What Will It Take...
A group of incarcerated young women, each of whom have suffered abuse or rape, and been discouraged from pursuing prosecutions due to their own criminal backgrounds are the playwrights of BELIEVE ME, an original one-act musical produced under the direction of Music Theatre Workshop (MTW). It is the culminating event of Fabulous Females, a yearlong playwriting and performance program facilitated by MTW with residents of the Illinois Youth Center (IYC) in Warrenville, IL. IYC is the maximum-security prison for female juvenile offenders in Illinois.
Audiences of friends, family members and invited guests attended performances of BELIEVE ME November 13 – 18, 2007. Invited guests included guests from the Chicago Foundation for Women, Fortnightly Club of Chicago, Guild of Chicago History Museum and Health & Medicine Policy Research Group.
The Fabulous Females began to answer the question “What Will It Take, to make Illinois the safest state for Women and Girls? The playwrights believe that the biggest obstacle to a young woman’s safety is sexual abuse and rape, and after the incident, her ability to convince a skeptical public of her integrity. The incarcerated youth based this conclusion on personal histories of themselves and fellow residents.
“What Will it Take…” is the question put forth by the Chicago Foundation for Women in conjunction with their yearlong anti violence initiative. “This seems like such a simple question to ask,” said Hannah Rosenthal, executive director of the Foundation. “But we know from experience that simple questions often net the most complex and complete answers.” The Fabulous Females are proud to have their voices included in the initiative.
As the play unfolds, the young women take turns telling their stories, often for the first time. A group of three: Miriam, Star and D’Zhana write but refuse to disclose their intertwined tale. Haley, a habitual thief, sneaks parts of their stories from the three girls’ composition books. As she secretly reads the stories with Timber, a 13-year-old gang member, Haley realizes that the three girls tell one story: the rape of Miriam by the gang leader Blade and the mysterious shooting of Star, an exotic dancer. Timber, Haley recognizes, holds the key to Miriam’s credibility and has an important decision to make.
Nine teen-playwrights, all Warrenville residents, spent the summer, under the direction of MTW teaching artists, listening to each other’s stories as well as those of others in the facility, in order to create this original musical. Aremy S., Vicki R., Nikita B., Marquitta P., Ashley W., Adrian M., Stephanie F., Brittany S., and Brittany P. represent a diverse group of urban, suburban and rural females whose experiences are remarkably similar. The young playwrights hope this musical will inspire the system to take action to prevent both the act and the acceptance of the abuse and rape of girls and women.
“This has been an exciting summer.” Meade Palidofsky, MTW’s Artistic Director said, “the subject matter was challenging, often opening previously uncharted emotional waters for the girls. But the relief in telling a secret story and realizing how many other girls have gone through the same experience is very healing. The playwrights really felt that they were carrying out an important artistic and social task.”
MTW is a professional theatre company dedicated to youth development. The company mission is to “prepare young people to make positive life choices through the process of writing, producing and performing original musical theatre inspired by personal stories.” Palidofsky and her crew of professional teaching artists began working with IYC residents in 2003.
MTW and the Fabulous Females program receive support from the Chicago Foundation for Women, Daniel M. Kaufherr Charitable Trust, Grand Victoria Foundation, Girls’ Best Friend Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, Michael Reese Health Trust and Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.