Dear Friends:
Thank you for joining Steppenwolf for Young Adults' 2012/13 season as we dedicate our programming to Now Is The Time, a citywide call to action against youth violence and intolerance.
In recent years, violence towards youth has become overwhelming. As theater artists working in schools we see the effects violence can have on youth. We work with students scared to play outside, scared to travel to school, scared because they face torment at school from bullying. Therefore, we are engaging with Chicago Public Library, Facing History and Ourselves and other theaters and cultural organizations for a season-long partnership inspiring positive change in our great city. Now is The Time is our unique opportunity to give voice to this epidemic and provide young people with a platform to contribute their own stories and stop the trend of violence in their communities.
In collaboration with Chicago Public Library's One Book, One Chicago, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief looks at the terrible cost of violence, bearing witness to our compassion and complicity, and empowering each of us to examine our own unique ability to effect change in our communities.
We hope The Book Thief will inspire you to contribute your own artistic response to the Now Is The Time website, nowisthetimechicago.org. Let's join together in creating a safer future for our youth. Now Is The Time.
Hallie Gordon
Artistic and Educational Director, Steppenwolf for Young Adults