How the Play Came About
"Ripples of Hope" is the combined effort of hard-working students collaborating together for over three months. After being inspired by the work of Kerry Kennedy's book Speak Truth to Power, and the adapted play by Ariel Dorfman entitled Speak Truth to Power, Voices from Beyond the Dark, they were eager to start their own performance that would encourage others to reach out to repair the world. Borrowing from the format of Kennedy's book and Dorfman's adaptation, the students wanted to branch out by researching and presenting their own defenders. Inspired by the work of the Lowell Milken Center of Kansas, many of the students chose to portray unsung human rights advocates from around the world.
It should be also noted that the title of the play is derived from the famous speech by Robert F. Kennedy in South Africa in 1966, and that several of the defenders were first learned about in Nick Kristof's and Sheryl WuDunn's Half the Sky, which most of the cast has read. The directors also took guidance from the wonderful work of teacher Jen Derosby from PS1 Charter School in Denver who conducted a similar performance entitled "Salvaged Pages" with students of her own.
In late fall of 2010, the first cast met to choose their defender, research who they were, write their script, then combine their profiles together. These efforts were complimented by the "Ripples of Hope" poster--designed by cast member Caroline; this beautiful web page--created by former cast member Rebecca and maintained by current cast member Molly; and our Facebook profile--created by cast member Emyle.
The students were assisted by the moderators of the Human Rights group--Beth Lewandowski, Ben Higgins, and Drew Beiter--all with a considerable helping hand from Springville Center for the Arts Director Seth Wochensky. The goal is to inspire their audience to be human rights defenders in their own right, in their community, nation, and world.
It should be also noted that the title of the play is derived from the famous speech by Robert F. Kennedy in South Africa in 1966, and that several of the defenders were first learned about in Nick Kristof's and Sheryl WuDunn's Half the Sky, which most of the cast has read. The directors also took guidance from the wonderful work of teacher Jen Derosby from PS1 Charter School in Denver who conducted a similar performance entitled "Salvaged Pages" with students of her own.
In late fall of 2010, the first cast met to choose their defender, research who they were, write their script, then combine their profiles together. These efforts were complimented by the "Ripples of Hope" poster--designed by cast member Caroline; this beautiful web page--created by former cast member Rebecca and maintained by current cast member Molly; and our Facebook profile--created by cast member Emyle.
The students were assisted by the moderators of the Human Rights group--Beth Lewandowski, Ben Higgins, and Drew Beiter--all with a considerable helping hand from Springville Center for the Arts Director Seth Wochensky. The goal is to inspire their audience to be human rights defenders in their own right, in their community, nation, and world.