Westport Country Playhouse to Offer Educators Workshop, 4/24

Westport Country Playhouse will host a free-of-charge workshop for area educators, "Immigration, Marginalization, and the Perception of Identity: A Professional Development Workshop Inspired by the Play, 'Intimate Apparel,'" on Thursday, April 24, 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., in conjunction with the organization Facing History and Ourselves. "Intimate Apparel," written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, will be produced by the Playhouse in the fall.

The workshop will use "Intimate Apparel" to help teachers gain classroom techniques and resources for deeper exploration of issues that the play addresses, including turn-of-the-century labor history, migration and immigration, women's studies, African-American history, and class relations.

Through case studies and video documentation, the workshop will explore the ways that individuals, groups, and societies constructed and understood distinct identities in the early 1900s, and how these understandings of identity impacted access to the American Dream.

Leading the workshop is Karen Scher, program associate for Facing History and Ourselves, an educational nonprofit that offers professional development and ongoing support for teachers. Scher works with teachers to develop multidisciplinary approaches that help students gain historical understanding, build critical thinking skills, and increase their capacity for making ethical choices. Prior to joining Facing History, Sher was a Humanities teacher at Oceana High School, a Facing History Innovative School, in Pacifica, CA. She received her B.A. in Women's Studies with a minor in Political Science from Colgate University. She received her teaching credentials and M.A. in Urban Education from The University of California, Berkeley. In addition to her professional development with Facing History, Sher has been a fellow with the New Israel Fund, Yale National Initiative, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, among others.

"Immigration, Marginalization, and the Perception of Identity: A Professional Development Workshop Inspired by the Play, 'Intimate Apparel,'" will be held in the Lucille Lortel White Barn Center at Westport Country Playhouse, Sheffer Studio. Workshops are free-of-charge and open to all area educators by advance registration, but space is limited. Dinner is provided. Register to attend by emailing: Angela Marroy Boerger, director of education, aboerger@westportplayhouse.org.

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