Santa Barbara News-Press
May 21, 2006
Word Up presents new world to youth
by Susan Gulbransen
The Center Stage audience waiting for the performers is a mixed bag: young, old, diverse backgrounds, some in work clothes, some in business attire, babies wrapped up against the evening temperatures.
Lights go low, and the line of folding chairs brightens under spotlights. From the side, 11 teenage boys and girls troop in and stand at their chairs. The boys wear dark pants with beige or navy polo shirts. The girls are also simply dressed. When the signal is given, they sit quietly, hands in laps, faces expressionless but eyes darting across the audience, taking us in as much as we examine them. If they are nervous, it only shows a little.
These performers have every right to be nervous. They are not seasoned actors like those performing at Speaking of Stories (professional actors reading short stories), but are mostly at-risk or incarcerated students. Until they signed up (ordered or voluntarily) for a unique program called Word Up, they had little or no positive communication skills and might have listed reading way down on their list of preferred activities. This evening at Center Stage demonstrates the result of an incredible eight weeks with instructor Maggie Mixsell, director of education and artistic director for Speaking of Stories.
Each performer stands and reads a poem, essay or short-short story by a published author or the student himself or herself. They read with poise, confidence and dignity, not terms often used for these kids. What makes these teenagers go from a lifestyle of thumbing their noses at society and making their own rules to a willingness to perform with dignity on stage before an audience of mostly strangers?
Ms. Mixsell, a teacher of community theater at UCSB and directing at SBCC, looks the part of a theater teacher. Her curly dark hair is pulled back, but tendrils float along the side her face, and her multicolored scarf is wrapped around her throat with a dramatic flair. We sit over coffee while she explains what she gives these kids.
"Respect. I also want them to take pride in what they do. Everyone has a story, and it's important to listen. Here I am, an old, white woman with a young population, but if you put respect in the room, it stays. The essence of performance is to give, but often you end up working toward a common goal as a community. It takes about four sessions before the trust begins between me and them, and with each other. You have to be honest with them, firm but consistent and available."
As a secondary teacher who has taught at-risk kids, I have to ask, "How do you do it?" In her soft voice, she answers matter-of-factly, "We teach them to have the tools to speak before a group, such as how to analyze a text, to speak it and the importance of physical presence. When they perform, they are giving something to the audience, not taking from them. They have their text in hand and must make it available to the audience.
"We also emphasize the importance of performing as a community and being responsive to the performer. That means they must listen to each other attentively with no rattling of paper, looking around the room, acting as if not listening. They must respect the performer and each other."
These students come from detention facilities and alternative schools within Santa Barbara County. She says, "If they are in a gang, the public sees them as anti-productive. We teach them to take on community values as a possible force in society. They learn to communicate and in positive ways and support each other. They're often not used to that."
To her surprise, she found that several students liked to read and, within a few classes, they would show up with their own poems or essays. She sometimes uses them, but admits that it's a judgment call whether to take a child's own work because it must be up to the standards of performance. She says about one boy, "He had never spoken before a group and was hesitant to try, but when he finally did, he read his own poem, made eye contact and did very well. The look of accomplishment on his face when he finished told me everything. I've found that the kids teach more to me than I teach to them. So many don't have parents who ask what they're doing each day."
Ms. Mixsell would like to see more mainstream students in the Word Up workshops. They have begun to combine the 20 student classes with SBCC students, often ESL learners. "Some come with minimum English fluency and no experience in public performance so we have them read in their own language, especially for the first time. They can't believe when they come to America that people allow them to perform in their own language. Then their hearts are in the readings."
She notes that once students come to the workshop, they are curious. "I think it takes some curiosity to get into trouble in the first place, so I try to capture that curiosity and play on it. If we can change one kid, we can change the world. I'm confident we're making a difference by teaching them to put on a community performance for the community to receive. It's all about respect. They show up, but you have to earn their respect."
The next Word Up program, free to the public, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. June 25 at Center Stage Theater. This not-for-profit program, a part of Speaking of Stories, must rely on community funding, which is always a moving target for a project like this . If you would like to help, contact or send a donation to Speaking of Stories, P.O. Box 21143, Santa Barbara, CA 93121, or call Executive Director Teri Ball at 966-3875.
In a final note, treat yourself to a special evening with the finale of the Speaking of Stories series at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Lobero Theatre. The program, "Speaking of T.C. Boyle," will feature this extraordinary author reading his story "La Conchita" along with four professional actors reading parts of his other works.