 Hey everybody, good afternoon wherever you are Welcome to this live stream of the inciting incident a conversation about youth and theater and activism connected to enough Plays about gun violence which Michael Cody the leader of that Movement we'll talk about in a little bit as we circle around I want to say again that my name is Michael road and I'm zooming in from Phoenix, Arizona The ancestral territories of many indigenous peoples including the Akamel Odom and P posh Indian communities And I also want to start today's conversation With a digital land Acknowledgement something that my friend will tailor right here on the zoom Introduced me to the summer when we were co-leading some sojourn theater Goodman theater teaching artistry institutes Will has shared this and it is from Adrienne Wong Who's a part of the spider web show collective in Ontario? And it goes since our activities are shared digitally to the internet Let's also take a moment to consider the legacy of colonization Embedded within the technologies Structure and ways of thinking we use every day We are using equipment and high-speed internet not available in many indigenous communities Even the technologies that are central to much of the art We make leave significant carbon footprints contributing to changing climates that disproportionately affect indigenous peoples worldwide We invite you to join us in acknowledging all this as well as our shared responsibility To make good of this time together today and for each of us to consider our roles and reconciliation decolonization and allyship And again, that's from Adrienne Wong at spider web show and the other thing that I will say upfront before we get started with this Incredible group incredible group of powerful artists and educators and activists is um, we hope you are all healthy and safe These are hard times 2020 has been a hard year and particularly we would like to lift up the social justice Struggles and movements of this moment and in particular black lives matter and we'd like to acknowledge as a group our care and concern and solidarity with those working to Make black lives and black causes a priority as our nation wrestles with its history and its present day set of policies and discriminatory actions in all sorts of systems that we participate in and We take a moment just a moment to pause for lives lost particularly black lives lost to police brutality and injustice over this past year and beyond of course One moment or even a few moments is not nearly enough But we begin our conversation today making sure we acknowledge that and ultimately The relationship of those movements and those lives to the very work that we're here talking about today So I'm gonna begin with a specific invitation to our amazing guests To introduce themselves and that invitation is I'm gonna ask them to take sort of under 30 seconds To just say who they are and where they work or what they do and then I'm gonna ask them to take like a minute and a half or so To answer this what is something you have learned from young people? About theater and activism What is something you have learned from young people about theater and activism the order? We're gonna go in because we're gonna go Willa and then Barbara and then Halle and then finally Michael Cody who will also talk for a moment about enough The movement the initiative that again is connected to our gathering here today All of them have said they are comfortable with me giving them a sign if they go over time several of the folks here are dear friends of mine so I can be extra brutal with them and Barbara who I'm new to but who I'm a fan of I'll be a little gentler Michael who was once a student of mine gets no gentleness whatsoever So we're gonna begin with the amazing and extraordinary will tailor the question is who are you willa and what have you learned? From young people about theater and activism and thank you for being here. Well every day Michael. I Think about who I am Because it is to change this climate On a regular basis my job title is I am the Walter director of education and engagement At the Goodman theater in Chicago, which is of course on land at the Pottawatomie Used to roam very freely among other tribes in my day-to-day work I run all education and engagement programs that the Goodman has 17 of them and I Also sit as part of senior Linda leadership to set policy for the theater The you know, I learned so much from young people and it has been Amazing what I've learned when we've been in this isolation. I've I've learned a level of resiliency I've learned a lot of tech skills but the thing most that I've learned is that they don't really see a difference between Art and activism that it is wholly a part of one thing for them And that is the way that they live their lives and that really Is very inspiring to me and I hope that I can emulate that Thank you. Willa. Thank you so much. We're gonna move on to Barbara Oh, you're on mute Barbara Okay, that doesn't count as my time. No, no good starting now. Okay, I Am Barbara Pitts McAdams and She hers I live in New York, but I'm coming to you now from swim Washington home to my mother Simone His birthday is today. Happy birthday mom and also the traditional and present home to the Skalem tribal community I'm best known as an original company member and co-creator of the Laramie project And I am co-author of moment work tectonic theater projects process of devising theater Which I teach to professionals high school and college students and teachers and in 2018 in the wake of the March for our lives Movement I co-founded with Jimmy May's Hashtag here to stories of gun violence stories of youth activism. It happens here, too What I've learned from young people. I agree with willa like young people are so Intersectional like that's something I feel like my generation has had to learn how to do and to ask for And yeah, the intersection of arts and activism, which you know, a lot of them call art of ism What I've learned is if there is a structure to plug into whether you make it or they make it young people will exceed your expectations And just to kind