Monday, April 15, 2013

BAREFOOT OUTREACH PROGRAM (2013 in Red Hook, Brooklyn for the Good Shepard Services)

Please take a moment to HELP US bring playwriting to inner city high school kids in need!  We're currently looking to raise a tiny budget to help us with our month long playwriting program that will culminate with an evening of FREE Readings featuring the works of our students paired with works by established playwrights!  Any donation will help us provide a small stipend to our Teaching Artists donating their time and talent to the project.  Additionally, funds will help cover the costs for copies and producing of event which will take place on Monday, April 22nd.    


TO DONATE AND HELP US VISIT: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/barefoot-outreach-2013


Here's a look at our Outreach Director and Teaching Artist part of Barefoot Theatre Company's EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: 

Aidan Koehler is a proud member of The Barefoot Theatre Company and the company's Director of Outreach.  Recent acting credits include "Eavesdropping on Dreams", "Suite Horovitz", and "A Christmas Carol" with Barefoot.  "Lilly Why Do You Smoke So Much?" with Target Margin. "Lebensraum", "Our Town", and "What Shall I Give My Children?" with The Harold Clurman Lab Theatre. "Two Maples at Urban Stages. "Twelfth Night" and "Midsummer" with Vermont Shakespeare.  Most recently in film, Aidan and other Barefoot members worked on the David Wain and Michael Showalter film, "They Came Together", due out in 2014.  In the past the Barefoot Outreach has worked with a variety of ages, from young children to adults in NYC.  Thrilled with this current collaboration between Barefoot and Good Shepherd, Aidan is proud of the work we have done, and looking forward to our future with the NYC community.


Casey Hayes grew up performing in a barn in rural West Virginia, but has since graduated to better insulated theaters. She is a graduate of Columbia University and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, and currently serves as an Associate Company Member of Theatre East. Favorite roles include The Angel in Angels in America: Perestroika; Myrtle in The (Love) Story of Myrtle Willoughby and Willough Myrtleby (and the Neighbors); and Suzanne in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Other credits include Co-Founder and Co-Producer of The Dirt Theatre Festival, a showcase of original work by students; Director of Cindy and Julie at Louis Brandeis High School; and serving as the Management Fellow at the 23rd annual Contemporary American Theatre Festival. 


We are partnering with GOOD SHEPHERD SERVICES and their Red Hook Beacon Center. (More on these Amazing organizations Below).  Three Wednesday afternoons in April, two Barefoot Teaching Artists will collaborate with Good Shepherd's Beacon Center and their students (ages 14-17) to write short plays.  During the week, when not meeting with teaching artists, students meet every day with Beacon Center staff to work on their writing pieces.

The third meeting will consist of students being paired up with writers and artists from the Barefoot Theatre Company Ensemble on a 1-on-1 basis to edit their final drafts.

The last day will be for student to come to an off-broadway theatre, meet Barefoot members and learn about the process of creating and producing one's own work.  They will see a short rehearsal, followed by their pieces read on stage and then a more established playwright's work read on stage.  It's going to be awesome!

In the past, Barefoot Theatre Company has collaborated with Stella Adler Studio Of Acting's Outreach Program as well as South Side High School in Long Island, New York by holding ensemble workshops, holding invited dress rehearsals for students, talk-backs with artists as well producing new plays by students in our bareNaked Reading Series...

What We Need & What You Get

  • All funds will go towards:
  • Teaching Artsits Stipends
  • Artists Stipends
  • Supplies: Copies, Binders, Water, Coffee.
By supporting our Education Department's OUTREACH PROGRAM, you'll be the first to get a special invitation to the student's presentation at an Off-Broadway venue featuring first rate directors, actors and award winning playwrights taking part in the post show talk-back.  Additionally, you'll get a special thank you along with tax-deductible letter stating how much we've appreciated your support and further gifts such as: company pin, posters, special invite to upcoming events and productions.  

The Impact

Good Shepherd: "Good Shepherd Services is a leading youth development, education and family service agency that serves over 20,000 program participants a year. Focusing on high-need communities in Brooklyn and the Bronx, we provide a broad array of individual, family and school-based services to prevent youth from becoming disconnected from family, school and society. We also help those who come to us already disengaged find hope and motivation to reconnect with their community. When young people cannot stay in their families, we continue to provide a safety net of superior quality foster care and residential programs, as we have since 1857."
 
Beacon Center: "Good Shepherd Service's Red Hook Beacon provides year‐round, day, evening, and weekend activities for more than 2,000 young people and their families annually. Activities designed to promote individual, family and community development include an afterschool program for six to twelve year olds; four youth leadership development groups that engage youth from the ages of 9‐21; a summer camp program and events such as the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner."   

Other Ways You Can Help

Help us spread the word by sharing the link to this campaign on any and all social media outlets and extend our search for help to friends and family.

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