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March 16, 2001/Adar 21, 5761, Vol. 53, No.24
Young actors bring teen issues to life
BETH OLSON
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 Each actor performs a variety of roles. Pictured are Brad Piccirillo, left, and Seth Wiener. Photo by Mark Gluckman |
Choices. Empowerment. Education. These are solutions offered by Planned Parenthood's Positive Force Players.
Positive Force Players, a theater troupe of 50 local high school students, performs across the state, mostly in schools, bringing important teen problems - and solutions - to life.
Under the leadership of creative director Britta Booth and producer John Sapero, the troupe presents a repertoire of 24 short scenes and four full-length shows, each focusing on a different issue, such as family communication, date rape, prejudice, drinking and driving and teen pregnancy.
Some scenes are dramatic, while others use humor to make their point. All focus on choices and their consequences.
Each scene is written and performed by the teens in the troupe.
"The mission is to bring information to students so that they can make better choices about their lives - the idea being that students are going to listen more to other students than they are to adults," explains Booth.
Many students decide to audition after seeing Positive Force Players perform at their own schools, Booth says. Auditions are held each spring.
Arian Shirakhoon, a junior at Central High School in Phoenix, saw the troupe perform when she was an eighth-grader at Madison Meadows Middle School in Phoenix. She later auditioned, was selected and is completing her third year in the troupe.
"I was really interested in acting and it was a really great way to express (that)," she recalls. "I also wanted to reach out and help my community."
Booth says that the auditions are a search for teens who are articulate and enthusiastic, but no formal drama training is necessary.
"We want kids who are comfortable talking to other kids - who can get up on stage in front of people. If they're too shy, then they are not going to reach their audience members. We really want kids who are outgoing, creative and willing to take a risk," says Booth.
Once the members are chosen, the group goes on a weekend retreat to Prescott to get to know one another and begin training. Booth says each student participates in more than 100 hours of training prior to the start of each season.
Seth Wiener, a sophomore at Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, in his first year with the troupe, brought several years of school and community performance experience, including Arizona Jewish Theatre Company's "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs." He says members of Positive Force Players get excellent preparation.
"We have training sessions that are writing workshops where we learn how to write scenes. We also learn about the subject matter, such as STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) and contraception," he explains.
Wiener says that training also includes drama workshops and "virtual shows," in which students perform scenes and audience members question them while they remain in character.
Following training, group members come together in August to edit scripts and write new material, including a new full-length show each season, Booth says. This summer they will write a show about addiction, then rehearse for a Sept. 14 premiere.
During the school year, the troupe performs about eight times a month. Each performance utilizes six or seven players, meaning that each student participates once a month.
One of Booth's responsibilities is to cast each performance. She says she never uses the same cast twice, preferring to allow the players to work with new people.
Shirakhoon states it simply: "It's like one big family."
For the most part, says Booth, the players are positive role models, but she emphasizes that they do make mistakes - that's part of being a teenager. She also says that informal studies have shown that participants in the Positive Force Players tend to wait longer to become sexually active and use drugs and alcohol less frequently than others in their age group.
"They have a way of evaluating (their actions). If they do make a mistake, they look at it much more carefully than your average teen would," she explains.
While the participants in the troupe are teaching others, they are also learning themselves, says Booth.
"When they come in as young teens, it's right when they're starting to break away from family and kind of look at the world and decide who they want to be and what they want to believe in. When they come in, they learn to really look at issues and determine for themselves what they want to believe, what they're passionate about and what they think is important for themselves."
Therefore, Booth says, her role is that of a friend, but it is also her responsibility to create an environment where the students feel comfortable and can be themselves - a necessary part of them being able to explore the intense issues they deal with.
Wiener says that one of the most important parts of belonging to the troupe is being able to help others. "I get to go out and tell people my own age, 'Hey, you can make good decisions.' It makes me feel good," says Wiener.
Shirakhoon agrees. "One of the most important things about the troupe is helping (students) learn about all these current issues - just reaching out to people and letting them know what's out there."
Booth says although education and the community service aspect of the group are important, the fact is that the kids have fun participating in the troupe.
"The bottom line is, if it wasn't fun, they wouldn't come back. When they get here they know it's going to be a really good time. They're going to be around really cool people, they're going to have an impact on other people's lives and they like that," emphasizes Booth.
For Shirakhoon, participation in the troupe has reinforced what she's wanted to do since she was 5. "It has always been my dream to be on Broadway," she explains.
She performed with Positive Force Players on March 5 at Temple Beth Israel in Scottsdale. She attended Hebrew school, became a bat mitzvah and was confirmed there, and she now participates in the temple's youth group. "They've always taught me to give back to my community," she says.
Next year will be bittersweet for Shirakhoon, who looks forward to another season with the troupe, but realizes that as a senior, it will be her last year to participate. However, she won't soon forget the lessons she has learned.
"We're all in there for the same purpose - to educate our peers, learn more about ourselves, and we all love to perform."
For more information about Positive Force Players, contact Britta Booth at 602-263-4239.