Welcome to West Burrough, Golden Valley, SilverTown, also known as Barren Town. Just another place on the map, a place we call home. Where the saloon is aptly placed next to the Sheriff's station, Crazy Betty sings the blues, Vic runs amok, and there's a new Kallie in town.

This work-in-progress was created in the summer of 2021 with the Hand2Mouth Youth Devising Residency. Six students gathered for three weeks, just six hours a week, to create a unique performance piece of their own devising. They shared transformative ideas across multiple artistic genres to come up with this unique perspective.

In Part 2, this group of theater creators explored the Wild West of the World Wide Web.

H2M-YDR

The Hand2Mouth Youth Devising Residency (H2M-YDR) began in 2019 with a call to young people ages 14 and up from all backgrounds who were interested in creating in ensemble a uniquely-devised performance piece.

Under the guidance of Hand2Mouth professional teaching artists, youth are encouraged to utilize their thinking and inquiry skills in the world. H2M invites youth to ask deep questions, explore multiple perspectives and ideas, generate explanations, and then challenge those explanations. Participants move through a series of writing exercises, improvisation, physical exploration, research, and H2M devising methods to create a unique performance. Students that participate in the H2M-YDR are paid a stipend for their participation, providing students with paid professional experience for their resumes as well as demonstrating and honoring art-making as paid work.

Phase 1 (2019), brought a partnership with Roosevelt Highschool’s theater program and the creation of Rough Riders, an exploration into gun violence in schools and the lasting trauma of active shooter drills, grief, and guilt.

Phase 2 (2021/22), is an exploration into the American Western, the wild west, women, and the internet. February 4th 2022 was a live-hosted digital showing and post-show talkback with the cast of creators as part of the Fertile Ground Festival of new works, 2022