spontaneity of their individual voice. So, often we will ask people to tell us stories. When we identify stories we think are theatrically viable, we then ask people to write them down.

Both PFLAG and GAY met regularly with Uppity staff over several months to develop pieces. In both instances, the participants were encouraged to participate actively in the editing process. In the case of PFLAG, this meant that often Dean Rosen or Anne Kelsey would work with Joan Lipkin to take the material generated by their peers and turn it into scripts.

In the case of GAY theatre ensemble, the dramaturgy took a slightly different turn. After stories and ideas were compiled, there was discussion on how to best contain these in a theatrical format. Joan Lipkin and Sarah Shimchick worked actively with teenage dramaturges in the group to help shape the script. And with a nod to tech and teen schedules, Joan often worked on scripts with one or more GAY members at a time by putting a script into a word document and instant messaging back and forth about changes. On one particular night, when Joan, Sam, and Andrew were IM-ing fast and furiously, they decided to go into a chat room to further discuss the script!

The GAY pieces were directed by a trio of directors that included Joan Lipkin, Sarah Shimshick and Andrew Schneider, a member of GAY, who is also a student at the theatre conservatory of Webster University. We wanted to make sure that in all aspects of the production, a perspective from the represented population was involved.

Rarely was any script ever considered completed. Changes were made pretty continually in rehearsal. The process, while labor intensive, has been a fascinating one that allows a full participation from many participants. We hope you enjoy what you see today and appreciate the risks it represents. And hope this is just the beginning of more opportunities for Theatre work with these two special populations. Thank you for coming.