of back up 20 years ago when tectonic created the Laramie project You know, who knew since then it has been continuously performed in high schools and colleges and I'm often asked to attend or do workshops or talk backs And what I learned from young theater makers is just how thirsty they are to dig into the deep stuff and how respectful they are that Laramie project is devised from interviews with real people grappling with real issues and they take it on with such responsibility. And I've seen the students in the audience changed by seeing the play. I've seen high school football team captains, you know, stand up at talkbacks and pledge that they'll no longer Allow gaslers on their teams. So all these years of witnessing this. I've thought, how could I create another interview based play Structure that allows students to play age appropriate and maybe aspirational roles and also allow them to experience the interview process that we had making the Laramie project and learn how to generate The content and structure it into long form full length narrative. So the here to project is answering that question and our pilot productions first with Rich Brown And student divisors of here to Western Washington and then with Dr. G. Murray Higgins with here to Penn State. These students are exceeding my expectations. We go to their communities. We've brought in some interviews that we've conducted with youth activists around the country. And they dig into local concerns and events and Penn State this summer they pivoted and did a podcast. So now you can listen to the here to podcast courtesy of the Penn State student divisors. And as Willem mentioned, like they are just not daunted by technology. They tap into community so effortlessly. So that's a lot of what I'm learning from the students that I'm engaged with. Thank you, Barbara. Thank you. And we'll pass over to the extraordinary Hallie Gordon. Hello, Hallie. Hello. Hi, everybody. I'm really happy to be here. I'm in Chicago also sitting on the land of the Potawatomi And I am the former artistic director for Stepanwell for Young Adults. And what I've learned over the years and recently is really, it's not unlike what Willem and Barbara were talking about this idea that young people are multidisciplinary already. They have so many likes that they're not going to just focus on one thing like theater or being an actor, but they're engaged with so many different elements of the arts, of politics, of writing. And Willem, I totally agree with you. It's for them, you know, being able to have their voice heard is a form of activism. And that's kind of why we're all here is because we help support that voice. And, you know, the more that I'm around young people, the more I realize that their voice is really crucial and it's crucial for us to hear what they're talking about and what they need and how we can support them. Thanks, Hallie. We're going to go over to Michael, who's had, I think, an extraordinarily active year in, I want to say conceiving and organizing and then leading the hashtag enough initiative for which all of us and I know many others are really grateful for. So, you know, I invite you to take a moment to introduce yourself and then this prompt about what have you learned from young people about the intersection of theater and activism, maybe you could respond in terms of what have you learned in this last year, working with young people and their educators and leaders around the nation, as young people have kind of taken on this project and that can, you know, give you a little space to tell us what enough is for folks joining who don't know. Thank you, Michael. And thank you, all of you for being here and for joining me on this project. My name is Michael Cody, he him his and like Hallie and will in Chicago, the ancestral lands of the Potawatomi. So my project hashtag enough plays and gun violence has two components to it. First, it starts with a call for submissions for young high school students six to 12th grade to write short plays 10 minute plays about gun violence. And then from that we've selected seven of them that last night, we had readings of an over 50 communities across the country, including three international readings. And we have a version of it currently streaming on Broadway and demand which is this amazing collaboration between companies like the Goodman south coast rep Berkeley, Arizona, Orlando, and I'm missing one alliance theater. And it's been this amazing year long journey to get in touch with these young people get them the right plays get them to submit plays amidst the pandemic. Get people to say yes to a project when there's so much already going on that occupies our brain space and rightfully so and I think the biggest thing that I've taken away from this is that they young people want the spaces that we have young people want to have a place in the theater that they can bring their activism to that they can be heard that they're not just asked to perform in a play but they're asked to perform the words that they write. I learned that is specifically on topics like gun violence which we're tackling. No, people want to use the theater for the space to have these conversations. So last night I spent, you know, a couple hours switching between browser tabs because I was able to watch all of these readings. And eavesdrop on conversations that were happening afterwards and hearing so many young people say, you know that they, they've, they've never been able to be a part of a play, part of a piece of theater that was written by someone their age, talking about things that they're already talking about. And that, even though that is their life and their experience, that there's something about inhabiting a story that allows them to, that allows everybody involved to step back and have a conversation that that wasn't possible before so I feel what I've taken away from this project is that I think someone said thirsty before I wrote down hungry that the young people are hungry to, you know, for us adults to kind of just get out of the way and and give them the support they need to make to make the