About the Project

Three regional groups: That Uppity Theatre Company, Growing American Youth (GAY), and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Metro St. Louis chapter (PFLAG) are collaborating to create a performance piece focusing on the GLBT culture from an intergenerational perspective.

The piece will include reflections by PFLAG parents on various themes including bravery, shame, and the arc of their parental journeys. It also features work by GLBT youth, including participants of 14-19 years of age throughout the metro St. Louis area and explores such topics as gay icons, violence in the schools, family dynamics, self-mutilation, and love.

The piece is executive produced by Joan Lipkin and has been developed through an unusual process of collaboration. The material was created by the participants based on topics of their own choosing. Lipkin and Sarah Shimchick, a graduate student from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work then worked with one or more of the teenagers to dramaturge individual pieces. Andrew Schneider, a G.A.Y. participant and sophomore at the Webster University Theatre Conservatory co-directed some of the pieces.

The PFLAG group identified many of their concerns as well and participated in story circles, resulting in text that was edited by PFLAG President Dean Rosen, PFLAG parent Anne Kelsey and Lipkin.

"This is truly a community effort, "said Lipkin. "It is important to provide opportunities for people to participate in many facets of the creation of new art. From the generation of ideas to their execution, my role was to help facilitate these voices and also provide aesthetic framework where needed."

Whether they are adolescents or parents with long grown children, the participants of "Apple Pie" share the desire to create a new kind of theatre, striving to give St. Louis area residents, of all ages, the opportunity to appreciate original community-based work that encourages the development of the citizen actor.

"The opportunity to work in the theatre with these talented youth and the Uppity producing team has been a dream come true for me. Each ensemble member brings an insight to the human condition through the passionate sharing of their experiences. Through the telling (and showing) of their joys, pains, loves and lessons learned they inspire me, and also teach me to live life genuinely proud," said Andrew Schneider, G.A.Y. participant and sophomore at Webster University.

Growing American Youth (GAY), a social and support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, under 22 years of age, has operated in St. Louis since the late 1970s. The group serves approximately 325 youths annually, with 40 to 60 young people attending the weekly meetings held at Trinity Episcopal Church. The group provides young GLBT people with recreational opportunities, information and referrals, community resources, and opportunities to socialize and discuss relevant issues with their peers in a safe and supportive environment.

"This theatre project is a fine exemplar of GLBT youth empowerment, and we are thrilled at this collaboration with two of our strongest advocates - PFLAG and That Uppity Theatre Company," said Diane Elze, an assistant professor of social work at Washington University's George Warren Brown School of Social Work and an advisor to Growing American Youth. "The project provides our young people with a forum to express themselves in powerful ways, to explore the challenges and joys they face as GLBT youth, and to receive community recognition for their courage and hard work. And they tell me that they're having a lot of fun in the process," Elze added.

Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG) is a national non-profit organization with over 200,000 members and supporters and almost 500 affiliates in the United States. PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.

In 2004, Lipkin began facilitating regular meetings with the two groups. During these sessions, each group engaged in conversation, writing, sound, movement, and theatrical exercises to develop a repertoire of pieces exploring various themes related to the GLBT community. The perceptions and experiences of different age groups is an important element to the work, examining the changing historical social landscape and realities of different generations of GLBT individuals and their families.

The project has an expansive vision shared by its participants. According to PFLAG member, Anne Kelsey, minister of Trinity Episcopal Church in the Central West End, " 'As American as Apple Pie' is important as a consciousness raiser for the community. It reveals the intimate struggles and profound transformations of parents and children who find themselves dealing with challenges they never expected. It portrays parents as people who find it within themselves to love their children even more deeply than ever in the face of religious and societal hatred. It allows us parents to continue to witness to the community our knowledge and experience that GLBT people are normal and have supportive loving families."