Berkeley Rep Blog
Category archive: Teen Council
Ghost Light: An intimate encounter with grief
posted by School of Theatre on Wed, Jan 18, 2012
in School of Theatre , Teen Council
By Negi Esfandiari, Berkeley High School
There are many different ways to confront death, whether it is leaning on someone’s shoulder or grieving alone. Seeing this idea played out on stage is one of my favorite aspects of Berkeley Rep’s new production of Ghost Light, which is based on Jonathan Moscone’s own confrontation with his father’s death. I never thought I would see art and death come together in such a beautiful marriage. Although Ghost Light has many admirable qualities, the most captivating was how Mr. Moscone took something so close to his heart and prepared it for hundreds of strangers to watch.
Negi interviews Ghost Light actor, Tyler James Myers, at Teen Night.
Last Friday evening, the many Teen Night participants, myself included, made their way to the Thrust Stage, chatting and wondering what they were about to experience. As I read an interview with director Jon Moscone and playwright Tony Taccone in the Ghost Light edition of Berkeley Rep Magazine, I suddenly noticed that they were both in the house. Then the lights went down, and the play began.
I have found myself tearing up during many plays, but until Ghost Light I had never experienced crying out of sympathy, or grief over the loss of a character before. How the actual Jon Moscone was able to watch this play without falling apart (especially when his father’s “ghost” makes an appearance), I have no idea.
The experience was exceptional. The way Ghost Light affected the audience was unlike any other audience reaction I’ve seen. The fact that it was so personal, to the point where it could potentially be painful or traumatic for its creator, was a feat indeed. It will definitely grab every audience, and perhaps inspire them to face their own experiences with loss. There was a barrier broken down in Ghost Light: the chasm between complete strangers, and the intimacy of one’s private life. Truly, it made all the difference.
Negi is a Junior at Berkeley High School. She is a Teen Council Events Chair and was an actor in last year’s Teen One-Acts Festival.
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Teen Council is wild about "The Wild Bride!"
posted by School of Theatre on Tue, Dec 13, 2011
in Our shows , School of Theatre , Teen Council
By Darcy Davis, Acalanes High School, Teen Council Membership chair
Teen Night attendees enjoy Phil's Sliders before the show! Thanks to Phil's Sliders for the delicious food!
Finally. It was here. The Wild Bride. The ad campaign alone had Teen Council clamoring for tickets, and after months of images of colorful dancers whirling through stage lights, Teen Night had come.
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Murder mystery & live band at Berkeley Rep!
posted by School of Theatre on Wed, Nov 30, 2011
in Teen Council
By Shari McDonald, education fellow
Teen Council’s fall Masquerade Murder Mystery turned Berkeley Rep School of Theatre into a melting pot of theatre lovers and local band groupies. Eighty teens gathered to take part in an interactive play followed by a live band performance from the group Local Hero, comprised of Berkeley High and College Prep teens. Students from all across the Bay Area showed up for this theatrical fest of murder, delectable treats, and rocking tunes!
Teen Council members dress to impress.
Audience members take themed pictures before entering the Masquerade Murder Mystery party.
Accusations fly as the audience attempts to solve the murder.
High school band Local Hero performs.
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Scripts, speeches, and sliders – Teen Night at "New Book"
posted by School of Theatre on Tue, Nov 1, 2011
in Our shows , School of Theatre , Teen Council
By Sierra Baggins, Teen Council member
Teen Night at Berkeley Rep starts with a room full of excited teens nibbling on mini burgers and tater tots (catered by the incredible Phil's Sliders!). As their plates empty and the School of Theatre falls quiet with the dimming of the lights, they know that their evening at the theatre is about to begin in earnest.
Sierra interviews Julie and Brandon
First, teens get to interview theatre professionals about being behind the scenes at Berkeley Rep and about the life of an artist. I am a Teen Council regular and have seen my fair share of Teen Night interviews, but they never get old. What I like about the Teen Night interview is that the guest speaker is not always the show’s director -- we talk to people from all areas of the theatre. Stories from people on stage are always interesting, but getting to hear about productions from every angle makes the interviews that much better. With New Book, we attended a Teen Council Tech Tour of the set, then interviewed two of Berkeley Rep’s 2011-12 season fellows, Julie McCormick (literary) and Brandon Wienbrenner (artistic), both of whom worked with the show intimately.
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Take center stage with the Teen Council's Annual One-Acts Festival
posted by Kyle Sircus on Tue, Oct 11, 2011
in School of Theatre , Teen Council
Berkeley Rep is looking for fresh, young, talented teens -- and you could be one of them! Local teens will get to light up the Berkeley Rep marquee in the 10th Annual Teen One-Acts Festival next March. But the submission deadlines are coming up soon, so read on!
Do you have a story you're burning to tell? You can submit a play and get people talking about your ideas.
Do you crave the limelight? You can audition for a role in the fully produced plays written by your peers.
Do you want to share your artistic vision with the world? Take some classes and then try your hand at directing. Are you interested in knowing how the show gets to opening night? Find out by becoming a producer or working on the technical end of things.
