Alexa Kershner
November 12, 2024
Connecting through every story.
Projects
TheatreWorkers Project teaching artists provide an introduction to the fundamentals of physical theater, improvisation, and writing techniques that lead to a theatre piece or staged reading created and performed by the participants. Participants work together as an ensemble and in small groups structured to provide safe and supportive environments for creative risk-taking. TheatreWorkers Project’s belief that “every human being has a story to tell” serves as the jumping-off point for its projects.
Click a project title below to see the play or workshop page.
Individual & Community Projects
Click a Project Title below to see the Play or Workshop page.
Several of these projects were part of “Artists in Communities” programs. Learn more.
Lady Beth: the steelworkers play
This play that launched TheatreWorkers Project, told the stories of former steelworkers after the closing of the Bethlehem steel plant in Vernon, CA. In 1986, co-sponsored by Bruce Springsteen, Lady Beth toured 16 U.S. cities.
S.E.L.A.!
An original theatre piece celebrating the history and residents of Southeast Los Angeles, this play was the result of a series of workshops for unemployed steelworkers in that area.
¡No Pasaran!
A theatrical tribute to the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and the Spanish Civil War
Steel Blue Water:
the shipbuilders play
A series of oral history and writing workshops that culminated in a play performed by two shipbuilders and a professional actor/musician
Fronteras/Borders
A play that gave voice to Latinx immigrant workers through oral history workshops conducted with members of the California Immigrant Workers Association (CIWA)
Journey to Singapore:
the infertility play
Through humor and drama, the play tells the story of Susie Tanner’s 5-year infertility journey and offers a surprise ending.
Strike/Story: The Harry Bridges Play
A play about Harry Bridges and the West Coast longshoremen
The Luckiest Girl
This play informed audiences about the Dutch folk figure, Zwarte Piet, and the persistence of racist stereotypes.
No Word in Guyanese for Me
This play focuses on Hanna, a gay, immigrant young Muslim woman, as she struggles for social and familial acceptance in post 9/11 America
Free, Adult, Uncensored!
A Cast of Thousands
A 50th anniversary celebration of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Theatre Project and a fundraiser for its archive
Theatre Intervention Project
A workshop combining improvisation, movement, writing, yoga, and meditation to help women dealing with anxiety and depression
Youth & School Projects
Click a Project Title below to see the Play or Workshop page.
TheatreWorkers Project provides workshops, classes, and performances to students aged six through high school from a variety of Los Angeles County elementary, middle and high schools, delivering standards-based skill-building theatre experiences. Several residencies culminated in performances for parents, however most focused on process and culminated in informal sharing of the work with peers. In addition to providing classes, TheatreWorkers Project presents professional productions that expose students to a wide range of dramatic literature and theatrical styles.
Several of these projects were part of “Artists in Schools” programs. Learn more.
A Patch of Earth
Set against the slaughter of Muslims in the former Yugoslavia, 24-year-old Drazen Erdemovic is haunted by the ghosts of those he killed during the Bosnian War.
Lysistrata 2016
A reinterpretation of the original Greek comedy reflecting the horrors and stupidity of war
The Leader
A play that satirized newly elected President Donald Trump based on The Leader, by Eugene Ionesco about the corruption and mindless leadership of a society
Twelfth Night 2012…
A Rock and Roll Romp
A summer theatre program that included movement, singing, improvisation, visual arts & design, acting and rehearsal, and a performance of a cut version of a Shakespeare play
Aquarius in Arden
The culmination of an 8-week summer theatre program for ages 6 to 16, this reduced version of a Shakespeare play melded text from As You Like It with songs from Hair.
O, Those Midsummer Nights!
With text from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and songs from Grease, this play was the culmination of an 8-week summer theatre program for ages 6 to 16.
Romeo & Juliet Reconsidered
A performance collage inspired by Shakespeare’s play and the Broadway classic West Side Story
And Justice for All?
