viBe Pages to Stages

February 26th

Proclaim & Protest is a staged reading of four new 10-minute plays written by New York City high school students challenging mental health stigmas. The presentation is the culmination of the 2022 Pages to Stages playwriting cohort; Cyania Augustin, Nerfertiti Staton, Julia Jean Louis, and Vivianne Bednare; directed by WP’s Associate Artistic Director Rebecca Martinez. The viBePages to Stages program is directed by Phanésia Pharel, with playwriting mentorship by WP Lab alum Gethsemane Herron-Coward.

Meet the Playwrights

Cyania Augustin

Vivianne Bednare

Julia Jean Louis

Nerfertiti Staton

viBePages to Stages is a collaborative program in partnership with WP Theater that takes teen writers through a series of weekly sessions to explore the many facets of theater-making with theater professionals from WP’s community (designers, writers, directors, dramaturgs) to develop original short plays and connect to mentors in the field.

Phase One: Playwriting (fall/winter) supports young theatermakers in the creation of new short plays, culminating in a staged reading at WP Theater.

Phase Two: Design (winter/spring) focuses on exploring theatrical design. Participants connect with professional design mentors to create their own conceptual designs, culminating in a virtual sharing of presentations.

viBe Theater Experience produces original theater, music, and media about real-life issues written and performed by teenage girls, young women, and non-binary youth of color from around the country. viBe’s intensive programming is free and engages, inspires, and empowers participants (ages 13-26) to write, create, publish, direct, and perform personal and truthful collaborative theater, music and media about the real-life issues they face daily. viBe provides a safe, creative space for girls, young women, and gender expansive youth to amplify their voices, take on challenges and gain the self-confidence necessary to succeed personally, artistically and academically. Since 2002, more than 75 viBe productions have brought free theater, live musical performances, music videos, and radio plays to thousands of diverse audience members, changing their perceptions about the kind of art that girls, young women and non-binary youth of color can create.

Learn more at vibetheater.org