The Power of Poetry: LOCOMOTION’s FORGE Workshops

By Susie Robinson

Now through February 24, 2019, First Stage is presenting our first FORGE Production—LOCOMOTION—which tells the story of an eleven-year old boy nicknamed Locomotion who learns how to walk through tragedy and emerge whole, thanks to his newly-discovered passion for writing poetry. With the myriad of challenges our youth face on a daily basis, stories like LOCOMOTION are vital to tell.

Developed from The Foundry, our new play reading series, FORGE Productions are our new initiative of producing thought provoking plays in an intimate theater space with related FORGE workshops that further audience engagement.

Humanities Expert, Sheri Williams Pannell works
with FORGE Workshop participants

“First Stage’s FORGE Workshops provide families with an opportunity to collaboratively create and perform poetry. The experience is often intergenerational and sometimes family members are surprised by each other’s talents!” - Sheri Williams Pannell, Humanities Expert

First Stage’s FORGE Workshops are available on Saturday afternoons from 2:30-3:15pm, now through February 23, 2019. Audience members who attend the 1:00pm or 3:15pm performances of LOCOMOTION are invited to attend the workshops. Thanks to support from our generous donors, and a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, First Stage is able to provide FORGE Workshops free of charge for audiences.

Original poem written by Jacqueline Suskin,
inspired by LOCOMOTION

These workshops explore The Power of Poetry—how poetry and spoken word can be a positive coping skill that helps build empathy and connect us to our community. Workshop participants explore the play’s themes of resiliency, hope and friendship, through focused dramatic work, group discussion and spoken word. In addition, attendees are invited to begin the process of creating their own poetry and young people leave the workshop with their own poetry journal. FORGE Workshops are facilitated by First Stage Teaching Artists, with the input of Humanities expert, Sheri Williams Pannell; local performance poet, Samantha Montgomery; and nationally recognized performance poet and Milwaukee Public Schools’ Turnaround Arts Mentor, Jacqueline Suskin.

We welcome you to join us!

The FORGE Workshops are funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Wisconsin Humanities Council supports and creates programs that use history, culture and discussion to strengthen community life for everyone in Wisconsin.