This Saturday at Arena Stage, young people gave a performance they’ll never forget.
The performance caps off a series of “Dear Adult,” writing workshops with 826DC this fall, where these young writers wrote letters to adults who hold positions of power, both in their own lives and over broader issues that impact us all.
We came together on Saturday, thanks to our friends at Arena Stage and the Awesome Foundation, to hear some of those students read their letters to the community.
A Night to Remember
We started off with opening remarks from Karen Zacarías, one of the most produced playwrights in the US, the founder of the Young Playwrights’ Theater and the Latiné Theatre Commons, and the 2019 Washingtonian of the Year.
Then, her fellow writers took the stage.
They took this opportunity seriously. We’d practiced with them before the show, rehearsing the walk up, the mic adjustment, and, for some students, the hop up onto the stepstool so that they could see. They’d read lines to each other in front of the empty theater. Now it was really happening, and in the front rows, you could see them encouraging one another when it was their turn.
That’s what happens when you build a writing community like the one we have at 826DC. Students from kindergarten through eleventh grade, from a range of schools across the District, came together and built something beautiful.
What They Wrote
Most of the students chose to write about local or national politics, with letters written to the President, Congress, Mayor Muriel Bowser, and others in government. One student chose to write to the adults at OSSE (Office of the State Superintendent of Education). The young writers shared how the current political climate was affecting them and those they care about, with many describing racism or sexism they had recently experienced. They also wrote about their concerns—and hopes—for the nation as a whole.
Many also wrote to their teachers or school administrators. In one moving letter, a student explained how a pencil shortage caused a chain reaction of problems throughout her school. Another wrote about how her school had insufficient time for bathroom breaks; how she’d been put in the position of having to decide between getting in trouble and being distractingly uncomfortable in class.
What’s Ahead
DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb came onstage to close out the performance, congratulating the students and encouraging them to keep writing.
Keep writing, indeed.
826DC intends to publish all of the student letters in an anthology this spring, including ones not performed at this event. If you’d like to help us make that happen and bring their words to print, please consider donating here.