Young Actors Present Banned Books Performance Art

The Clinton County Youth Theatre announces the world premiere of Inside Show, a performance art presentation created by the participants of a Young Actors Creative Workshop. The program will be held in the Frankfort Community Public Library’s Skanta Theatre on Friday, September 27 at 6 p.m.

Throughout the month of September, workshop participants learned about “reader’s theater” while exploring the freedom to read and creating their own performance. Sessions included guest speakers such as John Hinton of the Indiana Poetry Society and Jason Wells. Each participant read a banned or challenged book, including Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak), Bridge to Terabithia (Katherine Paterson), The Fault in Our Stars (John Green), and The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton). The culmination of the workshop is a presentation created entirely by the participating actors— Bailey Langkop, Brynner, Dome, Frank Shifflett, Kyla Cooper, Maggie Dieterle, Rianne Horton, and Rory Fields.

The workshop, led by Emily Shepherd, is in celebration of the American Libraries Banned Books Campaign, which runs September 22–28. The theme of “Freed Between the Lines“ emphasizes the idea that “we can find freedom in the pages of a book, but book bans and censorship threaten that freedom, along with many other rights and institutions” (ala.org). The workshop is made possible, in part, thanks to a grant from the Freedom to Read Foundation. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required due to limited space. Sign up by visiting myfcpl.org/calendar or by calling (765) 654-8746.