The Theater Offensive

The Theater Offensive’s mission is to form and present the diverse realities of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lives in art so bold it breaks through personal isolation and political orthodoxy to help build an honest, progressive community.

The Theater Offensive: OUT In Your Neighborhood (OUT'hood) programming reflects the diversity of the city of Boston, gives voice to underserved LGBT community members, creates avenues for cross-cultural dialogue and breaks down the barriers of homophobia, bigotry and hate.   At its core, OUT’hood empowers local residents to be agents for social change by embracing the concept of OUTness. OUTness is defined as being honest with yourself about who you are and sharing that openly with other people. Through lively public dialogue, OUT’hood will help empower neighbors to stay true to themselves, as well as create safer, more vibrant neighborhoods.

 

There are three areas of our OUT In Your Neighborhood programming –-

Collective Creation - TTO artists work with community members to help create original performances based on their experiences and present it to their peers. This could happen in a workshop that lasts a few hours or a series lasting up to four months.

Neighborhood Productions - Theater Offensive engages nationally renowned artist work with people in our neighborhoods to create their shows. Then TTO works with local groups, businesses, and neighbors to present a production of the show back in the neighborhood.

Cultural Events - Boston’s neighborhoods are rich with ethnic and local festivals, community orgs and businesses. We collaborate with them to cultivate a vibrant and culturally competent LGBT presence in these venues.   All programming, including True Colors, falls under Out In Your Neighborhood. As a youth program, True Colors has specific arts learning and youth development goals as indicated under that section.

True Colors: Out Youth Theater (TC) provides year-round theater programming for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth and their straight allies, ages 14-22. TC offers training to youth in playwriting, production and performance, and guides youth through a process of creating and presenting original plays about LGBTQ youth which tour to to schools, community groups, government agencies and events throughout Massachusetts.