A collaborative program uniting students, artists, and community to confront difficult issues through theatre, storytelling, and dialogue.
Lend Me Your Ears Podcast
Give it a listen
The Hippodrome Theatre Education Department, in partnership with We the People Theater and the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, is launching the Lend Me Your Ears Podcast with support from the national One Nation Project. This series explores the theme of gun violence through the voices of student playwrights, professional actors, and community members, using theatre as a tool for dialogue, empathy, and healing. By amplifying these stories, the podcast highlights how the arts can strengthen wellbeing and create lasting impact.
Lend Me Your Ears
Pairing students with playwrights, professional actors, writers, and artists to create an original piece.
Under the guidance of theater professionals, young people from the Gainesville community who have been affected by or have been the author’s of gun violence are encouraged to use theater, specifically, playwriting to examine the topic.
This topic and literary forms are investigated and examined in conjunction with readings from plays by William Shakespeare, classes in communication and examined through the practice of Restorative Justice; an approach to justice that aims to repair the harm done to victims and deeply examines the motivation behind the actions of those who have authored the harm.
Lend Me Your Ears x Panhandle Slim at the Hippodrome Theatre
The Hippodrome Theatre Education Department has been selected as a recipient of the Lend Me Your Ears Grant through the One Nation Project. The One Nation Project, a national initiative spanning nine U.S. cities, aims to highlight the proven health benefits of arts participation on individuals and communities. This initiative seeks to unite artists, local governments, and community health providers in a collaborative effort.
The Hippodrome’s Lend Me Your Ears project is a collaboration between We the People Theater and the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding. The initiative will bring together student playwrights and professional actors to explore the theme of gun violence through the powerful medium of theatre and the arts.
The project will culminate in a compelling performance featuring the students’ written works, skillfully presented by professional actors alongside community members. Gabrielle Byam, Education Director of the Hippodrome Theatre, expressed her gratitude, stating, “This grant will enable us to bring awareness, empathy, and understanding, fostering hope for healing in the context of gun violence. We are extremely grateful to the grant committee for this opportunity. This project, driven by the community and in collaboration with We the People Theater and the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, promises a lasting impact.”
“We are truly humbled to be recognized and awarded the Lend Me Your Ears Grant for our project, this grant allows us to delve into a meaningful collaboration and address a pressing issue in our society.”
— Gabrielle Byam, Managing and Education Director
of the Hippodrome Theatre
