Itas who they are.a
Lab Theateras aThe Rauschenberg Project Playa started with a $46,000 grant and ended up involving more than 170A peopleA in its creation.A The playas scenes, stories, poems, monologues and songs are based on about 150 interviews with local LGBT people from ages 14-25 years old.
aWe started by interviewing kids,a says director Annette Trossbach, aand by teaching kids how to interview one another.a
More young people a both straight and LGBT aA were taught how to take those interviews andA craft themA into a coherent play. aItas nobody elseas business!a
Another says, aWhat right do they have to our stories?a
In the end, though, the students open up about their lives, the difficulty of coming out to their parents, how they feel about churches who think their lifestyle is a sin and more.
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Members of Laboratory Theatre of Florida rehearse a scene from The Rauschenberg Project Play on Wednesday (Photo: Jack Hardman/The News-Press, Jack Hardman/The News-Press)
Actor Sage Meyers wantsA LGBT kids and their families come to see aThe Rauschenberg Project Play.a She hopes itA gives the kids strength and helps their families understand what it means to be LGBT.
aThere are a lot of people who are afraid to come out, especially to their families,a says Meyers, 20, of Cape Coral. aTheir a program was exactly what the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation was looking for in their desire to fund projects that address pressing issues in Southwest Florida.a
The grant moneyA was used to buy costumes and supplies, market the play and hold free workshops and classes on play writing, set and lighting design and more.
Trossbach helped craft the questions thatA interviewers asked the 150 people interviewed for the play, and she admits it wasnat always easy getting people to open up aA especially for teens who might be battling prejudice and pressure from their families, schools and churches.
aTheyave basically survived by not standing out, by blending into the background and not being loud and proud,a Trossbach says about many local LGBT kids.
