At the end of the last school year, the Diversity Theater class received a grant, which allowed the theater department to hire professionals in the world of theater.
The primary goal of these workshops was to service the needs of the Diversity Theater’s production of Starmites and to bring diverse voices into the theater making process, to better reflect the student body of Topeka High.
“Deciding which workshops to do was based on what students are needing and so what kind of interests that they have,” theater teacher Amanda Burr said. “It’s about giving students the opportunity to have a say in how their identities are being portrayed in popular culture.”
Various workshops were offered, ranging in topic from traditional folk dance to modern special effects makeup, all with a focus on lowering the barrier or entry to get into theater.
“I think guest artists help offer new experiences, we all have different experiences,” Mariah Brown, head of the outreach committee, said. “And they give students resources in industries they might be interested in.”
Due to Starmites ties to classic super-hero and science-fiction comic books, the first guest artist brought in was Dane Shobe, an actor and self-proclaimed comic book nerd, who taught students how marginalized groups were represented in comics and how to draw a hero from a comic.
Members of the K-State Barriers Free Program also hosted workshops on drama therapy, with the goal of sensitively integrating students with disabilities into theater.
“The way we need to approach things changes from person to person,” Adam, a member of the Barriers Free Program, said. “To know how to approach these things you have to pay attention.”
Drama therapy is, like all therapy, a way of processing life. However, unlike traditional therapy, drama therapy uses the power of play-acting to bring greater hindsight to a situation.
“We’re looking at understanding that the way that we express and communicate is not the only way of doing it, there’s not just one or two ways to do things,” Burr said.
Throughout the therapy session, there were several opportunities for students to interact with differently abled students.
“Before the therapy session I had little energy, but the differently abled students gave me energy to participate,” senior Ollie Schumacher said.
The Grant was not only awarded to aid the Diversity Theater students, but also students in all title 1 schools.
“The goal here is to use the privileges that we have based off of this grant to break down any barriers to theater access for all people regardless of their background,” Burr said.