Many studies have noted the positive effect of the arts in public education, but it’s primarily music and the visual arts that are emphasized. At the Manton Avenue Project (MAP), in Providence, Rhode Island’s Olneyville neighborhood, however, the focus is on creating original theatre by connecting students from third-grade through high school with theatre professionals.
Within MAP’s construct the students write plays with mentors, and adults most often direct and act in the plays. But just how are kids and theatre a winning combination?
“The idea of offering up the stage to a young person and saying, ‘This is your space, right here, right now, we are all listening to you,'” begins MAP’s executive/artistic director Meg Sullivan. “There’s something magic about the live moment.”
A founding member of Elemental Theatre Collective and the chair of MAP’s board of directors Kelly Seigh concurs: “The students are learning that what they have to say is important and should be heard. Nothing is wrong. And there’s a sense of pride when the show is complete and being shown to an audience.”
Read the rest of the article, here: http://www.coxhub.com/articles/manton-avenue-project-teams-kids-and-theatre-professionals