A Company of Girls

Brittany Randall plays the Prime Minister in Cynerella Cycle.

Photo: Michael Reidy

On the stage of an old church in Portland, Maine, Shakespeare’s and others’ plays are rehearsed with an interesting twist. King Lear is transformed into Queen Lear, an all-girl production that gives young cast members a chance to explore familial relationships and power. The Lord of the Flies is rewritten for an all-female “gang” whose members use the play to explore bullying and violence among girls.

These plays are part of the repertoire of A Company of Girls, a six-year-old after-school theater program. Here girls from different cultural backgrounds come to learn about theater and other arts, and to discuss important issues in their young lives. The program operates five days a week and some weekends during the school year. Participants spend most of their time in traditional theater activities, such as writing, rehearsing plays, and building sets, assisted by theater experts from such professional theater groups as The Portland Stage Company. The program also includes daily “check in” circles, lots of directed journal writing, and counseling support to help participants develop confidence, and social and communication skills.

In addition, the program works to expand girls’ connections with the wider community. They have taken field trips to art museums and performance venues, and participated in other arts and dance projects. Some of these experiences come full circle, finding their way back into theater productions.

After conducting oral-history interviews with women in assisted living, the girls created Sticky Like a Frog, a play that blends their own writings with stories from the seniors. “The idea grew out of what the elders wanted most and what the girls enjoyed doing—sitting and talking,” notes Director Odelle Bowman. The result is a play that was the only youth-theater performance included in the 2001 New York International Fringe Festival.