New Designs Charter Schools Students Premiere Their Play ‘Home’

By Jennifer Schlueter
For the past 8 Saturdays before the play’s premiere last Saturday, director Jon Lawrence Rivera and Playwright Jennifer Maisel teamed up with acting mentors and spent time preparing the New Designs Charter Schools’ students, who before had never participated in a play.
As an icebreaker, they first asked students about their favorite actors and other questions. When soon after the conversation turned to home, a subject everyone could relate to, playwright Jennifer Maisel took sentences and fragments from all of the students’ essays and combined them into one play, i.e. “home is my teddy bear” or “I wish I had an ocean view.” Once the play was written, Rivera and Maisel instructed the over 20 kids in acting, along with support from acting coaches. Students didn’t read their own lines, but rather someone else’s because they had included very personal stories and because they were in it not only for themselves, but also for someone else, Maisel explained.

Students rally backstage before the play – Photo by Jennifer Schlueter

Rivera called the project a rewarding and inspiring experience. He loved seeing his students grow, especially because they are not at a Performing Arts school.

Director Jon Lawrence Rivera – Photo by Jennifer Schlueter

A student said: “I really loved it! It was an amazing experience because they showed us they love and care for us. My biggest challenge was memorizing all the lines.”

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