theater theirs. And, you know, the last thing I'll say, because I know my time is up and Michael's going to slap me, but that is that, you know, we bemoan sometimes that, you know, where's the young audience, and where, you know, where, you know, how do we get young people to come see the shows. You know, there are other ways to get young people to experience and be changed by theater that aren't just transactional come see our show, you know, giving them the opportunity to learn that they have a voice and to express it is of greater importance. Thank you, Michael. And thanks to everyone for those opening comments. It would be very easy, I think, to spend our time together today just talking about the enough project. I think we won't. I think I think we'll sort of move a little kind of a little more macro and I want to take a moment and read a quote from Idris Goodwin, who is one of the advisors on this project and has worked with all of us and with Michael. This is from something he wrote for the American Theater, American Theater Magazine website at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was grappling with what it means to be a playwright right now and he wrote the same thing intermission it's the show on this stage in this world we the men and women who are merely players in our various roles are walking and waking daily in different plays altogether. This is the moment where everything changes. We are the inciting incident. And I feel like there are two ways that this conversation today could go based on both how it was advertised and based on what are probably really important things to think about together. One is what is theater now in COVID and more importantly even what is theater as we prepare to enter some sort of recovery coming out phase in the next six months to a year. And that's one very important conversation being had in lots of spaces and maybe related to that but but maybe a little different is what's the work of supporting, amplifying and learning from youth from young people in the worlds of theater and activism and change. We all believe that to answer the second is really important before you even maybe should answer what's the role of theater like first how do we listen and support and amplify the young artists in our midst or who we haven't even met or who we don't know. So I kind of want to go down that route for a moment and ask these amazing folks with incredible experience. Large theaters like Goodman and Steppenwolf, a smaller ensemble theaters like tectonic everybody sort of working in higher ed at different moments experience with high school students. Everyone here has lived in the theater field at different scales and in different spaces and has spent a lot of energy believing in and nurturing young artists. So I want to ask each of you to think for a moment about about this question, how can our theaters and our learning institutions and us as individuals make spaces and opportunities to learn and follow. Like, what do we need to do institutionally and individually to learn and follow so that the young artists activists in our midst can invent the future, rather than step into a future that we invent and make some space for them, which you know sometimes we do have to do but how can we make it possible for the young artists that we believe in and all around us and unknown to invent the future what do we need to do institutionally and individually, and I'll open it particularly at first here. Halle Barbara and Willa for any of you if you want to share thoughts and, you know, can talk for a couple minutes if you want or brief her and we'll see where it takes us. I'll start just because I've been, I've been thinking a lot about this and I participated. Well I listened in on a trauma workshop that the Chicago Children's Theater was doing in collaboration with Lori's Children's Hospital. And what it really made me realize that in order to give, in order for adults I think to give youth space and when we talk about space we're also talking about a safe space, and I'm not necessarily talking about a comfortable space but I am talking about a safe space. You have to understand where young people are coming from and they're coming from all different communities, all different socioeconomic backgrounds, and if we don't really understand the full child, it's really hard to provide that safe space. Now look at what Children's Theater is doing in terms of connecting their teaching artists and others to this trauma informed way of asking questions of young people, of being present for young people in a, in a way that allows them to engage in material that feel uncomfortable, but that they are in a safe space, giving that information to other people if that makes sense. So I think for me the future is kind of this idea of partnership is how can theater companies partner with organizations in which we can all help support the whole child. I mean, and, and Willa and Barbara and you know this it's like when, when you work with a group of students, it's not just for that one hour, you know, it's there's a whole lot of things that come into being when a child walks into a room. And I think that we, as larger institutions need to really understand that scope in order to create the environment that those kids are longing for. Thanks, Hallie. Willa or Barbara, what are you thinking. Well, I'll jump in. Yeah, Hallie, you put me in mind of something I wasn't thinking about talking about but it. I think when I'm working with young people, I've become really aware over the years, you know, like, I'm a theater artist but I'm often called in because I'm a divisor to help institutions talk about they basically outsource things to me that are like heavy things like inclusion diversity struggles, bullying, all the things that they know they need to deal with and they outsource it to me and I'm not a social worker. But so over the years I've had to really think about, okay, how can I set students up to succeed. And so for example in my lane of making long form narrative. The reason I came up with this sort of new form of the interview based play with the here