See Park Slope Collegiate Seniors’ Original Play, Life In General

On Saturday, June 14, 19 seniors from Park Slope Collegiate will perform an original play that will be worth a trip into Manhattan to see. As part of the Staging Success program that’s been run by Atlantic Theater Company at the school since 2011, the talented teens formed BrooklynMade Theater Company, and you can see their work, Life In General, at 3pm and 7pm for free at the Linda Gross Theater, 336 West 20th Street, with an invited dress rehearsal on Friday, June 13.

Staging Success is a residency program at Park Slope Collegiate through which many of the students experience theater for the first time. Teaching artists provide each of the school’s 300 students with several weeks of in-depth theater classes at each grade level, then in their senior year, interested students are invited to train in a 10-week after-school mentorship program at Atlantic, where students work with theater professionals to form their own theater company and write and perform a new play.

The program has apparently been doing some great things for the students — since launching, Atlantic Theater Company reports that school attendance and academic performance has improved. But what’s most valuable has been the personal development of students.

“High school is a stressful experience for most teenagers. Trying to figure out who you are while simultaneously deciding who you want to be is an exhilarating and terrifying experience,” said Staging Success student and Park Slope Collegiate senior Taylor Williams. “For us, Staging Success was something to ease that process, to release pressure, and ultimately, to become more comfortable with ourselves and each other.”

See what the students have been up to this weekend — be sure to reserve your free ticket here.

Image via Atlantic Acting School