THE BLK BOX LAB
A youth theatre lab that focuses on unleashing the most authentic storytelling imaginable while simultaneously nurturing the capacity to be authentically human.
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Youth Theatre Conservatory
BLK BOX LAB creates Youth Theatre that views young artists and youth audiences as capable of tackling timely and age appropriate issues through theatre. We expect the youth to challenge each other, challenge us, and challenge their audiences while working together to create excellent works of art that are innovative because of the texture and complexity the performers embody.
The LAB format provides a liminal space to experiment with, and practice performance techniques that will activate this fully connected state of being and allow for the most authentic type of storytelling.
What we do.
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Educator Training
Educators are invited to observe any rehearsal and each production will have a corresponding education packet available. We train educators to look for markers that indicate students are maximizing the full benefits of engagement, and we will provide paradigms and strategies for them to use with their own students. Educator LABS allow for intensive training and collaboration.
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Targeted Projects
We are building a roster of artists, educators and researchers who are specialists in their field and can build targeted curriculum and intervention strategies in partnership with a wide range of organizations and populations who might benefit from using theatrical strategies.
The Story-Centered IDEA
We believe in the power of a story. We want to tell stories that encompass the depth and breadth of humanity as experienced by young people, and we're committed to tapping into a wide representation of stories with a particular interest in finding complex stories and stories that have been unexplored, forgotten, erased or neglected. The people and origin of the story should guide decisions about who should tell and direct those stories, and the story should be accessible to a wide audience.
In order to meet those story objectives, we will continue to adjust practices at all levels of the organization until this type of expansive storytelling becomes part of the natural way we think about and create stories. We believe this effort involves intense reflection and education, and we recognize that we'll have to constantly reflect on and rework our process.
Story Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the interruption and erasure of these stories and the collective harm that comes from privileging a limited range of stories while excluding others, results in a loss of freedom, agency, and dignity.
We’re committed to sharing a wide array of stories in an effort to restore those losses. The stories that interest us most are complex and pose more questions than answers, leaving us to wrestle with the tangled ways we interact.
We believe in the power of stories to connect and heal individuals and communities and we commit to use artistic methods that expand the storytelling tradition by including diverse human experiences and ways of expressing those experiences.
BLK BOX LAB is registered with the State of Utah to accept charitable donations, and has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization. Make a contribution today. Thank you!