The Truth Tellers Theater Ensemble in Holyoke, works with people who have lived experiences with foster care, kinship care — when you're cared for by someone in your family other than your biological parent — and adoption. The program uses theater to help participants express and process significant moments in their lives.
NEPM's Media Lab Youth Media Producer Au'dahcey [Oddyssey] Hickson interviewed Mishie Serrano and Jenine Davison, who are part of the ensemble.
Au'dahcey, Youth Media Producer: Welcome, Mishie and Jenine.
Jenine Davison: Thank you, Au'dahcey.
Mishie Serrano: Thank you for having us.
Tell us what makes truth tellers unique and how is working together with different age groups beneficial?
Mishie: I would say quite literally, the fact that we're an intergenerational space is what makes us unique. The aspect that we honor that from top to bottom. We honor the young people. We honor what they bring. We also honor the deeply rooted relationships that they build with us as elders. And just like peer mentors or just mentors in a sense, which unintentionally becomes a relationship, we build with them as family. I would say that that, in particular, makes us stand out because the process in which that we're writing is very intimate. So, there's like no way to kind of like hide who you are in the process of going through and writing our scripts or doing exercises together. And I feel like that level of transparency and vulnerability is really, really key.
I have definitely seen that this space is particularly different and special because you're catering to so many, like really beautiful souls and you're growing and healing with one another. We're talking about trauma. There's no way to hide from that or like make it very pretty. Sometimes it just needs to be raw, sometimes it needs to be heard. And we create the space for that in a way that it doesn't feel extractive, in a way that doesn't feel performative — because we are performers, but we are not putting our pain on there to be performed. We are healing and showing you that it's possible through our performance.
"...we are performers, but we are not putting our pain on there to be performed.
— Mishie Serrano
Jenine: I really resonated with that, yeah, we're dealing with trauma. I think the facilitators, Priscilla and Ashley have made it a really safe space. So we spend months building the community and the relationships and the sense of safety where it's okay to be vulnerable and encouraged to be vulnerable. We are very gentle and loving with each other. So some really important stuff emerges and is shared and then gets written into the script with our permission. Everything is with our permission, everything is totally voluntary. And that's really very unique. It's very fun to do theater exercises with each other and play together.
Mishie: Heavy on the play. I don't think there is a lot of opportunities to work with, like intergenerational spaces and be allowed to play, like quite literally play. Theater warm ups where you're playing around, dancing around and there's music. You're awakening every part of your body and your senses. To be a child in a space with one another is a really big privilege, I would like to say, especially in the day and age that we live in.
How is performing your stories in an ensemble helping you process trauma related to foster care and adoption?
Jenine: I was not in foster care per se. Not officially, but I did, experience separation from my mother for a couple of years after my father died, and I was with relatives. At my age I'm still working on how that affected me and seeing it at a deeper level. Being around other people who have been through that... it just feels really good to be with other people who have experienced that and then be able to express something out loud to an audience of social workers is a sense of empowerment around it rather than being very alone or having that be something in the background that I didn't know how to share with other people.
Mishie: Folks associate the foster care system and they like encapsulate it as ... abandonment and misplacement. And those young people go through so much more than just those two life changing processes. And I think what Truth Tellers offers them is not just a sense of like, yes, ... it's very important, you need folks who come from an experience you came from, but you also need folks who come from similar experiences, but not quite the same, for you to realize that there's a connection, there's a bridge, and that there's other forms of support and understanding that, like their life experiences, is not just the foster care system, it's how they've grown up in the hood. It's about the intersectionalities that they exist within and how can we cater to that. And I think that's what's so great about Truth Tellers, that we come from all different walks of life.
What advice would you give to kids that's like not in the foster care or DCF, but struggle, with stuff at home?
Mishie: I grew up with friends in the foster care system. I would definitely say like, lend a hand to your homie. Be mindful of your friends. That's one thing I would say to youth right now who are aware their friends are in the foster care system, like be mindful of your friend. Don't put the weight of what's going on in the world on your shoulders, because as young people, you can only do so much. But I would always say like, be mindful of your homie. Like, "How you doing? How can I support you? You want to hang out today?"
I want to once again thank Mishie and Jenine for joining us. See you next time on Youth Talks!
