Truth Be Told Theatre's NOW HEAR THIS!

Vital Stats

Kelly F

Vashon, WA

  • people helped127
  • People Doing It 10

The Problem

I live in a very tight-knit, outgoing, supportive community called Vashon Island, Washington. The majority of my fellow islanders and I were raised with the basic ideas of “Don’t Cheat, Don’t Lie, Don’t Do Drugs”. But in the last few years, the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol in Vashon youth has skyrocketed. Every two years, students in both Vashon High School and McMurray Middle School take a questionnaire called the Healthy Youth Survey, which asks various questions about drug use, alcohol consumption, family life, and eating habits. When the results of the 2006 survey of Vashon students came back, the island was in shock. 8th, 10th, and 12th graders on Vashon use more alcohol and marijuana than other levels of use statewide. Another shocking result of the survey was that the youth themselves believe that the Vashon community is supportive of drug and alcohol use in teens. A shocking example is that among Vashon teens, 60% admitted to using alcohol in the past thirty days, compared to 41% average throughout the state. Upon seeing these results, a VHS teacher, Harris Levinson, with the help of Vashon Youth Council, organized an independent theatre project that we named Truth Be Told Theatre. We wanted to put a face on the survey results, and five students (including myself) starred in an hour-long monologue performance based on real interviews. Our monologues were the result of interviews with our fellow students, and we portrayed their stories to the best of our ability through documentary theatre. The outcome of this performance was amazing- our performance hall was packed, and the audience had a discussion afterward. As a veteran actress in Truth Be Told Theatre, I believe I am the right person to help solve the problem of substance abuse in teens on my island. I am also a teen myself, one that faces this familiar challenge to use or not use. I am also one of three youth members on the Vashon Island Prevention and Intervention Team (VIPIT), which gives me leadership skills and intergenerational support for continuing this project.

Plan of Action

As of early January, we have already begun casting this year’s actors, and will start having cast meetings in the next few weeks. Our goal is to target a diverse group for these roles, one’s that may not necessarily be considered or consider themselves for a role in a production with such an important message. As soon as the actors are cast, they will begin their study of documentary theatre, watching videos like The Laramie Project and the works of Anna Deavere Smith. The actors themselves will conduct interviews with their fellow students, asking about their drug and alcohol use. Over the next few months, the actors will conduct as many interviews as possible, and will be typing up those interviews word for word. Director Harris Levinson will work with them to find the most powerful stories, and turn those stories into monologues. The next few weeks will be focused on line memorization, rehearsal, character development, and designing the set and lighting. Amidst the planning of set and construction, the actors and director will develop t-shirts that will be given away at the events. This year, we hope to incorporate other topics besides marijuana and alcohol, such as hard drugs and how parents can deal with teens who are using. We hope that we will perform for different crowds each night, some public, some hosted for middle school students, some for high school students. After each performance, we will host a discussion and brainstorm session with the audience. We hope to have a lot of advertising and publicity this year, to generate as big of an outcome as possible. I will be playing many behind-the-scenes roles in this production, including recruiting of actors, interviewing youth, writing monologues, and most importantly, holding the position of co-production manager.
Go
Physical and Mental Health

Related Stuff