The Act4Change Violence Prevention Project, a nonprofit that uses theater to help kids cope with COVID-19, recently teamed up with Lincoln Hospital’s “Guns Down, Life Up” youth program.
Together, they developed “Rona in The BX,” “Healing and Wellness Rainbow of Desire performance,” a virtual performance that will air April 30 and May 1.
Bronx residents including John Jay College students, hospital staff, high school and middle school students, will perform five short scenes about how COVID-19 has impacted their lives. “Rona in The BX” uses “Rainbow of Desire,” a Theater of the Oppressed therapeutic technique, developed by Brazilian theorist, Augusto Boal, that encourages audience members to reflect, discuss and problem solve the social conditions of their lives.
“Rona in the BX” is giving Bronx youth, college students, and hospital staff a creative and safe space to desahogar, that means to unburden themselves in Spanish,” Dr. Eva Lopez, adjunct assistant professor for John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator. “The project aims to heal while everyone writes, acts, and talks about the emotional turmoil that the Bronx community experienced. We hope to offer the program with another group this summer”
Tickets are available at: https://eva-s-school-a409.thinkific.com/enroll/1388434?price_id=1611290
