Programs & Services

The Unusual Suspects offers two consecutive 10-week (60-80 hours each) workshops that employ theatrical story development, script writing, improvisation techniques, onstage performance and audience interaction to help youth develop self-esteem, respect and tolerance of others as well as the communication, coping and behavioral skills necessary to make such positive life choices as staying in school, choosing resolutions over violence, avoiding gang involvement and overcoming difficulties at home.

The core program of The Unusual Suspects is a theatre residency in two parts. The first part is a 10-week playwriting workshop culminating in a public staged reading of the youths’ own play by professional actors. The second part is a 10-week acting/performance workshop culminating in the youths’ public performance of their own play, fully staged with professional costumes, sets, lights, and sound. For each 10-week session, up to 40 youth meet in ensemble with 4-10 caring adults twice each week for two-three hours each time, a total of 20 sessions scheduled with an additional 10-40 hours of rehearsal (including dress and technical rehearsals) added during the final weeks to get ready for the performance. All told, youth receive 60 – 80 hours of direct services in each 10-week session. (120-160 hours for youth that complete the full program.)

For the culminating staged reading, youth rehearse with and direct the professional actors who bring their script to life in a performance. The young playwrights also take the stage by welcoming the audience and introducing their writing/learning process. After the reading, youth return to the stage for a question and answer session with the audience. For the youth performance, about 4 weeks prior to the show, The Unusual Suspects brings in production designers (sets, costumes, sound and lights), stage hands, and additional mentors to help with memorization and orchestrating the performance (cueing for entrances and exits, costume changes, and help remembering props and set changes). Youth often help with the set design and painting and with technical aspects of the production: running the sound board, for example. As in the staged reading, youth receive a certificate of completion, participate in a question and answer period with the audience, and enjoy a cast party and closure circle with their mentors.

In 2010, we are partnering with the following organizations: Camp David Gonzales (incarcerated youth); Gang Reduction Youth Development program in Pacoima (middle school youth at risk for gangs); Narbonne High School (youth at risk for gang involvement); Pacoima Charter Elementary School (children at risk for gang involvement); Pacoima Prevention Initiative Demonstration Initiative (adults from San Fernando Gardens Community Housing); San Fernando High School (youth at risk for gang involvement); and Star View Adolescent Treatment Facility (foster care youth with severe emotional/behavioral issues).



Key Benefits of the Program

1. The Unusual Suspects offers an emotionally transformative creative experience through its theatre workshops. At-risk youth not only learn new skills and how to work collaboratively to produce a show, but also are empowered by what they accomplish creatively (writing an original story and stage play). For many this is a life-changing experience because it’s the first time that they’ve achieved a goal or expressed their feelings.
2. The Unusual Suspects offers each participant a substantial amount of individualized instruction due to the 3:1 student-teacher ratio. This provides greater interaction and the potential for a deeper bond to develop between the professional artists and participants, strengthening the overall behavioral outcomes and therapeutic value of the program.
3. In keeping with its grassroots approach to assisting communities, The Unusual Suspects has designed its program to be flexible enough to meet the specific needs of individual communities by partnering with social service agencies to support and enhance their efforts with underserved and at-risk youth. By providing complementary services in the form of mentoring, The Unusual Suspects brings more comprehensive social assistance to those who need it.
4. The Unusual Suspects provides total accessibility, bringing its programs directly to participants by holding workshops at schools, community centers and other neighborhood locales rather than requiring participants find their own transportation to a central location, which would reduce the number of people able to attend.
5. Because audience interaction is a critical component of the theatre workshops, community members also benefit from the discussion of social conflicts, which are explored in the stage plays produced for the program. Furthermore, the support between participants and community members plays an important role in reducing gang participation.

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THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS THEATRE COMPANY | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2009
617 S. Olive Street, Suite 812 | Los Angeles, CA 90014 | Tel: 213.488.8488  Fax: 213.488.8498 | admin@theunusualsuspects.org