to project is to, as you all know like just rehearsing a play that's already written, you don't have enough time for. So how are we going to create something meaningful where students are maybe interviewing each other or talking about things that are really important to them, and end up with a finished piece of work that has artistic integrity and allows students to feel like they really participated they were really seen and heard. One of the things that that I've had to really like reach out and get support for is, how do I create a process where students like we really do a legit check in a legit checkout. And we're really making sure that we're like you think oh I don't have time I don't have time for that. I'm not to do it, because otherwise you end up with a lot of people just like way more frazzled than they need to be, and potentially feeling traumatized and at risk. So really creating a process that will support that kind of interrogation of whatever is going on is one of the ways. And so, just to stay in my lane with with my project. When we made the Laramie project, we were very naive about what it means to go into a community appropriate their narratives, bring them back to the theater and perform them right we're, we're all way more sophisticated and conscientious now as a culture. So my students are teaching me how they want to handle that and what stories they're willing to share and what stories they're like no that's not our story to share. What I hear to is a flexible framework so you know if you've got a brilliant monologue by an African American activist but none of your students are African American. You know maybe there are more local stories that we can plug in that makes sense for their community, or maybe we can have video components where we cut to the African American experience, but really creating a flexible, formal framework. So that students can tell the stories that are important in their local communities, and then feed them into a structure. So they don't have to write the whole play, but they can generate some of the content. So that's one of the ways that you know I've been trying to address this question of how, how can I set students up to succeed and not give them such a big project that it's just going to be a big hot mess at the end. Thank you Barbara. Will I want to come over to you because you have so much experience in Chicago, I know in other places too but in Chicago. My time of knowing you with so many young people and transformative experiences through programs that you've designed and led. How do you think about ways that we support young people, leading and inventing our future coming from institutional spaces. Right. Wow. That's a, it's a huge challenge right. And it depends on the hat that I'm wearing at the time. It has part of a large predominantly white institution that has a history and has an ethos and has a sense of the standard by which we believe our work should be. What I have on that hat part of my job is trying to get people to understand that theater is not just product but it's about process. And that often what we need is more focus on the process and not necessarily the product to include all voices, not just youth, but all voices of people who are really represented in our institution. And I, when, when Michael, Michael see talked about theaters always talking about how do we get new audiences in, you get new audiences in because their stories that you're telling that they're interested in, and that is something that we don't necessarily do. You know, we build for a subscription audience and our regular subscription audits, 50 and above, mostly white, mostly suburban, surprisingly. So how do, as a member of leadership in a room with people who make the decisions, how do I make sure always that upper up of mind is not just the product that's going on the stage. But what that means about how we represent ourselves as an institution and how do we think about opening up that product. In, if I have on my teaching artists cap. You know, I've, my first act of civil disobedience I was seven years old in, in a segregated downtown Dallas, Texas with my grandmother. I've been an activist longer than I have been an artist and part of what I think is my responsibility is to teach to help the young people that I work with understand how code switch. So that when they are in an environment, talking about the work that they want to do. They understand what the language is that they need to use how they need to massage the board, which is different from talking to me, which is different from talking to their peers, which is different from talking to an audience. And what the importance of that is, is understanding that all of that is it, none of that is being in authentic. It is, it is genuinely talking with your voice, but speaking multiple languages, essentially, depending on the audience that you have. And then the only other thing that I would say about that is, I see my primary job as making a space available. And because I'm older, and because I have more experience now because I have more knowledge, being able to lend some of my expertise around how you talk to the production designer, what do you think about working with a stage manager to guide them, but not alter necessarily the process and allowing the process to be what they want that process to be so that they understand both how to lead, how to follow, and how to make changes on the fly. Well, can I, can I ask you another question and then we'll go backwards. So go back to Barbara, and Michael, I'm sorry Michael did you want to do you want to add a thought to that question as well I need to make space for you there, my apology. No problem. Just, I want to echo some of the points that were brought up the process versus product is a huge one and one that just in this project encountering so often and trying to remind teachers, theater artists who are taking it on like, you know, first of all, right now in this moment, the everything's imperfect. So just embrace that embrace the pressure of like making sure that everything's polished or like whatever pre COVID