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‘Hero vs. Hate:’
With Help From Teacher, Students Produce, Present Play On Racism
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Alissia Carlton, 12, can’t recall any instances when she’s been a victim of blatant racism.
But family members have shared their experiences. And that came in handy to help Alissia get into portraying Faneta, the lead character of the play, “Hero v. Hate.”
In development since Janu- ary, the play made its debut last week at Academy Prep Center of Tampa’s Spring Showcase.
It’s the result of a partner- ship between Academy Prep and the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center for Perform- ing Arts.
An instructor provided by the Conservatory teaches Academy Prep students about playwriting and production.
But creating the play – in- cluding picking a topic, writ-
Students of Academy Prep discussing racism.
Three of the students on stage who had leading roles in the pro- duction.
ing the script, and casting the characters – all was done by the students.
Teaching the students the principles of playwriting was “absolutely wonderful”, said class instructor Sarah Port- land.
“They’re all just incredible students,” she said. “They’re
excited about experiencing new things.”
Roneisha Bolden, 12, plays the role of Faneta’s younger sister, Skye.
Roneisha said she was ex- cited to not only be part of the play, but to also help create it.
“It was fun and it chal- lenged me,” she said.
“A scene from “Hero vs. Hate.
The play’s format is based on theater of the oppressed, a type of fine art where the ac- tors allow the audience to ex- perience the problem and invite audience members to be part of the solution.
When deciding on a topic, students had to identify a problem that plagued their community.
Bullying, drugs, and gun vi- olence were just some of the options the students sug- gested, she said.
The class selected racism after realizing they could pro- duce a play that would show how to break the cycle of ha- tred and teach people how to love, Ms. Portland said.
“The fact that they realize they have the power to make a change for the future was really cool,” she said.
It isn’t easy to talk about racism, much less write a whole play about it.
But it’s important to ad- dress something that is a common experience, said sixth-grader Cameron James, who stars as Faneta’s friend Bryson.
“Everyone should hear about (racism) and see what it can do to a person,” he said. Initially, Alissia didn’t like the theme of the play.
Instead, she wanted to do a play with more “action,” she said.
But once the production began, Alissia said her feel- ings changed.
“Once we did the script I kind of liked it because of the action and the message we’re putting out,” she said.
The action in the play stems from a fight Faneta was involved in when she’s bullied because of her skin color.
It’s one of three instances where Faneta experiences or perpetuates some form of ha- tred. Sometimes, Faneta’s reactions are right, like when a gang tells her she’s unwel- come in their neighborhood or when a classmate discrim- inates against her, Alissia said.
“She doesn’t back down when someone does her wrong,” she said.
But sometimes, Faneta makes mistakes, like when she agrees with her family that it’s right to discriminate against immigrants.
“She feels hatred toward others because of how others have treated her,” she said. “She doesn’t notice that she’s actually doing the same thing to others.”
The messages of acceptance and treating others fairly in “Hero vs. Hate” align with the lessons Academy Prep teaches its students, said school director Lincoln Tamayo.
“We work with our kids on how to navigate life and help them make the right deci- sions,” he said.
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