Art & Soul Innovations, in collaboration with Stage Q, presents ‘Proud Theater: Fearlessly Queer’ – an exciting evening of theater, music, spoken word, poetry and dance written by and starring the talented youth of Proud Theater Madison, the city’s premier Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Bisexual, Queer/Questioning and Allied youth theater troupe.
Proud Theater is an award-winning, exciting and innovative youth theater program whose mission is ‘to change the world through the power of theater and the theater arts, and to make a positive difference in the lives of LGBTQ and allied youth through the tenets of art, heart, and activism’. Founded in 1999, the group is open to youth ages 13 to 19 that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning or who are allied with the queer community (LGBTQA). Empowering and creative, Proud Theater encourages youth to share their own stories through the creation of original theatrical works which they then present to the community at large throughout the school year. As with acclaimed shows ‘Anthology’, (2014), ‘Fired Up!’ (2015), and ‘Sky Full of Stars’ (2016), ‘Fearlessly Queer’ tackles many of the issues affecting young people today and does so with humor, heart and honesty. Sometimes outrageous, sometimes profound, the youth share their voices with the community in a no-holds barred and uncensored way. This year the youth take a look at gender identity, politics, body image, transphobia, and the world at large.