expectations we had of what theater was, don't worry about it. Since we can't make it perfect that way, focus all your attention on process and what are the students getting out of it. And I think the other thing too is just like prioritize. Like, when I first started this project, the first conversation I had with you Michael was this idea of, Hey, you know, we'll do this thing about gun violence and we'll get, you know, well known to write short 10 minute plays. And you gave me the best advice ever you're like, that's great but kind of boring. I mean we kind of see that I mean why give people who have a platform already more of a platform to express their opinions. And that sent me on this journey of like well what what is really going on in the world. And what's going on in the world is that these we have these issues. And the people who are dealing with it are young people, the people are getting things done are young people. They're the ones marching in the streets they're the ones starting organizations, they already know how to lead. I mean just and go on YouTube and tick tock and Instagram they know how to create the only place that they're not really creating is the theater, and that has to do with how the pipeline set up and maybe our expectation of what quote unquote professional is. And another early conversation in this process was, you know, worrying about like, you know, is it going to be successful will we get good plays just kind of the things that you think about early on. And someone just assuring me like, you know, you'll, you'll get what you get, and you'll learn a lot from it just trust that that they will deliver. And that's a huge component of this is that we need to trust that young people are going to come in and, and, and deliver because they will. And I think that goes back to Barbara's point about, you know, remaining flexible, you know, meeting, meeting them where they are and checking in with them and making sure and learning what it is that they're getting out of the process, because I think we all come to the table with notions of what we hope the project to be. But I know certainly on my project that where I am today, I've learned a lot more about what my project is based on how the young people responded to it and the work that they delivered, more so than the proposal I put together a year ago outlines. And it's a better project because of that because I'm listening to what they want it to be. I mean, I think you, you've created Michael Cody that is so brilliant is kind of a hybrid between what I, what we call rapid response theater, and this like really long form narrative that, you know, I've learned to make with tectonic that can take a year or two to bake fully, you've given students, you know, the opportunity to really first reflect to themselves well how do I feel about this issue and how is gun violence, and the gun violence epidemic impacting my life and my experience and, and how could I form that into something creative and then you, and so that first conversation is something they're having with themselves and then with a mentor perhaps. And so, you know, rapid response theater and there's been so much when I got into this space. The first thing I did was Google, who's already in this space, you know, and so many brilliant theater artists doing what you described that call to play rights after Orlando, for example, or, you know, Claudia Alec and every 28, every 28 hours, is that what it is the name of her project, so many Rachel Carnes has, you know, Code Red play rights. And those rapid response pieces are so important when when there's been a tragedy and we're all reeling from it and we need something to focus us and bring us together. So those projects are so important. I think what you've really done again setting students up for success is give them the opportunity to really reflect inward first, get it on paper, share it, and, and really set them up for success. So I look forward to seeing what happens in 2021 with hashtag enough. I'm going to frame a different, a different question a bit and go off of that. And maybe, and maybe we'll all start with you and go on to Halle and come back Barbara and Michael. There's something sort of extraordinary about choosing to make an open source project center on two of the most complex and polarizing issues of our time. There's guns, which is gun violence but guns, and another of course being racial justice and race. And I would like to hear thoughts folks have about your experiences with young people, helping teach us the ways to be in difficult and complex dialogues, and so many adults within so many institutions and within our sort of democracy, utterly fail at day after day after day after day to the harm of our communities, and the systems that are supposed to take care of everyone equitably and justly. But here we have this project where 50 readings or more happening this week, most in this nation. Again, a nation where it's pretty hard for a lot of people to stand in a room with different opinions and listen to each other. So without talking about facilitation strategies that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking sort of, what is your sense of how young people can help teach us and lead us as they are sort of wrapping their heads around the sort of polarization that we have begat to them. So this project or just in general, as you work, the intersection of art and activism, and will I start and see if you have any thoughts. Well, one of the great good fortunes of my job is that I get to work with people as young as eight and people as old as 98 doing the same work with two very different kinds of groups. And I think it's, it always strikes me when we have this conversation that we never refer to my 98 year old folk as old folk. We constantly refer to young people who are younger than let's say 23, which is the age for a lot of foundations as young people as if they are not fully formed in some kind of way to have the conversation now. And one of the that is something that I have to always keep top of mind in negotiating that conversation. I'm, I grew up doing