WWU, Fairhaven Middle School to partner for 'Monologue Project 9'

Western Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance will present “Monologue Project 9” in conjunction with Fairhaven Middle School at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7 and Tuesday, Dec. 9 at the Firehouse Performing Arts Center at 1314 Harris Ave.

Awarded a Bellingham Mayor’s arts award in 2008, the collaboration between Western and Fairhaven Middle School originally began in 2005 and has been growing every year.

This year’s production includes over 40 never-before-seen, original monologues.

In addition to the college actors, a number of middle school students will join the performers for the public performances at the Firehouse Performing Arts Center. Some Fairhaven students will perform their own monologues while others will perform monologues written by their classmates. Each performance will be followed by a talkback with the audience, during which the playwrights and actors will share their experiences.

Tickets to the performance are $8 general admission and $5 for students. Tickets are available at the door on the day of the show. Cash or checks only will be accepted.

The Monologue Project 9 began this October with seventh-grade Language Arts classes at Fairhaven Middle School, taught by Joel Gillman, as they learned a variety of ways to communicate their personal experiences, thoughts, and passions through the medium of dramatic writing. Exploring a range of voices, each student wrote up to 12 monologues.

The finished monologues were given to Professor James Lortz’s Acting 260 class at Western as part of the course’s service learning component. Each college acting student selected and performed two monologues for the playwrights in November at Western’s Old Main Theatre. The Fairhaven students were able to hear not only the voices of their peers but also their own words come to life through the art of performance, and each actor and playwright were given the chance to meet and discuss their views on the experience.

For more information about the Monologue Project 9, please contact Rich Brown at (360) 650-7320, Rich.Brown@wwu.edu or visit cfpa.wwu.edu/theatredance.