by Veronica Murillo
Staff Writer
A University of Houston program uses Shakespeare to help teenager change their lives for the better.
"The program is to explore ways in which theater can have an impact on a [teenager's] everyday life," said Rutherford Cravens, executive director of the Shakespeare Globe Center of the Southwest at UH and the Shakespeare Outreach Program.
The program helps at-risk teens write and produce their own plays. Cravens, who founded the program in 1985, said most teenagers growing up in American society today are "at-risk," but the program is mostly geared toward children raised in economically disadvantaged environments.
The program also helps children appreciate Shakespeare's plays by allowing them to act in their own Shakespearean performances. The program hires actors and musicians to work with the teenagers acting in Shakespearean plays and acting in and writing their own plays.
Once the plays are rehearsed approximately four times a week for several months, they tour to high schools, middle schools, hospitals, drug rehabilitation centers and juvenile detention centers.
"Shakespeare is fun and there's nothing to be afraid of," Cravens said.
Richard Reyes, director of Talento Bilingue, said most of the people who have participated in the program are either attending college now or are productive members of society.
"Some are married with children, but at least they're working and not in jail," he said.
The program has worked with Talento Bilingue in the past. One of their most successful combined efforts, a play called Colorblind, dealt with the harsh effects of racial tension.
In the play, a revised version of Romeo and Juliet, two young lovers are torn apart because of their racial differences.
Colorblind premiered Oct. 3, 1995, the same day of the O.J. Simpson verdict.
"We had been rehearsing long before the O.J. incident came about, but (the play) hit right on the money," Reyes said.
He said the play had a dramatic impact on the audience.
Alissa Alban Baquet, a professional actress who works with the program, said the participants are usually very cooperative. She added that the creativity within the children varies, and some need more work to refine their skills than others, but she has stayed with the program because "it's very rewarding."
She is not working with the program's next performance, but said she will get involved again during the summer.
Cravens said the program will begin touring at breakfast clubs, which are made up of business people.
"I was once a member of (a club). I think it would be good to premiere at these clubs, because these people have a bad perception of these kids, and they're wrong," Cravens said.