Fringe Benefits Alliance

“Lmu/southeast middle school (sems): "stand up! & speak out!" residency1.fringe benefits, lmu dept of theatre, esperer and southeast middle school's year-long after school residency.a.the players: led primarily by fb award-winning teaching artists tori digeronimo & savannah lewison, with support from lmu's esperer & sursum corda service organizations, the program engaged 40+ sems youth. The sems drama teacher was paid by sems for her support of the project.b.the plays: in october & december 2016, more than 40 youth in the "stand up & speak out!" club created & presented four forum theatre plays, providing their peers with opportunities to try out their ideas about how to intervene as safe, respectful & effective allies when they witness discriminatory behavior.in january 2017, the youth began creating another play - again in response to the ideas & concerns expressed by their peers, especially the rise of anti-immigrant, racist, sexist & anti-lgbt hate speech in our country.the play, with liberty & justice for all?!, is based on the youth's first-hand experiences, historical research, & current events analysis. Through their eyes we see...*schoolyard bullies & brave "upstanders"*north carolina's first transgender homecoming king*united states presidents, past & present*maya angelou & martin luther king, junior*anne frank & her familyc.impact:1)more than 20% of student audience who had previously said they would not intervene in bullying instances, committed to intervening in a positive way after seeing our shows & participating in the forum theatre workshops.2)aclu leadership wish to use our footage of the play to reach out to california & other us citizens re: the social justice issues the students address in the plays.3)we have been invited back to collaborate with the youth to create an elementary school show combining cootie shots pieces with dramatized versions of stories shared by local elementary school youth.d.awards: daniela corona, tori digeronimo & savannah lewison earned "hidden heroes" awards from the csj center for reconciliation and justice for their transformative work. The awards ceremony was. October 22, 2016. This year, theatre department chair, prof. Wetmore, savannah lewison &tori digeronimo nominated norma for this award, and she has been selected to receive it this fall. Tori received an lmu theatre department award for her work on this project in spring 2017.e.spreading the word: tori digeronimo, daniela corona & norma bowles presented a session about this work at the association for theatre in higher education (athe) conference in chicago last summer. Tori & dani then participated in a forum theatre training led by julian boal. Mark rosenthal represented us at the pride youth theatre alliance (pyta) conference last august in tennessee.”

“Voices of justice: theatre activism to prevent suicide and self-harm1.in spring 2017, norma bowles and lmu communication studies professor judy battaglia led a suicide prevention theatre activism project (for upper division course credit) with students at loyola marymount university. We worked with the students to help them transform those stories into 12 short videos designed to inspire and equip audience members to intervene thoughtfully and effectively to prevent suicide. 2.discussions about this upcoming project, have already prompted lmu to take a crucial step forward with regards to suicide prevention. For a number of years students have tried to start a suicide prevention support group, but there have been administrative barriers. The support group has now been approved and launched, and they worked with us on this project.”

“"downtown women's theatre project" and skidrow feministas: an exhibit in one act1.the creators: fringe benefits' downtown women's theatre project, led by pioneering theatre activist, and long-time fringe benefits artists, cynthia ruffin, brought together skidrow residents, organizers & activists and downtown loft dwellers and artists to create this imaginative, bridge-building play - (think the colored museum meets the vagina monologues). Twenty-three women shared their stories and collaborated to create this play.2.funding & in kind support:a.skidrow feministas and the fringe benefits' downtown women's theatre project two-year residency through which it was created were made possible with support from california humanities,a partner of the neh.b.the play and residency were also supported in part by the california arts council, a state agency, and the national endowment for the arts, a federal agency,c.as well as by the leverhulme trust.d.the shakespeare center, los angeles and will power to youth hosted the production in their space.e.the project was also fueled by generous contributions from numerous donors and volunteers from fringe benefits, the los angeles community action network, the downtown women's action coalition, loyola marymount university, and the royal central school of speech and drama.3.performers:a.five of the 23 story-sharers/writers performed in the july 24 world premiere staged reading.b.nine additional women joined these writers to rehearse and perform. Among these additional performers were several homeless skidrow residents, as well as professional actors and community-based theatre leaders.4.impact:a.we reached about 200 audience members through our two shows.b.the post-show discussions and receptions were lively and the post-show surveys contained positive feedback and useful ideas for tackling the issues the show addresses.c.a number of audience members expressed interest in hosting the show and/or including project participants in future conferences and symposia.d.alisa orduna, los angeles' homeless policy director attended the show and has asked to meet with me to hear about the ideas and concerns expressed in the post-show surveys.5.impact, parts 2 & 3a.this may, we were invited by the mayor's office on economic opportunity to present the play to their staff and to local police at city hall.1)ms. Orduna raised funds for the writer/performers' honoraria for the event.2)the room was packed, and the audience were engaged throughout the pre-show, show & post-show discussions. The discussions and receptions were lively and included positive feedback and useful ideas regarding ways to address the social justice issues facing people living and working in downtown, l.a.3)we received a proclamation from the mayor, and more invitations to present the play for diverse audiences.b.mayor garcetti is now asking to see the show.”

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