The 52nd Street Project: Life-Improving Theater Programs for NY's Inner-City Kids

The 52nd Street Project (The Project) is a New York-based independent non-profit that brings together kids ages 9 to 18 from the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood with theater professionals to create original works. The Project uses theater to enhance children's creativity, expression, sense of self-worth, literacy skills, and appreciation for the arts.

Creating more than 80 new plays and serving over 150 children each year, The Project was founded in 1981 by actor and playwright Willie Reale to improve the quality of life for the kids of Hell's Kitchen. With the support of Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he is a company member, and the Police Athletic League's Duncan Center, Reale created theatrical projects specifically for New York's inner-city kids.

The 52nd Street Project currently offers six theater programs, including One-on-One, where a child and an adult perform a play written by the adult; Two-on-Two, where two children perform a play written by one adult and directed by another; Playback, where kids write a play for themselves and their adult partners; and The Teen Ensemble, a two-year-long class on performance, writing, voice, and movement. Though the kids learn to act and write plays through these programs, The Project is really about making them proud of themselves. It is about giving children an experience of success, an opportunity to prove that they have something valuable to offer.

For its first 15 years, The Project conducted its programs in borrowed spaces. In 1996, the organization opened The Clubhouse, a place where children can flourish in the middle of their tough neighborhood. The subsequent expansion of The Clubhouse and addition of its own theater has allowed The Project to offer programs in other art forms such as poetry, dance, photography, and theatrical design.

In 1994, Reale received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship for creating The 52nd Street Project.