HITS Theatre & The Sankofa Collective

Present

MEET THE MOMENT

HITS Theatre and The Sankofa Collective trained Student Creators in songwriting, playwriting, choreo poems, slam poetry, hip-hop haikus, short film and other forms of storytelling to capture this historic moment in Houston: exploring the teenage zeitgeist during a pandemic, virtual schooling, racial injustice & discrimination and more. Join us on Zoom for Meet the Moment – a theatrical evening of original work written and performed by students in grades 6-12.

FEATURING STUDENT CREATORS
Abigail Lazar
Anna Koenig
Meredith Shoemaker
Emerson Campbell
Aubrey Scarcella
Nya Guidry
Gillian Konko
Gabi Wager Saldivar
Lauren Philpott
Cristina Perez
Izzy Vaughan

Additional writing contributions by
Mabyn Coleman
Scout Brooks
Emma Velasquez
Luke Brown

Meet the Moment will feature live and pre-recorded performances on Zoom. Tickets are FREE. Register for the event to receive Zoom invitation link and passcode. Join the Waiting Room and guests will be admitted at 7pm.

*Special Note: Some content may include language and PG-13 themes.*

Meet the Moment: A Collaboration Between Sankofa Collective & HITS Theatre

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Artistic Directors of The Sankofa Collective and HITS Theatre have been meeting to discuss a joint project focusing on devising an original piece of theater. Using the training from the Tectonic Theater Project in NYC, students will interview Houstonians and create “theatrical moments” based on interviews, newspaper articles, and more. Throughout the Fall, we plan to offer training in songwriting, playwriting, choreo poems, slam poetry and other forms of storytelling to capture this historic moment in Houston: exploring the teenage zeitgeist during a pandemic, virtual schooling, racial injustice & discrimination. In the spring, the project would turn to devising an original theater work (or multi-media installation if Covid-19 strikes again) with a virtual or in-person presentation in the style of “The Laramie Project.”

What is Moment Work?

Q&A with Mr. Adam & Mr. Alric

BARBARA PITTS McADAMS

MOMENT WORK TRAINING

AUGUST 10 – 14, 2020

Barbara Pitts McAdams began working on The Laramie Project following her 1998 appearance in Leigh Fondakowski’s I Think I Like Girls (HERE Arts Center in New York, Encore Theater and La Jolla Playhouse in California). As actor/dramaturg for The Laramie Project, she appeared at BAM, Alice Tully Hall, Union Square Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Denver Center, and Sundance Theater Lab. She appears in HBO Films’ The Laramie Project and shares an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Made for TV Movie. In 2004, Barb began to codify the Moment Work teaching process and created the internal teaching manual. As a Moment Work master teacher, she has led training labs and devised new plays at numerous colleges and high schools. She has also served as an adjunct professor for Drew University and CUNY’s Applied Theater MA program. In residencies at high schools (Kimball Union Academy and the Calhoun School), Barb used Moment Work to devise a play for eighteen students called The Incident. Barb’s theater credits include Well (w/Lisa Kron, Huntington Theatre); Leigh Fondakowski’s The People’s Temple (Guthrie, Berkeley Rep); Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire (Triad Stage, NC); West Coast premieres of Stephen Belber’s Drifting Elegant and Rebecca Gilman’s Sweetest Swing In Baseball (Magic Theater, San Francisco); Susan Bernfield’s Nice Chair (New Georges); Michelle Carter’s Ted Kaczynski Killed People with Bombs (SPF Festival); and Adam Bock’s The Typographer’s Dream (Encore Theater, San Francisco). TV/Film: ForeverPerson of InterestKidnapped, 30 RockOne Life to LiveAs The World TurnsLaw & OrderLaw & Order: SVU, Comedy Central’s Pulp Comics, and the award-winning web series Anyone But Me (on Hulu).

ABOUT HITS THEATRE
For 40 years, HITS Theatre has engaged children in high-quality, performing arts education. Led by Artistic Director Adam Wagner, our nurturing atmosphere and trained instructors give students the opportunity to grow and perform on stage, whether the children are novices or more seasoned. Our philosophy is to use positive affirmations and a safe learning environment to deliver professional arts training, enrich lives through cultural experiences and talent development, and provide a creative outlet for children, regardless of their financial background.

HITS Theatre’s MISSION and VISION is to empower youth through educational musical theatre programming with a holistic approach to acting, singing, and dancing.

ABOUT THE SANKOFA COLLECTIVE

Sankofa (noun) – Adinkra word that expresses the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress.

The Sankofa Collective (Formally known as The Bayou Theatre Company; BTC) is a Texas non-profit organization with the purpose to expose, educate and enrich the lives of at-risk youth and adults to theatre. It was established to utilize the performing arts as an outreach and entertainment source to the underserved population of the Greater Houston community and beyond.

Founded by three young performers, (Alric Davis, Trey Morgan Lewis and Yesha Benjamin), the Sankofa Collective will serve as a pre-professional and professional avenue of creative expression and artistic development. The programs offered will provide a positive alternative to otherwise negative activities and associations. The Sankofa Collective hopes to do that with artistic expression through theatre, design, dance, film and visual arts in order to re-ignite the passion to create lasting theatrical memories by building upon those who came before us and create room for artists to secure promising futures in the arts.

ABOUT TECHTONIC THEATER PROJECT

Based in New York City and guided by founder and artistic director Moisés Kaufman, Tectonic Theater Project develops new plays using the company’s trademarked theater-making method, Moment Work™, and through a rigorous process of research and collaboration in a laboratory environment.

Since its founding in 1991 the company has created and staged over twenty plays and musicals, including Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Laramie Project, Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, and the Tony Award-winning 33 Variations.