1311
(3 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
Written by John Quinlan, Contributing writer
Aug 11, 2010
Margaret Equality Billingham, Gavin Logan as mother, friend and grandfather in Proud Theater’s production of “Do It Yourself.” – Photo: Callen Harty
As the lights went up on the set of “Proud Theater: Decade” last month, a solitary figure ascended a platform on the sparsely-decorated black stage. “It started with one,” said 23-year-old activist and playwright Sol Kelley-Jones, who co-founded the awarding-winning Madison-based youth theater troupe at the age of 13.
“Then two,” said Brianna Buhr, 22, an original troupe member whose roles with Proud Theater have included contributions as actor, singer and guitarist.
“Then five,” continued Josie Montanez-Tyler, 26, who began as a youth during the group’s formative years.
This was more than just a performance marking the 10th anniversary of the troupe’s first official performance at Madison’s MAGIC Picnic 10 summers ago. It was the culmination of a glorious reunion of loving friends who’ve become like family to each other over the years. And so it’s only fitting that Proud Theater members began an event that was an entertaining and inspiring amalgam of youth-created material by telling the story of why each was there and what Proud Theater has meant for their lives.
As one by one, more young people entered the stage, their stirring litany continued, a word or a phrase at a time. “Then 10 … and now we’re 30 strong. … Unstoppable. Relentless. And brave.”
“It started underground
In basements
Parking lots
Sidewalks
And now we’re on stage
Celebrated
Visible
And finally able to be heard
It started because of injustice
Lack of expression
A need to be seen
Queer youth who were sick of being victimized
Who need to tell their stories.
And now we can finally do that
Speak up
Bring you into our lives
And see what all these words are for
Because Proud Theatre is for not just for writing theater
Not just for something to do
Not just for creativity
Proud Theater is for the girl who needed an escape when times got hard
For the boy who has always been told he wasn’t
For the woman who gave in to curiosity
For youth who finally found community
For the poet no longer afraid to write love songs
For the girl who realized her own gayness
For the man overcoming addiction
For the students who needed to express themselves
For the boy who found old friends
For the musician whose music was never heard
For the woman who I fell in love with
For the boy I call my best friend
For the writer I will always admire
For the girl I know you’ve always been
For the man who I consider my family
For you.
For us
For those to come
Proud Theater is unstoppable
Visible
Celebrated
And strong.”
Youth now filled every nook and cranny of the small stage, almost overflowing into three bleachers filled by a spellbound audience comprised of family, friends and longtime supporters. Reflective of a troupe where each individual story told is an important one, each line was delivered by a distinctive new voice. But as this first important opening scene closed, the young people joined in unison to echo another theme: the power of created supportive community.
“And these self written words are only part of what we can offer
When we all speak as one.
Loud and Clear!
Loud and Clear!!
LOUD AND CLEAR!!!”
Hope for the future
“The youth give me hope for the future in that their compassion, tempered with strength and leadership, really will change the world,” Proud Theater artistic director Brian Wild told WiG. “They cause the ripples that turn into waves of understanding.”
Wild, like all of the unpaid staff, hopes this will be the year Proud Theater takes its valuable youth development work to a new and more sustainable level. The group recently received a $10,000 award from the Mukti Foundation and has developed a plan that will allow it to expand statewide.
June and July were months for rediscovering old works and creating new ones in preparation for the retrospective performance. It was a time for past and present Proud Theater participants to express what the group has meant to them, in videotaped dialogue sessions that may eventually be transformed into a documentary film.
“I was amazed at how many youth told us that Proud Theater changed their lives,” said co-founder and 10th anniversary show co-director Callen Harty. “For some it was literally saving their lives. For others it was a place where they were valued.”
Co-founder and production co-director Sol Kelley-Jones explained how her idea for a youth theater took root more than a decade ago.
“As a 13-year-old queer youth activist, I was determined to combine heart, art and activism by creating an LGBTQ themed youth theater troupe,” she said. “I approached a gay experimental actor/playwright/director, Callen Harty, and asked for his help. Our hope was to create a place where queer youth, youth from LGBT families and allies could creatively explore LGBTQ issues and concerns, claim and share their stories, make connections with each other, and experience the hope that comes when you are changing the world around you.”
Sensing the homophobia-induced life challenges facing many of the youth, Kelley-Jones also quickly developed a partnership with Sunshine Jones, a practicing therapist and life coach. She became like a surrogate parent for many of the youth, especially those rejected by their own families.
“A youth struggling with poverty, transportation restraints, institutionalized racism, learning disabilities or with an unsupportive family, may have different needs than youth with more privilege,” Kelley-Jones said.
Multiple identities
The members of Proud Theater mostly identify as queer, but the group is racially and culturally diverse. Jones and other adult mentors have observed how racial tension “seems to simmer under the lid of liberalism” in Madison. “At Proud Theater, instead of racism being masked over, these tensions were incorporated into our pieces and our programming, as queer youth and adult mentors explored issues of racism and heterosexism and where they intersect,” Kelley-Jones said.
An example of this is in the acclaimed youth-written piece “The Gauntlet,” in which a harassed African-American gay youth symbolically peels off the derogatory labels other young people use to define him.
Josie Montanez-Tyler, 26, an African-American and Puerto Rican woman, joined Proud Theater at the age of 16.
“I had just come out to my mom,” she said. “And she was not OK with it. She was a Mormon, and it was just her and me in our house, so she took all of the oxygen out of the place with her hatred. And I’d been holding my breath for a long time, and Proud Theater finally gave me my breath back,.
Montanez-Tyler said her experiences at Proud Theater gave her the pride and confidence to stand up to her mom.
“I started walking with my back straight, and when she would say something to me, it wouldn’t crush me. It could bounce off, it wouldn’t stop my breathing,” she said. “All of a sudden we’re doing our first real show on the stage, and she actually came to the performance, and was sitting through the whole thing. Proud Theater did so much for just my mom and me, what we have. ... it’s not perfect, but we used to have nothing, so it’s brought in a lot of something into my life.”
