Cynthia Cyprien, Gilbert Arian, Francisco Espinoza, Marielle Suarez, Eugene Clowney in America (a conversation).

Using Langston Hughes' poem "Let America Be America Again" and Allen Ginsberg’s poem "America" as springboards, a cast of ten young performers, ages 15 – 23, from Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens, created a unique Black History Month stage work entitled America (a conversation). Produced by
Youth Onstage!, the youth theatre of the All Stars Project, America (a conversation), which opened February 16 under the direction of Dan Friedman and Brian Mullin, featured graduates of the Youth Onstage! Community Performance School. The production closed March 4.

America (a conversation) was amix of movement, text and music, where the cast created a performatory conversation with their country, their history, their audience, and themselves, asking: "Who speaks for America?" "What does America have to say?" and "Who/What is America anyway?"

“Throughout the rehearsal process,” said co-director, Brian Mullin, “the young performers took the words of two of America’s great activist-artists (Hughes and Ginsberg) and “remixed” them with words of their own to explore contemporary issues like immigration, economic opportunity, and equal rights.”

The production, which was developed in the rehearsal room as well as online through blogging (http://americaconversation.blogspot.com), examines the state of the American dream in the era of MP3’s and MySpace.  It’s a vibrant collage of American culture created by a group of young people who feel simultaneously enmeshed in the system and excluded from it.  Using texts of the 20th century as building blocks, they offer up a new poetic vision of 21st century America.

For more information on Youth Onstage! and YO!’s Community Performance School, contact VO!’s program director, Brian Mullin at 212-356-8452 or bmullin@allstars.org.