Students from Hollywood High School participated in Fountain Voices, an arts education initiative that promotes compassion and acceptance. (photo courtesy of Fountain Theatre)

The Fountain Theatre announced Fountain Voices, an innovative arts education initiative that utilizes the power of theater to promote compassion and acceptance of others. The program launched at Hollywood High School in fall 2020 and is now expanding to the Compton Unified School District, starting on March 8 at Clarence A. Dickinson K-8.

Fountain Voices integrates playwriting, critical thinking and performance to guide students in the creation of original plays about issues that matter to them, helping them gain a better understanding of themselves and each other, and shedding light on the issues they see impacting their own communities.

“The students themselves choose the topics they want to write about,” said playwright France-Luce Benson, who serves as the Fountain’s community engagement director. “The Hollywood High kids wrote plays about depression, what it means to be queer and cope with homophobia, racial identity and homelessness among young people, among other things.”

While the first phase at Hollywood High was implemented virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions, that did not hinder the students’ ability to form deep, long lasting connections.

“Fountain Voices provided a safe and engaging environment in the midst of distance learning, as well as an authentic artistic experience that combined social emotional learning with English language arts development,” teacher Ali Nezu said.

The nine-week program kicks off with a virtual viewing of Benson’s play, “Detained.” The play was originally commissioned by Judy Rabinowitz of the ACLU and is based on interviews with long-time U.S. residents held in immigration detention or deported, as well as their family members, advocates, attorneys and representatives of ICE. Their collective voices weave a compelling and complicated tapestry that emphasizes the impact immigration detention has on families.

The students will then discuss the process of creating plays based on interviews, as well as the significance of sharing stories as a way to build community. Students are encouraged to think about what communities they belong to, what their stories are, and how they want their stories to be told. Social justice issues raised by the play are explored and used as a launching pad for students to think critically about the issues that impact their own communities. Students are then given the opportunity to virtually engage with each other through acting games and exercises designed to teach vital communication skills.

As they learn about one another, students are also introduced to the key elements of playwriting. A major component of the curriculum is the interviews that students conduct with members of their own communities. Once those are completed, students collaborate with one another to craft short plays and monologues about the communities they live in and the ones they aspire to create.

The first participants at Clarence A. Dicksinson will be sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Additional Compton Unified schools are adopting the program in the near future for free, thanks to the Fountain Theatre.

“We are bringing Fountain Voices to our students because I believe that our students need the arts now more than ever,” Clarence A. Dickinson principal Rebecca Harris said. “This will support our students’ literacy skills in a unique and engaging way.”

For information, visit fountaintheatre.com or email Benson at franceluce@fountaintheatre.com.