A SCHOOL PLAY: Zoom Read-Through and Q&A with Troy Scheid

Introducing A School Play, written by Brave Little Company founder Troy Scheid, illustrated by Cornelia Li.

A School Play is a picture book that’s also a ready-to-act script about how to tell your own stories on stage!

This book:

+ models collaborative theatre-making for youth and other theatre newcomers –
+ affirms the power of kids’ creativity and the stories they love –
+ inspires grown-ups to remove barriers to participation.

It’s available in 9 languages – English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Urdu, Pashto, Dari, and Swahili (…so far) and it includes a dual-language theatre terminology poster!

The Author
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Troy is the founder of Houston’s award-winning Brave Little Company – Theatre for Everyone. For BLC, she serves as director-collaborator and/or writer on many original works, including as lead facilitator on THE BIG “US” PROJECT, a collaborative theatre piece created by people from Houston’s refugee communities. Independent work includes numerous world and regional premieres in Houston, New York, and Chicago.

The Illustrator
Cornelia Li is a Chinese born illustrator currently based in Toronto, Canada. She is intrigued by narrative weaved into daily interaction between people and their surroundings and set out to capture the relationship by externalize the ideas and emotions into elements in her images. Her work has been recognized by Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, Communication Arts, The AOI, 3×3 Illustration, National Magazine Award, and more.

The Translators
There’s no Google Translate here! Each of our 8 translations will be created by a human Houstonian who is a native, fluent speaker of the translated language. Many of the translators are experienced theatre professionals, hold degrees in theatre, and/or have taken part in creating performances through THE BIG “US” PROJECT. The translators’ goal is to ensure that kids in a multilingual classroom can experience the book in as similar a way as possible, and that they develop a common language around theatre vocabulary. The translators include: Loyce Gayo (Swahili); Dayana Halawo (Arabic); Lily He (Mandarin); Mohammad Tawfiq Layeq (Pashto); Kristy Lozano (Spanish); Rita Nazami (Dari); Sethe Nguyen (Vietnamese); and Tazeen Zahida (Urdu).

If you’re curious about the project and want to know more, please join one of our Zoom read-throughs with the author!