“For the last three years, we’ve booked Defamation and shown it to students, staff and parents. Bringing Defamation to our school has provided a unique opportunity for staff, students, and community members alike to challenge themselves to discover and explore how our perceptions about race, religion, and class affect the choices we make and the ways in which we interact with each other.”
“Our school has made a concerted effort to host programs and speakers that challenge our own notions of diversity and -isms. Showing DEFAMATION to our students has undoubtedly pushed that conversation forward and deeper. That we included our middle school students (grades 6-8) was also purposeful: these issues of identity are not merely relegated to adults. These are issues that impact all of our students’ lives. Though they might not have left the experience with clear answers, they have a new sense of the complexities inherent in these issues.”
“An important role for any school is to create opportunities for open dialogue around topics that are often left unexplored or, worse, avoided. The production Defamation created an excellent chance for students and adults to witness and reflect upon the assumptions about race, class, and gender that subtlety impact their personal and public interactions. The production was a significant moment in the life of our school this year.”
“The production had our students rapt and engaged throughout, and the way that the deliberations and follow-up discussion brilliantly teased out the various threads of the legal and ethical questions, and of the interplay of reasoned deliberation and emotional responses. DEFAMATION provided a great lesson to our students about the power and complexity of the interplay of race, class, religion and gender in life and law.”
“We were looking to provide a thought-provoking way to allow hidden biases to be discussed on a school-wide level, and you exceeded our expectations.”