Event

teeth: a coming of age story

viBeStages began in 2002 with a group of 8 girls in Upper Manhattan who wrote and performed a play about issues important to them. Fourteen years later, in 2016, it has evolved into viBe's core production program, with three original shows produced annually. Each Summer, Fall, and Spring, an ensemble of diverse teenage girls write and perform one narrative-based play with songs and dances performed in runs of 2- 3 shows at professional theater venues in Manhattan. Our professional teaching artists inspire girls to create stories, monologues, scenes, dances and songs about their collective and individual passion, struggles, hopes and dreams. Early viBeStages rehearsals begin with girls writing about what they would like to change in their lives or in their world. They discuss the urgent questions they crave to address through their collaborative creations, and develop their individual and collective ideas into a cohesive narrative. Girls' own thoughts and priorities propel rehearsals forward and their conclusions about life's challenges become the backbone of their plays. Inevitably, they choose to explore issues that affect them and their larger communities. Following 6-10 weeks of concentrated after-school and weekend rehearsals, viBeGirls present their work before excited audiences of their peers and community members at professional NYC venues. At these free live performances, viBeGirls have presented theater with themes including: social & economic justice, racism, bullying, peer and family pressure, homophobia, immigrant acculturation, violence, teenage pregnancy, identity and body image.