Through classes with Berkeley Rep's resident dramaturg, Madeleine Oldham, and our new artistic associate, Mina Morita, as well as by close mentorship by Berkeley Rep's artistic and administrative team, teens will work together to produce wholly original world premieres of two plays.
If you or someone you know is interested in getting involved, visit the Teen One-Acts website, email teencouncil@berkeleyrep.org, or call (510) 647-2973 for more information. The deadlines for play submissions and other applications fall in early November, so sharpen your pencils and get cracking. You never know -- this could be the start of something big for you!
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The Glamour of Old Hollywood: A New World for Teens
posted by School of Theatre on Thu, Sep 22, 2011
in School of Theatre , Teen Council
By Gisela Feied
One of the best parts of being a part of Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council is that it allows a teenager like me to see beautiful plays at an amazing theatre. Attending Teen Night for Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup on September 9 was no exception.
As I walked in through the doors of the School of Theatre, I instantly felt the welcoming smiles of Teen Council members and School of Theatre staff. The food was to die for (adorable mini burgers from Phil’s Sliders -- thanks Phil's!). As we enjoyed our dinner, we talked to Ray Garcia and Salvatore Vassallo, the two back-up dancers in Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup. It was very easy and fun to ask them questions about their performing arts training, including their triple-threat status being singers, actors, and dancers. And, of course, what was it like working with Rita Moreno? It was extremely exciting to hear about how Salvatore has toured the world with stars like Cher and Britney Spears! Ray was asked about his experience in the Broadway production of Rent! In the show we would get visual proof of how gifted and skilled they truly are.
After interviewing Ray and Sal, we walked together to the theatre with tickets in hand and found our seats. As the lights went down and the curtain came up we leaned forward in our chairs and were enchanted to see Rita Moreno standing centerstage, looking out over the audience. Throughout the performance there was in intensity in watching Rita’s life unfold as a one-woman show. Seeing her life was like a seeing a new world! From an early age she realized she was a performer, and at 16 she got her first contract. She got to meet people like Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, and Elvis Presley. Not to mention the fact that she played Anita in the movie version of West Side Story! She spoke about how frustrating and unfair it was to be cast in many movies and plays based on a stereotype of her ethnicity, despite her incredible talents.
Intermission was the longest 15 minutes of my life. After the show, I was completely speechless. We could only listen to the each other try to formulate thoughts into words. It was useless, but we all knew what the others were feeling, because we felt it too. It also connected us to a whole world that, until that night, I, and many of my peers, hadn’t been exposed to. That new world was the glamour of old Hollywood. Seeing this show made me more confident in my pursuit to become a working actor one day. What an amazing show. It will stay with me for the rest of my life -- I can’t wait for the next Teen Night!
An aspiring actress and stage combatant, Gisela Feied is a junior at Oakland School for the Arts. A Teen Council regular, Gisela has participated in many Teen Council programs, including acting in the Teen One-Acts Festival and winning the title of Top Fundraiser at last year’s Teen Council Dramathon.
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What if teens invaded TCG 2011? Part 3
posted by School of Theatre on Fri, Jul 1, 2011
in School of Theatre , Teen Council
By Marcelo Gutierrez
Member, Berkeley Rep Teen Council
Last weekend I attended the 2011 TCG national conference, this time held in downtown L.A. Let me tell you something, be excited for the future of art and technology! The relationship between art and technology was a major theme throughout the three-day long conference, and my eyes were opened to a whole new world of possibilities.
On Thursday, I attended the breakout session called "Earning your Social Media MFA: 90 Months in 90 Minutes" presented by Devon Smith. The presentation was absolutely amazing, and I was introduced to a world of social media that can honorably present art and bring it into the future. She spoke about Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, Kickstarter, YouTube, Groupon, and many other social media sites that I had never heard of. She went into detail about each one of these sites and shared the many wonders and opportunities that come with these tools, for example, the many resources Facebook has created for nonprofits at Facebook.com/nonprofits and all the apps available for smartphones, like Google Goggles, which allows you to use your phone camera to instantly access a Wikipedia page on what you're seeing, and an app that suggests who you should meet and talk to at social gatherings based on work and personal interests.
Many people complain that technology is taking away creativity and credibility from art. Devon emphasized that social media is a tool ready for our use, a tool that can enhance, spread, and promote your theatre, art, music, books, fashion designs all over the world like never before. Artists can use these tools to bring their work to an entirely new level. In the new global landscape of the internet and social media, artists no longer need a publicist, they are their own publicist. Programs like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs allow you to connect to a global audience instantly in a more direct and personal manner. The painter, George Condo, who recently designed new album art for Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, had an exhibition at the MoMa in New York earlier this year. To promote it, massive posters were put up all over New York with one of his images and the name of his exhibit. But what was really innovative about these posters was that it included a QR code. When people with smartphones took a picture of the code, it took them to a live Twitter feed relating to his exhibition.
Everything today is on a global scale! The technology today is absolutely beautiful and groundbreaking. Use it! It's free! No matter where you live, what skin color you have, how rich/poor you are, you can have and take part in any of these global networking sites and share your voice as a global citizen.
