A Portion of All Proceeds Will Go To Powerstories Theatre in October
Please welcome this month’s featured charity, Powerstories Theatre.
Founded in November 2000 by Fran Powers, Powerstories Theatre is a professional, nonprofit theatre with a mission to open minds and hearts and inspire action worldwide, sharing and staging true stories giving special emphasis on works by and for women and girls. Powerstories Theatre’s philosophy is that every person, organization, corporation, and community has a Powerstory to discover and share with others.
In 2005, Fran created Girlstories Leadership Theatre to further her mission of empowering women. She reached out to middle school girls in the formative years of ages 9-11 to provide a comprehensive theatre leadership program. Ten to 20 girls learn theatre, singing, choreography, story-telling, and leadership. The girls discover how to tell their personal stories to identify who they are, bonding with other girls in the troupe, and present their own personal story at the end of the camp. In 2010, Fran’s Girlstories Leadership Theatre was presented with the National Humanities Youth Program Award by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.
Just seven months ago, Powerstories Theatre was a bustling independent theatre getting ready to celebrate its 20th anniversary. When the pandemic swept across the globe, the small theatre shut its doors for the safety of cast, crew, and patrons. The theatre, that once brought joy to busy lives, represented a welcome reprieve from the 9-to-5 grind and was the social connection in which many looked forward, went dark.
Fran refused to disconnect from her theatre family, rather she and her team, only weeks into the pandemic, created an innovative way to be true to their mission statement while pivoting and adapting to entertain their audience in the new virtual reality.
Twenty years later and hundreds of true story productions later, the theatre is celebrating its unexpected dark time and its 20th anniversary by asking the same question. “Do you have a story to tell?” The theatre returned to its roots to ask everyone – young and old – “during this unprecedented time in our history, what brings you joy? What is your story?”
The online presence is called www.positivelypowerstories.com, where people from all over the world can view and share stories, videos, art, photography, and song, published on a bimonthly basis. Though the stage is still dark, Powerstories Theatre continues to connect with a global audience through this real-time online episodic time capsule.
In March 2021 Powerstories Theatre, in collaboration with Outcast Theatre Collective is hosting the Voices of Truth Theatre Festival, a hybrid in-person and live-streamed event. They are currently collecting play submissions from playwrights, storytellers, and directors. In July 2021, they are producing the Voices of Youth Festival, information TBD.
Powerstories Theatre
To learn more about Powerstories Theatre, visit www.powerstories.com