TYA/USA: Professional Development Webinar – LGBTQ Issues in TYA

Producing professional theatre for teen audiences with LGBTQ subject matter has its own set of specific concerns. Questions up for discussion in this month’s webinar include:

▪ Much of LGBTQ youth theatre these days is devised work, using the actual stories of LGBTQ teens and their straight-allies. Sometimes a playwright is involved, sometimes not. What are the positives and negatives of employing a professional playwright in devised youth theatre? And how do we keep our adult voices quiet enough for the youth voices to be heard with their full strength?
▪ Do you have to be LGBTQ to run an LGBTQ theatre?
▪ What are some examples of LGBTQ plays for youth?
▪ What issues are teen playwrights tackling as they trend away from “coming out” plays?
▪ How do we not forget the T and the Q? So often we focus on LGB that we can lose sight of those who struggle with gender identity and who want to live beyond the binary of gender.

Featuring Laurie Brooks, Jeff Church, Amanda Kibler, and Rosemary Newcott