Theatre doesn’t always happen on stage. It unfolds all around us on a daily basis.
In 2015, we witnessed with horror the tragic death of Eric Garner at the hands of NYC police officers. Our city was forced to grapple with questions of history, procedure, and social responsibility, and Irondale saw an opportunity to contribute to the discussion through its unique lens of improvisation, actor training, and ensemble building.
Over the past 8 years, To Protect, Serve, and Understand (TPSU)™ has gained local and national acclaim for being an innovative training program designed to ease tension between police and community members. Each series of workshops lasts ten weeks. Seven officers and seven community members come together to break bread, play, sing and have difficult conversations. They learn how to communicate and how to listen. They learn to improvise, tell their own stories, and “step into each other’s shoes.” The workshops culminate in public performances that show what can come from mutual trust and empathetic understanding.
Watch a video about the series here:
Celebrating over four decades of dynamic theater creation, Irondale, in collaboration with the New York Police Department, proudly presents the public performances of the 11th cycle of To Protect, Serve, and Understand (TPSU).
TPSU™ is a transformative 10-week, 40-hour workshop rooted in social change, activism, and humanity. Through a combination of improvisations, poignant monologues, and songs the combined group of seven officers and seven community members will share personal narratives, fostering profound understanding and driving positive change.
March 15 & 16 at 7:30 PM
For more than 40 years, Irondale has been a place where artists and audiences matter.
To do the work we do, we count on our community of friends, neighbors and citizen artists who share our value of creating projects that speak to the issues of today.
We are entirely in debt with our community. Your support makes it possible.
DONATE TODAY to help us guarantee the future of our company, artists & staff.
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