The Whiting receives $10,000 grant for two American Place Theatre residencies

Posted: Oct. 31, 2012 at 8:20 a.m.

FLINT - Thanks to a $10,000 grant from the James A. Welch Foundation, 800 local Honors and Advanced Placement students will experience special performances and outreach activities by the nationally-renowned American Place Theatre during two week-long residencies featuring the literary works "The Kite Runner" and "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl."

The Whiting, a member organization of the Flint Cultural Center Corporation, will provide in-school performances and student workshops dealing with the themes and subject matter of "The Kite Runner" and "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." The New York City-based American Place Theatre, through its Literature to Life program, will stage verbatim adaptations of these major literary works in area schools along with workshops. APT will also provide public performances at The Whiting and community activities.

During the week of Nov. 5 - 9, The Whiting will host the APT residency featuring "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, the first novel about contemporary Afghanistan to be written in English. In addition to performances and workshops in area schools, there will be a Nov. 6 public performance at The Whiting and a Nov. 8 community workshop at the Flint Public Library.

During the week of April 22 - 26, 2013, The Whiting will host the APT residency featuring "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs that deals with the traumas of slavery, particularly for women and children. The residency will include an April 23 public performance at The Whiting.

"This Welch Foundation support is very important to our educational programming," said FCCC Interim President & CEO Marsha Barber Clark, who also serves as interim director of The Whiting. "These residencies will provide area students with additional resources and encouragement to pursue advanced studies and to prepare for academic work at the college level."

The Whiting is located at 1241 E. Kearsley Street, Flint, Michigan 48503. For more information, call 810-237-7333 or log on to www.the whiting.com