The Police-Teen Theater Project presents two showings of its newest production, “Riot Act!,” including both improvised and scripted material, all generated by the project’s teen and police officer participants.
Both shows are free and open to the public.
The first performance is 7 p.m., June 4 at PS 27 in Red Hook, 27 Huntington Street, at Columbia Street, and the second is also at 7 p.m., June 6 at the BRIC Studio, 647 Fulton Street at Rockwell Place.
The Police Teen Theater Program, a project of the Red Hook Community Justice Center and Falconworks Artists Group, is currently in its second three-month cycle. The group meets every Thursday at Jalopy Theater Space in Red Hook to participate in a college-level improvisation class given by teaching artist Melissa Shaw.
A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Shaw has developed a curriculum that focuses on building acting skills as well as providing the group with an opportunity to discuss important community issues such as gangs, peer pressure, teen pregnancy, violence, and stereotypes. These issues often appear in the original content that the group creates in class both in written journal entries and improvised scenes.
Participants in the session of the Police-Teen Theater Project represent Red Hook, Park Slope, the 76th & 78th precincts, and PSA-1, along with other Brooklyn areas.
The program’s next cycle will begin at the end of September. Interested teenagers and police officers should contact Elizabeth Bender at the Red Hook Community Justice Center for applications, at 718-923-8261.
The program is free for all accepted participants, and teenagers who attend all sessions receive a monthly stipend.
