Stories of U of L Students Told on Pandora's Stage
Story by Lex Lawson
Louisville’s only queer theater production company, Pandora Productions, hosted to sold out audiences the "LGBTQ Youth Project, January 6-9 at Walden Theatre. The play was written and produced in an effort to bring to light the stories of youth and the issues they face.
This was a collaborative play written from stories and interviews from members of commonGround and the Louisville Youth Group. This process allowed the participants to become writers of the play as their personal stories were used as the narrative for the production.
The play was structured to express specific perspectives and experiences that the writers have experienced with a variety of issues. The topics covered various aspects of the coming out process from self realization to sharing with family and friends either by choice or by force.
Along the story line the variety of positive and negative experiences that the writers have had added depth t
o the typical LGBT youth experience. This depth identifies that the ways in which young people come to terms with their gender or sexual identity is unique to each person’s life, and cannot be easily categorized by one story.
Along with the script of the play being built on personal experiences of the writers, after each performance "talk backs" were held with the writers, performers, Brian Buford, Director of the Office for LGBT Services and Donald Taylor, Executive Director of Louisville Youth Group. During the talk back audience members were able to engage with the writers with more specific questions about their experiences and their opinions on advancing the quality of life for LGBT youth.
While the issue of harassment and bullying of LGBT youth is a hot topic in the current media and policy area, this play adds personal and very real experiences to that dialogue. This process has been empowering to students to hear their stories validated as real and important to the dialogue of LGBT rights.
The Office for LGBT Services is grateful to Pandora Productions for using their artistic influences to bring awareness to these important issues in a way that highlights the importance of telling one’s story.
