Throughout our lives we have experienced the transformative power of theater to help us find our voices and create community with like-minded people. As q***r theater artists, this power takes on a magnified significance. Questions around safety and self-expression often revolve around how one is said to perform gender or sexuality. Theater can be a venue to mirror, process, and question those experiences. Performance in a theatricalized setting helps us find the power in the performance(s) of our q***rness. The New Orleans Q***r Youth Theater, part of the Pride Youth Theater Alliance, will be a space where youth can explore varied and fluid performances of q***rness, harness their voice and power through theater making techniques, and hang out with other q***r and allied youth. The specific mission of the Q***r Youth Theater will not be decided upon until youth members are involved in its creation. This is due to our most important guiding value: the New Orleans Q***r Youth Theater YOUTH LED, ADULT SUPPORTED. While adult allies will act as teachers at times, we consider the work of teaching in this context to mean using our skills and training to help amplify the voices of the youth members, not decide what that voice is. In discovering that they are not alone, but have common struggles, youth can begin to build community. We want to explore varied and fluid performances of q***rness at the intersections of our identities. We aim to challenge a status quo that privileges certain q***r identities while marginalizing others. All q***r and questioning voices will be welcome in the New Orleans Q***r Youth Theater. We look forward to dreaming, visioning, and creating theater with you! If you’re a q***r or allied youth interested in participating, an adult ally who wants to join in the conversation, or just interested to hear more about the project, keep your eyes peeled to this page! More info, including information about youth-oriented and adult ally-inclusive visioning meetings, will be available throughout the summer!