segregation. I grew up during the civil rights era and the way that I think about race has been shaped by a whole set of circumstances and experiences that they only know about from history books. And the way that the world works for them the way that they see issues around race in particular are not ways that I can experience that. And so I have to, I think one of the mistakes we make is only listening to them through our own lens, if that makes sense, not not understanding that their perspective is unique. And that we can't we can only learn that perspective from them, because we are not of that age, we are not of this time in that way. And that's a really hard, hard, hard thing to try and accomplish. And I'm often fail at it. And, and part of what I think I love about the young people in particular that I work with. They know how to gently correct me when I when I fall off that train. They, they pulled me back they they remind me of the kind of respectability politics that I grew up with and assume is the way of the world and it is not for them. Another thing I think is to think about how. How do we get other, how do those of us who work with youth all the time and work with multiple generational do multiple generational organizing. How do we get those who don't do that, who don't experience young people or maybe only experience them as children, their, their children, their nieces their nephews in that way. How do we get them to recognize the value of those voices. It's a really nice moment to lead us, and, and that they have a perspective that we don't necessarily have just because of our age, and the kind of experiences that we've had. It's a struggle. Thank you will a PS if you hear screaming behind me apparently my family has just found a large scorpion in our home, but I believe they're dealing with it so I'm going to pass it on to to hally. Yeah, I, you know, I think young people have they don't have the, they have a different kind of baggage than adults do. And they understand that they're in the process of learning and doing. And as adults, we tend to. Some of us tend to think we have already learned, and some of us tend to think that now is our moment to give over to expose all the knowledge that we have over to the youth, and I think what other people can teach us is to listen, and to actively listen, and to follow through. And I think that young people, there's a freedom that young people have that we forget about as adults. We're worrying about other things and there's the freedom allows them to be creative in ways that are that are monumental in terms of how that affects them. And I think that you know, I think that's why it's so important to be able to give them a space to do that. They know what to do, they know what they want to say they know how they feel. And I think they're much more accepting of each other than adults are of each other at this point. I'm incredibly frustrated and heartbroken about the world today, and on many levels on on race issues on climate issues on equity issues. They're very aware and they're heartbroken. And I think that this is where part of the challenges in terms of how much we support and guide and how much we move rocks for them. It's a balancing act. But we've left them with a lot of crap, you know, and my kids say to me, you know, especially during this pandemic when they're, you know their teenagers and one of them is in college and he can't go back to college and he's like this is, I'm not going to get this back. I'm not going to get this back this time back. And we have to give them the space to get time back, and to shape the world that they want, which is much better I think than we could ever imagine. Thanks to Barbara you have any thoughts on this one. I hope they're on point. To Willis comment about always labeling the youth the youth, I did ask them early on and I try to ask every group I work with, if they're comfortable with that label youth activist. And most of them not yes yes we're it's, you're okay to call us youth or young activists. So, I do like to check in on that kind of thing and boy, as Willis was saying, they will gently correct you, you know, when you get the pronouns wrong, when I keep messing up that stuff that is there so agile with sometimes with just kind of a look of pity that I can't keep up, but they do make space for it, you know, I mean they're incredibly generous as a, you know, to speak in generalizations. There are some schools of thought that there is no plot there's only character. And so, for me with my project, you know if I started a year later here too might be about youth activism and climate change. But, you know, because I started this like Michael was saying maybe at some point hashtag enough is about youth activism in another sphere or another issue. I think what I've tried to focus on is the youth activism and the structure of the plot of March for our lives and the movement of youth activism are kind of the plot points that kind of tent poles of the piece, but really wanting to focus on the aspirational voices that are out there of youth activists and, you know, the thing that the things that I learned by by letting youth activists speak like Selena in Texas says, and you know the other thing is that they always talk about their intersectionality. They don't want to erase us from the conversation. Lewis Hernandez, executive director of Youth Over Guns in New York City. You know he says it wasn't until March for our lives that he was only working with young people that most of his activism has been intersectional, and that he says to follow women, especially women of color, because when we don't we take 10 steps back instead of 10 steps forward. So they are just like I think I started saying that they are just inherently intersectional. And yeah, so that if if we allow them to they will teach us how to be better and you know to paraphrase Audre Lorde, that you can't tear down the master's house using the master's tools, they have their own tools. You know, whether it's tick tock or all the different ways they access social media and connect with each other. You know