aWe Creative Group
Actors Writers Educators
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Donate NowYou're The Reason I'm Still Here (working title)
a documentary theatre piece focusing on the lives of twelve young adults dealing with coming of age in the time of COVID.
New York, NY, US
- $11,011 raised of $12,025 goal
- 151 donations
- -258035 minutes left
Fiscally Sponsored by Fractured Atlas
THE SEED
Writer and Educator, Amy E. Witting, found herself about to give an opening lecture to her college freshman in Fall of 2023. As she created a circle for the thirty some students to share who they were and where they were from, she noticed the resistance to being in a circle. A resistance she had not experienced in many years teaching, or was it simply that she had never noticed before? As they circled up, about to ask her first question, she asked them to breathe together, and pivoted to another question, "How are you doing?"
What happened next and over the course of the semester was surprising and planted a seed for the journey and title of this play, You're The Reason I'm Still Here.
Writer and Educator, Amy E. Witting, found herself about to give an opening lecture to her college freshman in Fall of 2023. As she created a circle for the thirty some students to share who they were and where they were from, she noticed the resistance to being in a circle. A resistance she had not experienced in many years teaching, or was it simply that she had never noticed before? As they circled up, about to ask her first question, she asked them to breathe together, and pivoted to another question, "How are you doing?"
What happened next and over the course of the semester was surprising and planted a seed for the journey and title of this play, You're The Reason I'm Still Here.
WATERING THE SEED
aWe Creative Group received a small starter grant from NYFA and in January of 2024 interviewed over thirty students from around the country who were Freshman in High School when the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown happened and recorded their stories. Like a beautiful patchwork quilt the process to create this into a theatrical production has begun, and with your help a public workshop presentation is slated for March 2025 - the five year anniversary of the lockdown. Since so many students are involved, and theatre can be expensive, we would like to keep this workshop free and open to the public. The conversation this play is starting is important, and our hope is to get as many different communities involved in the discussion.
Centering on twelve individuals who were high school freshman from around the country in 2020 You're The Reason I'm Still Here (working title) explores the profound impact of COVID-19 on the mental health, social development, and overall transition from childhood to adulthood asking the questions, when the adults in your lives don't know if it's going to be okay who do you turn to? The answer is profound, surprising, and hopeful.
The conversation about mental health is nowhere near a level of comfortability where teenagers understand that the feelings will pass. We were all teenagers.
As a community it is our hope that this play will be a resource for High Schools, Colleges and Universities to start bridging necessary conversations between teenagers and adults on Mental Health.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Lots of love,
aWe Creative Group
Centering on twelve individuals who were high school freshman from around the country in 2020 You're The Reason I'm Still Here (working title) explores the profound impact of COVID-19 on the mental health, social development, and overall transition from childhood to adulthood asking the questions, when the adults in your lives don't know if it's going to be okay who do you turn to? The answer is profound, surprising, and hopeful.
The conversation about mental health is nowhere near a level of comfortability where teenagers understand that the feelings will pass. We were all teenagers.
As a community it is our hope that this play will be a resource for High Schools, Colleges and Universities to start bridging necessary conversations between teenagers and adults on Mental Health.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Lots of love,
aWe Creative Group
Rewards
Postcard Love
Donate $25.00 or more
Amount over $2.00 is tax-deductible.
A handmade postcard of thanks and inspiration sent to you in the mail. With a stamp. Connection is the theme of this project and receiving mail can grow a heart. It's been proven.
44 claimed
Stickers Of Hope
Donate $50.00 or more
Amount over $3.00 is tax-deductible.
Designed by one of the students who participated in the project you will receive a surprise sticker in the mail with a quote from the project's text.
25 claimed
Surprise Artwork of Love
Donate $100.00 or more
Amount over $5.00 is tax-deductible.
Many of the students involved in the interview process used art as a way of getting through lockdown and virtual school. Art is a way to express emotions, connect with others, and hang on a wall as a reminder of our creative spirits.
13 / 15 claimed
Framed Pandemic Poetry
Donate $250.00 or more
Amount over $25.00 is tax-deductible.
A few folks involved in the project took up writing poetry and combining it with art during the pandemic. You will receive a framed poem with a note of hope from the artist.
4 / 12 claimed