NEWS BRIEF: Atlanta students take on social issues with performance project
Pearl Cleage: ‘turn to the poets’
High school and rising post-secondary students around Atlanta have a platform to tackle important social issues with the annual Palefsky Collision Project, now in rehearsal at the Alliance Theatre. Under the guidance of Distinguished Playwright in Residence Pearl Cleage, nineteen students have converged at the venue to “collide” with a classic text and make it their own, a press release explained.
This year’s ensemble will tackle Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings and create an original work inspired by it “perceived through their own unique and contemporary prism.” The book is a collection by Poet Laureate Joy Harjo about how “the joys and struggles of the everyday are played against the grinding politics of being human,” its publisher says. “This summer, at a time of great national turmoil, some will look to politicians and pundits for clarity and guidance,” Cleage said in a statement. “At the Palefsky Collision Project, we turn to the poets.”
Free performances of the students’ creation will take place on July 9 and 10 in the Rich Auditorium. Any high schooler, regardless of experience, is invited by organizers to become part of the annual venture. Details: alliancetheatre.org