"The bystanders, the masses in the middle, are the ones who need to be advocates alongside their LBGTQ friends and family. "
GRADE LEVEL: HIGH SCHOOL-COLLEGE
AUTHOR: A VARIETY O F TEEN AUTHORS
PUBLISHER: ADD VERB PRODUCTIONS
GENRE: DRAMA
REVIEW:
Out and Allied volumes 1 and 11 are collections of plays written by LGBTQ+ teens. The plays have been performed by teens through the Out and Allied community theater program near Waterville, Maine. This inclusive space allows LGBTQ+ teens and teen allies a safe space to create inclusive and meaningful theater. Both volumes I and II are completely written by teen youth. The plays are wonderful examples of how a rural community can come together to create a difference in their community through theater.
What an amazing resource for the classroom. So often when I am teaching, I try to look for diverse resources to offer my students. I can see teachers using the plays when teaching script, drama, theme, and many other ELA standards. You may pull one or two of the plays at a time to offer a variety of examples to students. I often find that when I use teen authored work, students are inspired and excited to both read the pieces and to use them as models to create their own written pieces.
CLASSROOM TOOLBOX:
- Your school's GSA may find the plays in here a great way to ignite discussion, perform theatrical pieces, or even write their own plays to perform either for the club, the school, or their parents and loved ones.
- Teachers can pull plays from the book when teaching units on drama to model what they would like them to create or to add to a collection of other diverse offerings for students to choose from. Choice and Voice is always a great classroom strategy.
- June is Pride month. What better way to celebrate than to discuss or use the plays in this volume to ignite a community discussion.
- Allow a student or students to bring one of the plays to life through digital storytelling. Add music, voice, and video to the dialogue.
- Compare the plays written in Out and Allied to other forms of literature and media that allow students to go deeper into the themes.
- Get students involved in writing contests. This could be a great chance for an authentic audience experience.
- Use the "Out and Allied" model to create an inclusive environment in your school community. Find LGBTQ educators for your school to educate staff and students. Think about groups that help with education, role-playing, and workshops.
- Teacher pay teacher drama lessons
- Maine Inclusion Award Essay Contest
- Patsy Rodenburg TED TALKS, "Why I do Theater"
- Natasha Tsakos, "A multi-media Theatrical Adventure"-great for talk for promoting theater as a form of discussion.
- 10 Ways to Be an Ally and a Friend from the GLAAD site
