Chickenshed NYC, New York’s inclusive theater company for children, is searching for partner elementary schools for the autumn 2019 launch of SeaChange, a new, inclusive theater program for students of all abilities and background.
“SeaChange is a global conversation for young people on issues that really matter to them,” says Chickenshed NYC President Elaine Finkletaub.
This fall, Chickenshed NYC’s specially trained teaching artists will work with children of all abilities and backgrounds to facilitate their understanding and acceptance of each other’s lives, thus leading to an increased sense of confidence in themselves and the world around them. Together they will create the basis for a devised performance, to be rehearsed over winter 2020 and performed in the spring.
“Chickenshed NYC believes that young people’s voices should be heard. This project gathers these voices from different communities and provides a vehicle for them to be broadcast to all who wish to listen, to affect change in the world,” Finkletaub says.
Chickenshed NYC programming incorporates characteristics such as children never having to audition, the creation of original music, child-led program development, and an emphasis on each child being able to participate according to their own criteria.
The inclusive theater methodology used by Chickenshed NYC eschews labels such as “disability” and helps each child become a successful member of the theatrical community. Children who are more typically developing create theater alongside those who have faced physical, neurological, or social barriers to inclusion.
Chickenshed NYC is an outgrowth of England’s Chickenshed Theatre Company, which for the past 45 years has pioneered the concept of inclusive theater for children.
Chickenshed NYC will collaborate with partner schools to apply for Arts Partnership Grants by the June 7, 2019 Department of Education deadline. Contact Elaine Finkletaub (elaine@chickenshednyc.org) to discuss being a Chickenshed NYC arts partner school.
Chickenshed NYC
1441 Broadway, Suite 5037
646-508-3620
