Elizabeth Youth Theater Ensemble presents:
Walking the Beat 2024
August 23-24, 2024 7pm - 9:30 pm EDT
Friday, August 23, 2024 and Saturday, August 24, 2024
Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy
Main Auditorium
About the Play:
imagiNATION interweaves various scenes that shift between parody game shows and absurd commercials, poignant playful moments, and intense, emotionally charged narratives. Through this unique format, the play captures the absurdities of current gun policies, the deep-seated emotional impacts of violence, and the urgent need for change.
Our focus is on children and the experience of gun violence on children and through the eyes of a child. In one storyline, we follow a day in the life of one child, their beloved stuffed animals and the fantasy world to which they retreat. Guns and gun violence have a profound and often subliminal impact on children, affecting their sense of safety, mental health, and overall well-being on a daily basis. Constant exposure to news reports, lockdown drills, and even casual conversations about gun-related incidents can instill a pervasive sense of fear.
A Collaborative Effort:
The creation of imagiNATION has been a deeply collaborative effort, with students contributing not just as performers, but as writers, researchers, and directors. This process has empowered them to explore nonviolent conflict resolution, advocate for peace, and use their voices for change. The play’s structure, which includes clapping transitions and avatar-guided expositions, is designed to keep the audience emotionally engaged and provide necessary breathing space between intense scenes.
Our Hope:
Through imagiNATION, we aim to challenge perceptions, inspire dialogue, and promote a vision of a safer, more compassionate society. We invite you, our audience, to reflect on the issues presented, participate in the conversations sparked, and join us in advocating for a future free from the shadows of gun violence.
Walking the Beat is a creative writing, theater, and multi-media workshop for students grades 9-12 and local police officers, designed to establish a groundwork for conversation and create real, achievable actions for specific communities across the country.
This event will feature works from our Unreal Engine and 360 VR students.
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Made possible by:
Mayor J. Christian Bollwage
City of Elizabeth
Dept. of Health and Human Services
Office of Youth