they they have their own tools. Thanks Barbara Michael do you have any thoughts on this before I before I shift to a different question. The only thing I want to add that just is becoming more apparent to me, and in how maybe my generation, which is not, I'd like to think not super far off from the current generation, but like how different that this generation is from mine. The difference is is that this generation just continues to prove itself to be the generation of empathy, the generation of equity, the generation of justice, like that's where it feels like this generation is operating from. And I think, thank God, because that is like that's the voice. And that's the way of thinking we need right now. For whatever reason we find ourselves in the world we're in that seems to be going off tilt every other day. We need to listen more to these voices and to have them guide the programming that we do. But I think in giving young people those experiences and getting them to take on leadership roles and be a part of the creation and not just the doing. You're not just set you like laying the foundation for what our industry is five years from now 10 years from now. You're setting this, you're planting the seeds for these young people. And now I'm very conscious of the way I'm using those words. But we're you're setting the seeds for them to become, you know, the people who are going to guide it, how we do storytelling, as we move forward. And I think, you know, these early experiences to what it is we do in the theater, and what the theater is you know when I was maybe a high school or my concept of a theater was, we did the fall play in the spring musical, and they're probably from both plays are from the 1920s to the 1950s. And it wasn't until college actually that it was doing Laramie project that I suddenly realized that theater can be about people, real people, real issues, and I can leave thinking about how I walk differently through the world. And I think that if we not only put young people on stage in front of us to tell the stories but also tell the stories that are important to them, we can get adults who are walking through life kind of ignoring it. The chance to re see and re hear the world through their perspectives. I would like to propose what I'll call a, a lightning round, meaning I had, we're talking a lot about listening, right, and about and sort of the nature and necessity of that in our work with young people. And I don't wonder if we could take a minute as a group and pop around and what are some questions that when you have the chance when you're engaging in a partnership, or a relationship with young people, what do you think are crucial questions to start with, particularly if you are attempting to support and amplify the work of young people not just fit them into your own work. What are some starting questions and I'll, I'll offer one and I'm going to say no stories in this moment, no paragraphs just like question. Question, question, let's just hear a couple of questions. The first one I'll offer is, what do you need to do the thing that you have been imagining. What's another question. Who's not here with us. What's another one. What does success look like. Great. I might ask young artists or young artists activists so you could support and amplify their work and to know about their work what kind of questions do you would you ask them. What are you struggling with. What are you struggling. Why are you here. Why are you here. How can we create theatrical forms that allow us to share more stories and more experiences. Let's say they're, let's say we're at. Sorry, how does that read to you from the stage. How does that affect you. Another question. Am I in your way. What's another question. How can I support you. I'm going to support you. Where's the best place to do this. Where's the best place to do this. Who's it for. What's holding you back. What's holding you back. Does it feel authentic. Does it feel authentic. Okay, so thanks. Thanks for that. If you have more, that's awesome. And we can share those, but we were at about nine minutes. I don't think questions have come into the comments that I've seen. So we're going to assume that folks are just really happy. To listen to us and not ask questions, but if you have questions, go to the enough Facebook page and put them in the comments. And Michael C. We'll bring them into this conversation. But I'd like to sort of, you know, I started with a digital land acknowledgement and acknowledgement of black lives matter and acknowledgement of social justice. Challenges and upheavals. And legibilities in this moment. And I wonder if any of you want to respond to. What is the work. As an adult collaborating with young activists and artists. To support. Or make certain that those questions. Those concerns, those movements. Are present in some way in the work of the activists and artists that we collaborate with and support. Often it is often it simply is. But sometimes it's not. So I just wonder what thoughts folks have about that. It's, it's been my experience that it's, that it's always there in their work. What it's not in is our work. And how do I, how do I get my, my older colleagues. To understand intersectionality and the, and the need to address. Issues that. That audiences. Actors. Writers. Are not. One dimensional or unit dimensional that, that we all are intersectional and the, the need to address. The work in that kind of way and make space for that kind of conversation. So I'm just wondering, is it sometimes the experience with you or am I sort of making an odd presumption that working for instance with suburban, sometimes predominantly white. Circles of youth may not be bringing an attention to those issues that you want. Or am I just off? Um, My experience has been working with those groups. And I think that's, it's up her mind, but they have never had space. To talk about and wrestle with it. And so when Hallie talks about. Safe space. The other thing that I would add is brave space. The ability to wrestle with something that might be absolutely diametrically opposed to everything you hear