DELAWARE THEATRE COMPANY AND THE FERRIS SCHOOL FOR BOYS PARTNERSHIP HONORED WITH 2009 BARRYMORE AWARD
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WILMINGTON, DE - OCTOBER 8, 2009 - Delaware Theatre Company's star shone bright at Monday night's, October 5, 2009 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre, when the company received the Ted and Stevie Wolf Award for New Approaches to Collaborations for its partnership with the Ferris School for Boys and their collaboration on last season's production of Nilaja Sun's No Child.... Philadelphia's theatre event of the year is the region's only comprehensive theatre awards program, recognizing artists for
excellence and innovation while serving to increase awareness of the richness of the local theatre community.
DTC Artistic Director, Anne Marie Cammarato, was on hand to accept the award on behalf of the company, alongside Dolores Allen-McIntyre, Principal of the Ferris School for Boys. "This Barrymore Award is a wonderful recognition of our work," says Anne Marie Cammarato, DTC's Artistic Director and director of No Child.... "We at DTC are proud to have had this wonderful opportunity to partner with the exceptional staff at the Ferris School. This work defines our mission to be a community-based, professional
arts organization that both produces theatre and finds ways to place theatre in the lives of everyone in Wilmington. This award reinforces the importance of community engagement, and this award celebrates the vital role that the not-for-profit arts play in the life of any community."
Allen-McIntyre, whose exuberant presence filled the auditorium Monday night, is thankful to everyone involved with the collaboration and says that No Child... is "a magnificent masterpiece of theatre art, representing Art Education at its finest."
Kevin Ramsey, who was nominated for his performance in No Child... and who worked closely with the Ferris students as part of the production, was also very excited for the win. "My work with Delaware Theatre Company and the Ferris School was transformative to my life as an artist."
In 2003, Delaware Theatre Company began a partnership with the Ferris School for Boys in Wilmington called Arts Across the Curriculum, an innovative program that uses the arts (drama, music, dance and visual arts) as learning tools incorporated in the curriculum of the state's level-five facility for juvenile incarcerated males, preparing them for life outside of the prison walls. Started as a pilot program with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Delaware Division of the Arts, Arts Across
the Curriculum has become one of the most important and influential education programs in the State. While the program completed its five-year cycle at the end of DTC's 2007-2008 season, the partnership was inspired to continue into the 2008-2009 season through an individual's generous donation. It was clear to DTC that the parallels between the play No Child... (using plays to reach children in school) and the five-year work at Ferris (using the arts to enhance the curriculum and encourage students
to find hope through self-expression) made the connection strong and important.
To ensure the success of this extended partnership with Ferris School, it was decided that Kevin Ramsey was the ideal artist to take on this challenging project, given his close relationship with DTC, his affection for the Wilmington community, and his extensive work in several art forms. Ramsey, a mainstay at DTC since his musical Sam Cooke: Forever Mr. Soul and, more recently, with the east coast premiere of his Mardi Gras musical, Fire on the Bayou (running October 14 - November 1, 2009), also had an
existing connection with the boys and staff at Ferris, as he conducted a highly successful acting workshop at the school two years ago.
Ramsey and Cammarato worked with selected Ferris students prior to the start of rehearsals for No Child..., and included cast visits to the school as part of the rehearsal progress. The selected students were given the opportunity to express their struggles, hopes, and dreams in various artistic forms, which were then used as "verbal graffiti" throughout the production on DTC's stage. DTC's audiences were given the opportunity to hear the voices of the boys at Ferris, and their interpretation of the
themes of the play about youth at risk. One of the most important aspects of this partnership with Ferris was DTC's ability to bring the work of the Ferris students to the larger community, both for the students' sake and for the community's sake. The production concluded with a special performance brought to Ferris so that the students would benefit from the work to which they had contributed to.
"This program was a true collaboration between Ferris School and the Delaware Theatre Company and has had a significant and positive impact on both institutions," says Charles Conway, DTC's Director of Education & Community Engagement. "It is thrilling to be honored for our achievements by receiving this Barrymore Award. We look forward to collaborating with Ferris on other innovative programs that use the arts to enrich the lives of incarcerated youth.