Methodology

Art to heal the effects of trauma. Using trauma to create art.

75% – 93% of incarcerated youth have experienced severe trauma.  Storycatchers’ methodology takes advantage of the intimate, collaborative process of creating musical theatre to help confront and heal the effects of severe trauma that can result in a semi-constant state of “fight, flight, or freeze” mode.

By providing a safe space for emotional exploration and personal expression, our youth learn to empathize with each other, solve problems together, build trust, strengthen their internal locus of control and create a vision of the recovery path ahead.  Like any work worth doing, it’s a process.  Keep scrolling to read all about it.

Ensemble members learn how to express and write their own true stories.

Teaching artists and an on-staff Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) help them explore the stories.

Stories are then turned into scenes that can be expressed onstage.

Ensemble members collaborate to create a theme and arrange each story into a single, cohesive musical script with the help of a music composer.

Ensemble members perform their original musicals for the community.

In post-show conversations with audience members, everyone shares their experiences, perspectives and takeaways.

Be a part of the narrative.

Storycatchers shows invite the audience to connect and collaborate with performers in post-show discussions.  From staged readings to full-blown productions, you can follow the construction and growth of our ensembles’ narratives every step of the way.  Sound cool?  That’s because it is.  But don’t take our word for it.

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