Welcome To Y.E.S. Articles
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Y.E.S., the Youth of Elm Shakespeare Advisory Council, embarked on this journey to publish articles written by the youth of today– who are the artists of tomorrow– to share our perspectives, hopes, desires, and ambitions for the theater industry. Through these articles, we aim to illuminate, ignite, and participate in discussions we believe need to be held to help the theater industry bring awareness to and deconstruct colonialism, racism (including Asian hate and stereotyping), colorism, tokenism, sexism, ableism, classism, elitism, ageism, fatphobia, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and islamophobia. As you can see, we, both Y.E.S. and the theater community at large, have our work cut out for us.
We hope that you do not dismiss or disrespect our thoughts, opinions, or ideas simply because we are young. As a collective group of seven next-generation creative individuals, Y.E.S. deeply believes that everyone always has something to learn and something to teach. We, with our youth, are still learning from the world, life experience, and those who came before us, but that does not discount the self-knowledge we hold within and because of our youth. Y.E.S. knows that today’s youth have instantaneous access to a plethora of information and knowledge that we use to constantly build our consciousness with. Therefore, we believe that the youth of today have well-informed lessons that we yearn to share with the world. Youth have a unique life experience and perspective that is often omitted or forgotten by adults. We have created this space for ourselves so we may no longer be forgotten. Remember, the world that you create today is the world that we inhabit tomorrow. It is vital that the next generation is a part of the conversation for our future.
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Every article published is created through a collaboration of at least two Y.E.S. members. We genuinely hope you engage with each article in the comment section and ask that you are always respectful of our authors, and your peers in the comment section. We have crafted three primary storylines: All Bodies Are Shakespeare Bodies, Social Justice Shakespeare, and The Story of Y.E.S..
All Bodies Are Shakespeare Bodies include articles that celebrate individual theater-makers and performances that had a colorful array of skin tones and body types in all roles including the heroines, the villains, the lovers, the monarchs, and the low status. These articles aspire to uplift identity affirmation, body positivity, fat-acceptance, inclusivity, and belonging. We will illustrate why we, today’s youth, need and want to continue seeing all bodies, stories, and voices represented both on stage and behind the scenes.
Our second category, Social Justice Shakespeare, engages with the healing and transformative properties Shakespeare’s work can inspire, while also acknowledging and addressing its perpetuation of colonialism. We recognize that Shakespeare’s work is not perfect. Shakespeare’s canon does not fully represent today’s audiences because it was not written for today’s audiences, but for audiences over 400 years ago. Yet, we choose to continue to perform his plays because they address core human conditions of love, envy, despair, grief, joy, hatred, pain, longing, and many more. Social Justice Shakespeare articles delve into the contradictory aspects of using, teaching, and performing Shakespeare’s work. Through these articles, we will also investigate the intersection of theater and social justice.
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Lastly, in our The Story Of Y.E.S. segment we will share with you our journey as a Youth Advisory Council. We hope that by telling our tale, trials, and tribulations we may inspire others to invest in creating a Youth Advisory Council or Board. Every council will look different, but telling our story is intended to give insight into how a youth council may be founded and organized.
Y.E.S. hopes that our articles fill you with passion and inspire you to take individual action for change. We are the next generation of creatives who are invested in the theater industry, and we are on a mission to make it a safe and healthy environment for all. Y.E.S. welcomes you to join us, to engage in discussion, to take action, to reflect, and to be the change.
This is only the first of many Y.E.S. Articles– to be notified when the next article comes out, sign up for Y.E.S. Article Notifications!
Links to Further Reading
Read our first All Bodies Are Shakespeare Bodies Article – “An Afrofuturistic Twelfth Night”
Read our first The Story of Y.E.S. Article – “The Beginnings of Y.E.S.: Elm Shakespeare’s New Youth Advisory Council”