Based on a collage of children’s stories about the incarceration of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during WWII
9/11 Project
A multi-age project that provided students an opportunity to create a performance piece about September 11
A Place a the Table/
Un Lugar en la Mesa
An original, student-generated performance piece about immigration, inclusion, and the American Dream
Choices/Decisiónes
An original performance piece about HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy, created by students from Manual Arts High School
Isaak
Set in 1938 Germany, Isaak explores the dilemma that a Jewish teenage boy faces when his parents insist that he must leave his home for the safety of America.
Fathers and Sons
The play follows the lives of three sets of fathers and sons of different faiths and cultural backgrounds, with revelations about the human condition and our political system.
Reentry Programs
Click a Project Title below to see the Play or Workshop page.
(Formerly Incarcerated Individuals)
“Reentry Through the Arts” (RTA) supports arts and culture programs for adults who have been incarcerated within correctional institutions and reinforces the direct impact that arts and culture have on the health, welfare, and economic well-being of all Californians.
“Lifer: Stories from the Inside/Out” enables residents of The Francisco Homes in Los Angeles, a diverse group of Latino, African-American, and Caucasian men who have been paroled after serving life in prison, to share their stories through a documentary theatre project.
Learn more about the “Reentry Through the Arts” and “Lifer: Stories from the Inside/Out” programs.
A Man Like Me
An original theatre piece based on the lives and stories of four Dads Back! Academy alums performed by two formerly incarcerated men and two guest actors.
right road lost/FOUND
An original theatre piece based on the lives and stories of formerly incarcerated women and men performed by the writers and a guest actress.
to.be.FREE
An original theatre piece written and performed as a staged reading with movement by Dads Back! Academy alums.
Found Suitable
Performed as an informal staged reading, this play was a culmination of writing and theatre workshops conducted with a group of life-sentence parolees
On the Brink
A culmination of writing and theatre workshops conducted with 7 life-sentence parolees
Onward
Performed as an informal staged reading, this play was a result of writing and theatre workshops conducted with life-sentence parolees.
150 Days
A result of writing and theatre workshops conducted with 21 life-sentence parolees, a video collage was created for online viewing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moving Forward Workshops
Bi-monthly theatre, movement, and writing workshops serving the formerly incarcerated and those on work release
Rituals
Created during LIFER: Stories from the Inside/Out, a 14-week collaborative theatre and writing workshop for residents of The Francisco Homes. Written and performed by the workshop participants with support from TheatreWorkers Project artists.
Life Stories From the Inside/Out
Click a Project Title below to see the Play or Workshop page.
(Incarcerated Individuals)
Administered by the California Arts Council, in partnership with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California’s Arts in Corrections program is internationally recognized for its high-impact, innovative approach to addressing the state’s critical public safety needs and rehabilitative priorities through the arts.
Learn more about California’s “Arts in Corrections” program.
The Journey
An original theatre piece written and performed by residents of California State Prison-L.A. County's Progressive Programming Facility in Lancaster, inspired by the writing of Jimmy Santiago Baca
More Than a Number
An original theatre piece created and performed by participants in "Life Stories from the Inside/Out" at California State Prison-L.A. County, Lancaster
Life in 5 Movements
An original theatre piece written and performed by 19 men from the California State Prison-L.A. County's Progressive Programming Facility, Lancaster
The Circle
A theatrical video collage produced and directed by TheatreWorkers Project artists. Written by 9 men incarcerated at California State Prison-Los Angeles County in Lancaster and performed by 5 formerly incarcerated individuals.
Arts in Corrections Workshop
TheatreWorkers Project provides an opportunity for incarcerated men to explore and express their life stories through physical theatre, movement, and writing.
Teaching Artist Training
Click a Project Title below to see the Play or Workshop page.
TheatreWorkers Project provided three trainings for artists and arts administrators who were interested in working in the reentry and prison arts fields. These trainings built community, increased awareness of the importance of cultural competency, equity and inclusion, shared skills, established new contacts, and recruited new TWP teaching artists.
Learn more about Prison & Reentry Arts Techniques Teacher Training.
Prison & Reentry Arts Techniques Teacher Training photo gallery.
Prison & Reentry Arts Techniques Teacher Training
A workshop for teaching artists and arts administrators interested in working in prison and reentry arts programs