EVENT: GW’s Department of Theatre and Dance, in collaboration with GW’s Departments of Music, Africana Studies and Women’s Studies, the Multi-Cultural Students Association, as well as St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and The Seekers Church, present The South African Project: Window on Winterveldt. The benefit performance features youth performers from the Bokamoso Youth Center of Winterveldt, South Africa.
WHEN: Friday, Feb. 4, 2011, at 7:30 p.m.
Rehearsal: Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 at 7:45 p.m.
WHERE: The George Washington University
Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, Marvin Center 1st Floor
800 21st Street, NW, Washington, D.C.
(Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro Station, Blue and Orange lines)
COST: Admission is $10 for students and senior citizens, and $30 for the general public.
Ticket reservations are available by emailing kirkak@gwu.edu, by calling 202-994-0995 or by visiting the box office on the night of the performance. The box office is located next to the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, on the first floor of the Marvin Center.
BACKGROUND:
George Washington University (GW) theater professor Leslie Jacobson and colleague Roy Barber from St. Andrews Episcopal School in Potomac, Md., have worked with the youth from Bokamoso in Winterveldt, South Africa, since 2003. Often accompanied by several GW students on undergraduate fellowships, Ms. Jacobson and Mr. Barber develop plays and songs that address social problems of the Winterveldt community. Since 2004, youth from the Bokamoso Youth Center have traveled to the U.S, stayed with GW students, attended classes and performed at the university to benefit the Bokamoso Youth Center Scholarship Fund.
Eleven South African youth will stay with GW undergraduate students in their residence halls, attend classes and events and meet with GW administrators and alumni. The South African youth will rehearse for the performance on Thursday evening. The plays and poems the youth will be performing will come from works they developed with Ms. Jacobson and Mr. Barber, and GW alumni Elizabeth Acevedo, Scout Seide, Caroline O'Grady, Betsey Perlmutter and Margaret Artz. This year, a play created by the Bokamoso drama director will be added to the program.
About Winterveldt, South Africa and the Bokamoso Youth Center
Created under the Apartheid regime in the early 1950s, the rural township of Winterveldt, South Africa, is plagued with extreme poverty, a 25 percent HIV/AIDS infection rate and a lack of education. The community is actively working to heal and restore its population, with contributions from various civic and religious organizations and private individuals. One of the most effective community organizations, the Bokamoso Youth Center, works with at-risk youth to bring focus and hope to their lives through school and various training programs.
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