Everywhere a ‘Sign’
By JESSICA ROBERTS Special to the Daily Press
Kung-fu chickens, global warming, the Wizard of Oz and penguins have something in common — they will share a stage tonight in the first of three weekend performances of “Signs of the Times,” a series of one-act plays featuring adult and child performing pairs.
The shows were developed through the Virginia Avenue Project, a free after-school program that provides kids in the Santa Monica and Virginia Park communities with mentoring and programs in writing and performing arts.
“Really it’s about empowering children to think creatively about their lives in new ways,”said development coordina-tor Tom Carroll.
The objective is primarily accomplished through theater and the results are encouraging, Carroll said. One-hundred percent of their kids graduate from high school, 90 percent go on to college, and 85 percent are the first in their family to attend college.
In a typical year the project works with 120 to 150 kids, ranging from 6 years old to high school students. Many stay with the project from a young age all the way through high school. The project is run in conjunction with the Santa Monica Police Activities League, which recommends some children for the project and also screens volunteers.
Although programs are centered around performing arts and run by volunteers from the artistic community, the goal is to develop strong relationships between adults and children that will prepare children for all aspects of their lives.
“Most alumni don’t go on to careers in the arts,” Carroll said. “They do use the skills they learn, such as confidence, the ability to speak their minds and creativity” to be successful in other areas. “They attribute (their success) to their experience with the Virginia Avenue Project.”
“Signs of the Times” comes out of a program called One-on-Ones, in which adult professional writers are paired with children. The adults individually interview their partners and then write a one-act play, taking into account each child’s talents, capabilities and interests.
The children spend a week in August at a boarding school in Ojai, Calif. to rehearse their plays with adult partners between adventure outings, swimming and eating.
“The primary focus is the relationship between the adults and children,” Carroll said.
“Signs of the Times” features nine original one-act plays, each with a different variation on the theme. Each play has a sign in it, ranging from “No Smoking” and “Baby on Board” to pickets reminiscent of this year’s immigration rallies.
Rosemary Vaswani directed and performs in a play with an 11-year-old girl, Jenny White, who sings in the show.
“It was a seriously wonderful experience,” Vaswani said. “I was speechless by day two.”
In her first year as a One-On-One volunteer,Vaswani said she became very close with her partner.
“I learned as much from her as she did from me,” Vaswani said.
Vaswani started working with the Virginia Avenue Project last year when she helped put on a screenwriting program.She said she wanted to work with kids and to get “outside (herself), by focusing on someone else’s needs.”
“You get to see the growth” in the kids, she said. “Some are more shy in the beginning and then they just blossom.”
The project has dubbed its 14th anniversary “a sort of coming of age.” If the success of the project thus far is any indication, the transition to adulthood will be a smooth one.
Part Two of “Signs of the Times” will be performed Friday, Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 2 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the 24th Street Theatre in Los Angeles, located at 1117 W. 24th St.
Admission is a $5 donation or “pay what you can.”
Reservations can be made at the Virginia Avenue Project’s office line, (310) 264-4224. For more information visit www.VirginiaAvenueProject.org.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 1, 2006. Read the original PDF.