ABOUT…PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
SEEDS OF RESISTANCE:
Social Justice Plays Written & Performed by Youth
Inspired by Community Leaders' Stories
About...Productions presents a unique live event featuring plays created by educationally underrepresented 9th through 12th graders participating in the company's Young Theaterworks' Social Justice Residency. The production titled
Seeds of Resistance takes place at the newly completed Roosevelt High School Performing Arts Center in Boyle Heights on February 6th.
Students from the Math, Science, and Technology Magnet Academy at Roosevelt High School interviewed four community leaders whose work in social justice movements inspired the creation of these four new student-written short plays that will be fully staged and performed by these students. The teaching artists who mentored students include Carene Rose Mekertichyan, Brandon Rachal, Robert Paterno, Catherine Dee Holly, and Young Theaterworks Program Manager and Lead Teaching Artist Marlene Beltran along with the theater classroom teacher Jo Anna Mixpe Ley, MFA. Beltran and Ley will co-direct the performance.
The four community leaders students interviewed are:
Father Gregory Boyle, native Angeleno, Jesuit priest, founder and director of Homeboy Industries, the world's largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program. Boyle is the author of the New York Times-bestseller
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, President Obama named Father Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics.
Nobuko Miyamoto, artivist/performer and founder of Great Leap multicultural arts organization. Miyamoto was recently featured on PBS arts and culture series Artbound. Miyamoto says “Exposing young people of color to a way of hearing the stories of their people and then to exercise their creativity to find meaning in them is empowerment. To see their stories come alive through performance, allowing others to witness their work is life-changing. [Young Theaterworks] are giving them a VOICE for their visions, for their beliefs, for their future.”
Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara, multifaceted native Angelino Chicano rock & soul musician, singer, songwriter, performance artist, poet, playwright, fiction writer, author, activist and bandleader with Ruben And The Jets (cofounded with and produced by Frank Zappa), Con Safos, and Thee Eastside Luvers. He is a record producer specializing in Chicano rock and Rock en Español compilations and has lived and worked in Boyle Heights for the past forty years. He was designated a Boyle Heights cultural treasure by ACTA in 2012. His memoir,
Confessions Of A Radical Chicano Doo-Wop Singer is out now on University of California Press and his second book, a collection of his writing,
Funkáhuatl Speaks: L.A. Stories, Poems, and Memorias, is in the works. The KCET/ PBS SoCal arts and culture program, Artbound, premiered Con Safos, a documentary that was nominated for an Emmy and won two local and two national broadcast journalism awards. More information can be found HERE. Guevara says “I am honored to see my struggle and success as a Chicano artist so powerfully written by high school students. My commitment to become a Chicano culture sculptor hopefully inspires the students to become contributors to our culture in whatever form they are passionate about. Also, I am very grateful that my youngest son Rubén III, is in the story. There should be more programs like this. Congratulations to all!”
Victoria Castro, educator and a primary organizer of the historic 1968 East L.A. Walkouts. More information on Castro can be found HERE. Castro says “I'm truly surprised, overwhelmed with emotion, and honored to have my story transformed into a play by the students. I believe students of today are brighter and smarter than we were. We must fully support their creative efforts in interpreting yesterday and their world of today. Their voices matter, and we must support projects like this one that empower our youth to be positive
change agents.”
Marlene Beltran, Young Theaterworks Program Manager and Lead Teaching Artist, formerly a director for the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Annual Showcase and lead actor in the film La Serenata, featured on HBO which won the Best Short Film Imagen Award and is being made into a feature length film. A member of the all women, native song and drum group In Lak Ech, and the lead singer of the world soul band Cuicani. Beltran says "It's an honor to serve as the lead teaching artist for this very impactful, intergenerational, theatrical offering. Our community is rich in culture and civic engagement and this project highlights that in a meaningful way. It honors our community leaders' legacies while reminding us of our shared history. This social justice focused program allows for east side youth to consider the paths paved by those who came before as they look towards embarking on their own future. It's an opportunity for creative exploration and reflection. How much has changed? What remains the same? How can I make a difference in my community?"
The production runs one night only. About...Productions award-winning Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director Theresa Chavez says “we are immensely proud of our impactful 24-year Young Theaterworks program which serves L.A. area highest risk, and educationally underrepresented and underserved, high school youth with intensive residencies and workshops. This transformative program improves literacy, communication and collaboration skills as students explore personal identity, family and community history, and social issues. The
Social Justice Residency and related
Seeds of Resistance production is a major example of the power of Young Theaterworks' unique programs and their impact on students, their school and surrounding community, and L.A. audiences.”
EVENT TITLE:
Seeds of Resistance:
Social Justice Plays Written & Performed by Youth Inspired by Community Leaders' Stories
VENUE:
Roosevelt High School Performing Arts Center
2530 East 4th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033
TYPE OF EVENT:
Theater production.
DATE:
Thursday, February 6, 2025
TIMES:
Doors at 5:30 PM
Starts at 6:00 PM
INFORMATION AND TICKETS:
Admission is FREE.
Eventbrite registration highly recommended. Event registration HERE.
MATH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY MAGNET ACADEMY (MSTMA) at ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL
MSTMA is an inclusive community space in Boyle Heights that serves to develop student leaders who will advocate and innovate for positive change, personally and collectively. Its mission is: In collaboration with families and community, MSTMA students experience a social justice oriented-science, technology, engineering, and math magnet program, infused with humanities courses to develop cultural awareness and social emotional skills so students can flourish in their college, career and post-secondary life.
ABOUT…PRODUCTIONS
About…Productions, now in its 36th year, creates original interdisciplinary theaterworks and educational programs that provoke new perspectives on history, humanity, and culture. The company is dedicated to generating new work through collaboration to create artistic and community dialogue and believes in the power of theater to enlighten audiences, transform youth, and celebrate the lives of elders.
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HIGH RESOLUTION PRESS PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS AVAILABLE
Seeds of Resistance
photos, event graphics click HERE.
For press materials, to submit interview requests
or for additional information on
Seeds of Resistance
please contact Fly PR via email at flypr@flypr.net
or buzz@flypr.net or call us at T. (323) 667-1344.
Seeds of Resistance
community leader Nobuko Miyamoto
dances with MSTMA students during her interview session.
Her artivist story, written and performed by these students,
will be presented at the brand new Roosevelt High School
Performing Arts Center on February 6th.
Photo credit: Theresa Chavez