Friday, June 9, 2023
BAGLY Tabling
Stop into the lobby before the show, where our partners from BAGLY will answer questions and share resources for LGBTQIA+ youth and their families.
BAGLY: The Boston Alliance of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Youth was founded in 1980 and “is a youth-led, adult-supported social support organization, committed to social justice and creating, sustaining, and advocating for programs, policies, and services for the LGBTQ+ youth community.”
6:30pm - 7:30pm
"I Am..." & "Curiosity is Easier to Land on Than Hope"
Performance by Youth Underground Delegates & Ambassadors
Curiosity is Easier to Land on Than Hope is a new play grounded in sharing perspectives of LGBTQ+ individuals and the queer community. Created over a six-week intensive with youth last summer and further developed over the past year, dozens of interviews with community members inspire these stories of the ongoing process of growing up, identity, finding community, and the tensions and love between generations. This play invites audiences to reflect on the past, and look, curiously, toward the future. Written by YU’s inaugural Playwriting Fellow, Iris Rhian, directed by Vincent Ernest Siders, and performed by the YU Ambassadors.
Opening performance of I Am… by the YU Delegates: a selection of original and adapted scenes that explore their questions and perspectives about LGBTQ+ experiences.
Post-Show Talkback with Playwright Iris Rhian and YU Delegates & Ambassadors.
Saturday, June 10, 2023
"I AM..." & "CURIOSITY IS EASIER TO LAND ON THAN HOPE"
Performance by Youth Underground Delegates & Ambassadors
Curiosity is Easier to Land on Than Hope is a new play grounded in sharing perspectives of LGBTQ+ individuals and the queer community. Created over a six-week intensive with youth last summer and further developed over the past year, dozens of interviews with community members inspire these stories of the ongoing process of growing up, identity, finding community, and the tensions and love between generations. This play invites audiences to reflect on the past, and look, curiously, toward the future. Written by YU’s inaugural Playwriting Fellow, Iris Rhian, directed by Vincent Ernest Siders, and performed by the YU Ambassadors.
Opening performance of I Am… by the YU Delegates: a selection of original and adapted scenes that explore their questions and perspectives about LGBTQ+ experiences.
Post-Show Talkback: "Queer Youth Respond"
Youth activists from the BAGLY Speakers Bureau share their perspectives on the play and respond to questions from the audience.
BAGLY Speakers Bureau is the longest BAGLY run program and the oldest and largest LGBTQ+ youth speakers bureaus in the country featuring highly skilled teen public speakers that provide panels, presentations, and facilitated interactive workshops on youth leadership, navigating LGBTQ+ experiences in school, being a queer and trans POC, and trans youth health and wellness, among other topics.
Following the performance
Boston POetry Slam
Come for an hour of performance poetry by four local trans poets, reflecting on what it means to be a queer youth, followed by audience Q&A.
Boston Poetry Slam was founded in 1991 and has continued on since “curated entirely by unpaid volunteers,” serving their mission “to foster new work and new voices in performance poetry, to drive the evolution of the genre, and to promote poetry to the widest and most diverse audience possible using the nurturing environment of the open mic, the appeal of compelling featured poets, and the competition of poetry slam.”
"I AM..." & "CURIOSITY IS EASIER TO LAND ON THAN HOPE"
Performance by Youth Underground Delegates & Ambassadors
Curiosity is Easier to Land on Than Hope is a new play grounded in sharing perspectives of LGBTQ+ individuals and the queer community. Created over a six-week intensive with youth last summer and further developed over the past year, dozens of interviews with community members inspire these stories of the ongoing process of growing up, identity, finding community, and the tensions and love between generations. This play invites audiences to reflect on the past, and look, curiously, toward the future. Written by YU’s inaugural Playwriting Fellow, Iris Rhian, directed by Vincent Ernest Siders, and performed by the YU Ambassadors.
Opening performance of I Am… by the YU Delegates: a selection of original and adapted scenes that explore their questions and perspectives about LGBTQ+ experiences.
Post-Show Talkback: "How can communities support queer youth?"
How can LGBTQ+ teens and allies advocate for themselves and their friends? How can adults best support youth in their families, schools, and communities? This panel will explore queer youth activism and allyship, and answer questions from the audience.
Following the Performance
Sunday, June 11, 2023
Butch Ado
Staged Reading by Actors' Shakespeare Project
Butch Ado is a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic comedy Much Ado about Nothing, authored by Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s Youth Programs alum Noah Good. Set at Smith College, this whip-smart adaptation retains the joy and humor of the original while featuring a far greater range of gender identities and posing timely questions about gender stereotypes. Staged reading performed by alums of both ASP’s Youth Programs and Youth Underground, plus Q&A with the playwright.
Actors’ Shakespeare Project “believes Shakespeare’s words are urgently relevant to our times. Working as an ensemble of resident company members, we bring these words into the voices, bodies, and imaginations of our actors, audiences, and neighborhoods. We do this through creative projects, including intimate productions and outreach programs that are informed by the spaces in which they happen. These projects inspire civic dialogue, build relationships between people, strengthen communities, and reveal something about what it means to be human here and now.”
Guided Tour of "Are You Ok?" with Jesse Freidin
Are You OK? is an interactive artistic photo installation that “documents the experiences and stories of trans and non-binary youth living in the United States during this time of horrific anti-trans legislation. Flanked by their supportive families, these outspoken and deeply loved youth present their strength to the world in a revolt against the country’s attempt to erase them.” QR codes on each banner let viewers listen to moving conversations between photographer and participant, using storytelling and empathy to teach with love.
In this tour, Creator Jesse Freidin guides viewers through the photo exhibit, highlighting narrative threads from the stories and sharing his personal insights. Learn more about the ‘Are You OK?’ Project here: www.areyouokportraits.com.
"I AM..." & "CURIOSITY IS EASIER TO LAND ON THAN HOPE"
Performance by Youth Underground Delegates & Ambassadors
Curiosity is Easier to Land on Than Hope is a new play grounded in sharing perspectives of LGBTQ+ individuals and the queer community. Created over a six-week intensive with youth last summer and further developed over the past year, dozens of interviews with community members inspire these stories of the ongoing process of growing up, identity, finding community, and the tensions and love between generations. This play invites audiences to reflect on the past, and look, curiously, toward the future. Written by YU’s inaugural Playwriting Fellow, Iris Rhian, directed by Vincent Ernest Siders, and performed by the YU Ambassadors.
Opening performance of I Am… by the YU Delegates: a selection of original and adapted scenes that explore their questions and perspectives about LGBTQ+ experiences.
Closing Celebration
Celebrate with Youth Underground! All LGBTQ+ youth and allies are invited to join the YU Ambassadors and Delegates as we close out the YU Festival with food, drink, music, and fun!