Performance: Walking The Beat

Teens and cops unite for Fountain Theatre’s ‘Walking the Beat’ in new partnership with Design for Sharing, CAP UCLA’s K-12 arts education program.

The Fountain Theatre joins forces with Design for Sharing, CAP UCLA’s K-12 arts education program, to showcase the culminating performance of Walking the Beat, the Fountain’s transformative community-building program that sees cops and teens working together to create theater. One public performance of In the Crossfire, a new multimedia work created by 15 teens and eight police officers, will take place on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the UCLA Nimoy Theater. Admission is free, but reservations are required (subject to availability). A free student matinee will follow on Monday, Sept. 23, allowing 250 students from across Los Angeles County to experience the finished work and talk with the cast and creators.

Written by Fountain Theatre arts education manager Nathan James, In the Crossfire was devised by students and police officers based on their own writings, conversations and improvisations about the effects of gun violence on them, personally, and within their communities.

Students this year represent five local high schools, including Hollywood High School, Valley Oaks Center for Enriched Studies, Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet High School, Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts and Hawthorne High School.

Now in its fifth year at the Fountain, Walking the Beat provides a life-changing experience for underserved youth. Founded by the Elizabeth Youth Theater Ensemble and led by executive and artistic director Theo Perkins, participants in the hands-on program are guided by facilitator and director Angela Kariotis and teaching artists ReSheda Terry and Alex Ubokedom.

Walking the Beat supporters include The Araxia and Vladimir Buckhantz Foundation, Mary Jo and David Volk, The Audrey and Sydney Irmas Charitable Foundation, Maggi Phillips, Jennifer Simchowitz, Anne-Marie Spataru, Jason Zelin and Allison Stein and the L.A. County Department of Probation.

The UCLA Nimoy Theater is located 1262 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024. Parking is $3 (flat rate) after 5 p.m. in the structure located at 10866 Wilshire Blvd. For more information, call (323) 663-1525 or go to www.FountainTheatre.com.

Click here to download high-resolution version photos.