Roundabout Theatre Company Announces Nationwide World Premiere of Prospect High: Brooklyn

Roundabout Theatre Company and Education at Roundabout are announcing the first-ever nationwide world premiere of a new play, Prospect High: Brooklyn. Written by Daniel Robert Sullivan (Jersey Boys) and a team of New York City teenagers, the piece was developed in partnership with Education at Roundabout and the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships. The play will premiere in 23 high school productions across the country, from September 2015-May 2016.

Prospect High: Brooklyn focuses on four intelligent, highly charged students and one seriously apathetic teacher. The play was created with the intent of offering a new collection of serious, true-to-life material for teenage actors. The play addresses themes of apathy, revenge, deep friendship, trans acceptance, casual racism, self-harm, and the power of both good and bad advice from teachers, all against the backdrop of an enormous Brooklyn high school.

"The National New Play Network introduced the concept of a rolling world premiere in 1998, and I’ve always thought it would be great to offer that kind of arrangement to high schools," says Sullivan. "There is so much energy and power in teenage theater-makers, but that positive force is often felt only locally. By introducing this fierce new play to the nation’s high schools in a coordinated way, Roundabout is not only promoting the play with positive publicity, but the schools themselves. After much research, we chose 23 of the boldest high school theater departments from across the country and can use this first-ever high school rolling world premiere to recognize them and expose their power at a national level."

"I wanted to create an issue‐driven, age‐appropriate, ethnically‐diverse, flexible‐cast play that represents the extremes inherent in an urban high school environment," Sullivan adds. "Through nine months of collaboration, these teenagers have introduced me to the issues and debates most important to them. We’ve structured these conversations into the play."

Prospect High: Brooklyn will receive productions at the following high schools:
Indianapolis: Broad Ripple High School (September 2015)
Memphis: Ridgeway High School (November 2015)
Providence: Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts (November 2015)
Syracuse: Corcoran High School (November 2015)
Tallahassee: Leon High School (November 2015)
Boston: Boston Arts Academy (December 2015)
Bridgeport: Central High School (December 2015)
Harrisburg: Capital Area School for the Arts (December 2015)
Milwaukee: Milwaukee High School of the Arts (December 2015)
Philadelphia: Academy at Palumbo (December 2015)
Ann Arbor: Pioneer High School (January 2016)
Louisville: Youth Performing Arts High School (January 2016)
Minneapolis: Southwest High School (January 2016)
Oklahoma City: Harding Fine Arts Academy (January 2016)
San Jose: Lincoln High School (January 2016)
Chicago: Niles West High School (February 2016)
Dallas: Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy (February 2016)
Philadelphia: Philadelphia School for Creative and Performing Arts (February 2016)
Long Island: Long Island High School for the Arts (March 2016)
Washington DC: Benjamin Banneker High School (March 2016)
Austin: McCallum Fine Arts Academy (April 2016)
San Diego: San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (May 2016)

Along with Sullivan, the play's cowriters include Paul Stoll, Aaliyah Stewart, Isaiah Latimer, Chanique Peart, Deshaye Tingling, Amanda Rodriguez, Jaylin Acosta, Brandy Brown, Azaria Guthrie, Rebecca Powell, Rachel Friedman, and Shannon Deep.

Prospect High: Brooklyn received a workshop presentation at Roundabout Theatre Company in April 2014 under the direction of Shelley Butler. It is currently being further developed at the Nevada Conservatory Theatre, in association with the University of Nevada‐Las Vegas, under the direction of Christopher V. Edwards. The play was recently awarded semifinalist status for the 2015 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Center and has been published by Smith & Kraus.