The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company Web Site

This year The Unusual Suspects (US) celebrates its birthday by spotlighting 15 voices from the last 15 years. These voices represent the community of youth, artists, staff, volunteers, funders and partners that have been such an important of our history. Keep your eyes open for the next 15 Years, 15 Voices and make the next 15 years as transformative as the last by helping us reach our goal of raising $150,000 the next 15 months!

Richard Morgan Interview

My experience at The Unusual Suspects as a participant and teaching artist has been both fun and educational. Over the past 10 years, I have been involved with nine workshops. As a participant, I was involved in workshops at Art Share LA and Eagle Rock. I was eighteen years old when I first got involved in the Art Share LA program.

As a participant, I remember having fun and feeling safe. Since I wasn't involved in any activities while in school, I looked forward to coming to the workshops and expressing myself. The environment was very supportive and even though I always enjoyed writing and dance, I didn't take them seriously until I became part of this program. After coming to the workshops and playing theatre games, I soon realized that we were actually writing a play that we would perform in front of an audience. I hadn't had much experience doing that so I was very nervous, but I knew it was too late to pull out. I was part of an ensemble and I had a responsibility.

Later, as an alumnus, I helped develop the summer internship for other alumni. This internship allows alumni to strengthen their leadership skills by leading activities in the workshops and mentoring new participants in the program.

I worked as a volunteer at several sites before becoming a Teaching Artist, where I worked with kids at Pacoima Elementary and Narbonne High School. All of these sites I've work at are special to me for many reasons, but the one thing they all had in common were awesome, open-minded participants who were willing to learn new things and work together to put on incredible plays. As a participant, the experience was about having fun, performing and meeting new friends, but as a Teaching Artist, I feel that this program is really about teaching skills that are tangible on stage and in real life.

Before getting involved with The Unusual Suspects, I had never done theater or any arts before. As an artist and actor, The Unusual Suspects allowed me to be creative and explore acting, writing, choreography, and performing. Thanks to my experience with The Unusual Suspects, I have also auditioned for major films and worked with the some incredible actors and directors in entertainment. Overall, my experience with US has helped me be more confident and willing to try different things.

I definitely see theatre having a positive impact on youth because it allows them to express themselves and figure out who they are. The youth we work with are "at risk" and for many of them this is a way out and a bridge to better things in life. A lot of youth in the program discover things about themselves and what they want to do in life; theatre helps facilitate this growth.

To cynics who might dismiss the idea of having theatre as a program that can generate positive, long-lasting change in the lives of youth, I would say the youth in our programs are living hard lives. They enter our program with worries and hopelessness, but they leave knowing they can do anything. Theatre is a positive experience that can transform you and help you escape negativity. My personal experience as a participant and now Teaching Artist has helped me contribute to my community by showing youth positive alternatives to violence and street life.

Richard Morgan recently moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting and modeling. Good luck, Richard! We are so grateful to have been able to work with you!

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