The Arc of Northern Bristol County
The Theatre Story
An exciting project that provided a wonderful, inclusive theater experience for teenagers and young adults, with and without disabilities, was started at The Arc of Northern Bristol County in February of 2006. 15 year old Joseph Lazzerini, Director of Kids Are People Too, and 16 year-old Sasha Almeida-Beers, Miss Massachusetts Teenager and Miss National Teenager, became Creative Facilitators in our Create-a-thon. For their creative project, they started an inclusive Theater Group with two teenagers and two young adults with developmental disabilities. The group met weekly over a three month period. At first, to get to know one another, Joseph led the group in the “Name Game.” Then they all tried improvisations to get a better idea of what acting is about. Each week, they discussed what role each person wanted to be in a play and what costumes they would wear.
Coming up with a skit that everyone could excel at was a challenging task. One actress is non-verbal and two other actresses have speech impairments. The group had no trouble communicating, however, and all quickly became friends. Everyone loved the weekly get-togethers, and enjoyed improvisations and acting silly as they got to know one another. They weathered snowstorms and the flu, delaying practices, but perservered to develop a skit. Time was fast approaching for the performance, so they added more practices.
Sasha Almeida-Beers did a phenomenal job writing a script that involved the strengths and interests of each of the participants. Chloe wanted to be a cowboy, and she loved to dance. Erin enjoyed dancing too, and also knew sign language. Kalinda wanted to be a cat, and she also loved to dance. Kelly-Jean wanted to be cowgirl. Soon, Sasha wrote a script that involved the cowboy, three cowgirls, and a dancing cat, with Joseph as the narrator. Sasha was a cowgirl, too. The group danced and practiced with the script, struggling through reading lines, a challenge for some of the actresses. They worked really hard, practicing over and over. Then, they decided to try memorizing the script, and performing it without their written lines. At first they were nervous, but they practiced at home on weekends with their families and friends. Dress rehearsal came, and they became more comfortable. Two days later, they mastered two flawless performances at the Create-a-thon Gala, on stage at the Florence B. Sweet Club House, in front of community members and friends. The entire experience brought tears to many eyes in the audience, joy to their families, and exhilaration to the children. They received standing ovations.
We are so proud of our community volunteers Joseph Lazzerini and Sasha Almeida-Beers for undertaking this wonderfully successful project that really changed lives, and our actresses who did such a spectacular job: Chloe Tallerida, Erin Arminio, Kelly-Jean Robbins, and Kalinda Mahoney. Congratulations to our Theater Group!
Sucess Stories
We are a local affiliate of a state-wide and national advocacy organization formed in 1959 by a small group of parents concerned about the quality of life for their family members with disabilities. The Arc services are flexible and varied to meet each individual's and families needs. Please feel free to visit our Services directory above for more specifics on the type and scope of services we offer.