Marcelo talking to a theatre professional after the teens' breakout session.
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What if teens invaded TCG 2011? Part 2
posted by School of Theatre on Wed, Jun 29, 2011
in School of Theatre , Teen Council
By Taylor Greenthal
Member, Berkeley Rep Teen Council
During my entire time at the Theatre Communications Group conference, my mind was exhausted from the endless analyzing and synthesizing of facts, opinions, and hypotheses that were constantly circulating around me. Through the incredible whirlwind that was the conference, I needed to find a focus, a path to help me navigate through all the discussions and really become engrossed in one major issue that mattered most to me. Of course, after my experiences with arts education at TCG last year and the newly formed Arts Advocacy Committee with Teen Council this year, I tried to seek out the discussions and people trying to make a difference in that area of the field. I was pleasantly surprised with this year’s theme of the conference, the hopeful, progressive mindset of “What if…?”. With this future-based theme, so many more plenary sessions, breakout discussions, and casual conversation revolved around us: the young people, Generation Y, “Digital Natives,” etc. I like to think that the teen voice at the conference last year reminded enough people that theatre isn’t just for the older generations, and that in fact, the theatre industry needs to learn more about and include younger generations in order to keep the industry relevent and popular. I hope that as a result of our presence last year, teens helped shift the conversation from the problems of today to the possibility of the future.
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What if teens invaded TCG 2011?
posted by School of Theatre on Fri, Jun 24, 2011
in School of Theatre , Teen Council
By Regina V. Fields
Member, Berkeley Rep Teen Council
This past weekend, seven teens from Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council attended the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) conference in Los Angeles, joined by three members of Steppenwolf’s Young Adult Council. This was only the second year in TCG’s history that teens have participated in this national conference. It was an incredible experience; it opened my horizons in terms of what I can do in the field of theatre, I met some amazing theatre professionals, and I had the opportunity to contribute to the conversation about engaging teens in the theatre.
The major theme of the conference was “What If” (e.g., what if we imagined the theatre field of the next 50 years, and began making visible progress today?) and ways the theatre industry can and will evolve in years to come. But I noticed that teens, the people who will be around to make those changes within the theatre industry, were left out of the conversation. Though we were often talked about and referred to as the “next generation,” we were never actually included in these important dialogues.
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Teens fill 24 hours with dramatic fundraising!
posted by School of Theatre on Fri, Jun 3, 2011
in Events , School of Theatre , Teen Council
by Ben Hanna, Community Programs Manager
In May, 18 teens from Teen Council gathered at the School of Theatre for a 24-hour fundraising "Dramathon." Yes, you read that right. Noon to noon, a nonstop theatre extravaganza! Here’s just a taste of this fundraising excursion of epic proportions:
Saturday, May 21
12pm - Teens sign up for play readings and warm up their bodies and voices in prep for 24 hours of performance.
1:15pm – Teens near the end of The Importance of Being Earnest, with a twist: a cross-gender cast!
3:11pm - Teen Council member Gideon Lazarus performs a monologue from Macbeth, sparking a series of monologue performances from the teens.
5:20pm – Participants delve into the world of one-acts, including works by playwrights Anton Chekhov, John Patrick Shanley, and David Ives.
6:47pm – Students scarf down a pizza dinner in prep for the Chicago sing-a-long. Peet’s coffee and tea are served, giving everyone a much-needed boost of energy.
9:07pm - Bay Area actress and School of Theatre teaching artist Elena Wright arrives as a special guest to read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard with the teens. In Elena's words, "One of the hardest reads I've ever done -- three hours of Stoppard cold from nine to midnight!"
Sunday, May 22
12:45am – Over 12 hours down, 12 to go. Students are clad in pajamas, and Christopher Durang’s The Idiots Karamazov has begun. Lots of hysterical laughter all around, perhaps due to the late-night giggles!
2:30am - Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” is blaring over our sound system, and a five-minute theatrical dance party ensues!
3:07am – Let’s do the time warp again! Eyes are drooping and the second round of Peet’s coffee is served! A cult classic is in order! Rocky Horror Picture Show is projected on our classroom wall for a read-through and sing-a-long!
6:45am - Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore has begun -- for those of you who saw it at Berkeley Rep, you can imagine the dramatic action all throughout the School!
9:03am - Improv games are played to wake-up the crowd. Education Fellows Candice McDowell and Allison Whorton pump up the energy, leading some intense “dance-offs.”
11:45am - The top three teen fundraisers for the Dramathon are announced and given great Berkeley Rep prizes in appreciation of their hard work!
Over the course of the evening, teens read 8 full-length plays, 10 one-acts, and 10 monologues as well as participated in 3 sing-a-longs and numerous improv games. Major kudos to these diehard theatre-lovers who raised over $3,500 for the Berkeley Rep Teen Council's programming next year.
Weren't able to sponsor a teen but want to help support Teen Council programming? Donate to the Teen Conference Fund and help send seven teens to represent the youth voice of American theatre at the TCG Conference this June.
