American Stage Theatre Company’s Education Department Receives $25,000 "Write On! Pinellas" Grant

American Stage Theatre Company was awarded $25,000 from the State of Florida's Culture Builds Florida Grant program to support its "Write On! Pinellas" educational outreach program.

"Write On! Pinellas" is a five-year old program that places American Stage teaching artists in partner schools to guide students in the craft of playwriting during regular class time, all at no cost to them, their families or their school. When working in schools that do not have a Drama Club program, American Stage facilitates that activity and directly ties it to the playwriting component resulting in plays written and performed by students, for students.

Students at all schools write one play per semester in collaborative teams. Students research their community, explore civic issues, determine members of the area that are disenfranchised and give voIce To those who are underserved by confronting those issues in their plays. The final pieces receive either a staged reading by professional actors, or in programs with Drama Clubs, fellow students rehearse and perform the plays.

Meg Heimstead, director of education, is thrilled. "This grant will enable us to bring back programming in our partner schools that we were forced cut (due to a lack of funding) earlier this year. We are now able to bring back six playwriting programs and two drama clubs as well as launch a Play Festival featuring student work. Our partner schools are thrilled and the students will benefit enormously from this award."

American Stage Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1977. The company's mission is to create the most satisfying live theatre in the Tampa Bay area, accessible to all members of the community. Their vision is to preserve the greatest human stories from our past, while creating the most defining stories and storytelling of our time. American Stage presents its six play Mainstage Series on its brand new 182-seat Raymond James Theatre each year. The very popular American Stage in the Park celebrates its 25th Anniversary year. The theatre's other programming includes: After Hours Series, School Tour, and classes and summer camp for children. The Hough Family Foundation is the season sponsor, Raymond James is the Mainstage sponsor, Bank of America is the education partner and WUSF 89.7 is the radio sponsor of American Stage.

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