all day at your house. And I think it's important to be aware of that. And I think it's important to be aware of that. That that information is not inside you. That that information is not correct. Or that that's not the way you want to live your life or express who you are. To make a space for you to know that that's okay to have that and to be wrestling with that. And how do I support you in being brave enough to have your own voice? Um, that's a. It has not been my experience that it has only been. I'm not sure that you're going to say something before. I was, I was just going to add that I do, you know, going a little bit off of what Willis said, it is challenging for large institutions that don't occupy. Theater for young people or art for young people only, but have this adult. Kind of that's why they exist. They do theater for adults. And they have this education. I mean, this is the way regional theaters were set up, right? And then they have an educational department in which they get funding for. They wouldn't get that funding unless they had. That educational department. But I really think the future are more theater companies like free street theater and more theater companies like. And I just think that the work that they do is specific to the kids who live in the community. They are part of the community. They generate the work in the community. It is authentic. I think the challenge is really like, what are these big regional theaters going to do? Um, and where's the money going? You know, where, you know, the, you know, there's a challenge there in, in what theaters are facing now. And there has to be big decisions. This whole, um, you know, the demand of we see you is, this is a really big part of that whole conversation in terms of the way these big regional theaters are structured. They are not structured in a capacity to support. Real racial diversity. And so, which comes generally from the education departments, right? And then it moves up. So I think we have to look at it more holistically and say that if you're a company, you must encompass more than just the people who walk in to see death of a salesman. I want to note, uh, I think we have to look at, um, I think we have to look at, um, in case folks didn't hear you free street theater in Chicago, Coyapaz and others and Albany park theater project and finer and others and extraordinary work. They do alongside, of course, other youth driven companies around the country, but Sierra particularly close to them. Um, we're in our last couple of minutes. Barbara or Michael, do you want to add anything on this subject? You've been such a generous moderator. I was wondering if you want to answer that question. I would love to, but I'm reluctant to take up our last three minutes. Um, but thank you. I want to also shout out Coyapaz has that wonderful book ensemble made where she, you know, like really does a deep dive into all the different ensemble theaters in your Chicago area. And just a little shout out that the next year to production is going to be here to, uh, Columbia college, Chicago. So I'll be in your neck of the woods in the fall, which is great. Um, uh, I'm thinking about the young fugitives in Chicago, another really cool ensemble that is very, you know, theater about youth made by the youth that it affects. So yeah, there's, there's so many, um, uh, I just worked with hits theater in Houston. And, um, another predominantly, uh, BIPOC, um, youth group that is working. So they're, they're, they're everywhere. Um, and, and, uh, just, you know, really, I think what Halle is maybe saying is, is there a way like labyrinth theater in, in New York will often host a smaller theater. You know, can these larger institutions, um, adopt some of these smaller ensembles to get their subscriber base kind of plugged into the work that's going on. In communities. Um, we don't have to create new things. Often the structures are already there that we can support. Thanks Barbara. And to note that Chloe Johnston is the co-writer with Coyopause of that wonderful book. Thank you. Ensemble made. Yeah. Yeah. Um, Michael, I think it's appropriate in our last minute or two that we come back to you to, um, bring us to knowing where the enough project is right now. And we're talking about youth. We're talking about art and activism. Here we are after more than a year of work with these readings and these collaborations happening around the country. What would you like anyone who's watching right now to know about how they can engage with enough, uh, in the coming week. And as I, as I take you to that, just say, thank you, Will. Thank you, Barbara. Thank you, Halle for, uh, a really great and meaningful conversation. And Michael, I'll pass to you. Well, thank you Michael for being such a fantastic moderator of this discussion. Uh, you're, you're skilled for asking, uh, the right questions and deep questions and questions that make us, that challenge us is unparalleled really. Uh, so thank you. Um, so hashtag enough, uh, we've reached sort of the culminating event of our, of our year. You can watch the seven plays that have been written by young people all across the country, uh, at Broadway on demand. If you are interested in the project, in the production, in getting involved, uh, our website is www.enoughplays.com. Uh, there you can get the link to watch. We've also, uh, got an open letter that we've written to the next administration that calls on prioritizing and, and the gun violence and also centering youth voices in that conversation. So we invite you to come learn about our project. Um, stay up to date and, uh, sign that letter for us with us for our next administration. Thank you, Michael. And thank you everyone. We wish everyone health. And safety as we head into the dangerous, but hopefully a little bit joyous, uh, holiday season. And wish everyone an end to this hard year and a better next year. Thank you all. And thanks for that great call to action, Michael. See. Yeah. Thanks, Michael. All for this. Thank you. Thank you, Michael. And Michael. Michael, Michael. Thank you. Take care. Bye everybody. Bye. Bye. Bye.