Playwrights: The Ensemble. At: Youth Empowerment Performance Project at Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave. Tickets: 773-935-6875; www.wesayyepp.com; $14-$17. Runs through Jan. 31
Actors in training programs are often taught to use "sense memory," which is to tap into past personal experiences and emotions to make characterizations and performances more real. But when young LGBTQ actors relate their own stories in Making it Home, a new performance piece created by the Leadership Team of the Youth Empowerment Performance Project ( YEPP ), there's often no artifice or filter to the raw and direct sense memories being exposed.
Created in 2011, YEPP grew out of previous art-based programs centered on queer homeless youth at the Broadway Youth Center and with The Night Ministry. YEPP's main mission is to create a safe environment for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness to explore their history, struggles and strengths via the development of a theatrical performance piece.
In Making it Home, real-life stories of the ensemble touch upon and include institutionalized discrimination, homelessness, hate-crime violence, family rejection and wrongful imprisonment. The often painful anecdotes are artistically framed via many different art forms including poetry, dance and music.
This is very vital and timely work, although Making it Home can prod some very mixed feelings in the audience. On one hand, watching the Making it Home performers burst into tears by recalling their own hurtful struggles can inspire admirationespecially since they've bravely lived through such troubling traumas and are now comfortable enough to artistically reflect on those painful past incidents.
But you might also wish for a counselor to immediately rush onto stage to comfort the teary-eyed performers. It can often feel like you're intruding on an intense therapy session while watching Making it Home.
And as a theater critic, I also feel like a heel pointing out the many amateurish aspects of Making it Home. Tardy sound cues, memorization hiccups and audibility issues all detracted from the dramatic power of the show, although these flubs also point to the realness of the performers and their emotional journeys.
There were many strong performances by the ensemble of Making it Home, which consisted of Zizi Phillips, Apollo King, Ahniyha Johnson, Henri Slater and Atlantis Island.
After hearing such shocking stories of physical violence, anti-trans hate crimes and emotional abuse, you don't want anyone to go through what these performers are processing and sharing in Making it Home.
Editor's note: This review has been updated to reflect information that was made available after it was originally published on Wednesday, Jan. 27.