About Teen West Project

The majority of high school plays taught and performed are classics. Though there is certainly value in such material, teenagers are starved for stories and theatre experiences that relate to their modern world. There is little quality dramatic literature specifically centering teens - either roles they can successfully play, or subject matter that is relevant to their experiences. 

Teen West Project is an after school, extra-curricular program designed to cultivate new works about and for teenagers.  The charge is to create a “page to stage” process, culminating in a full production staged at the partnering high school, highlighting themes that are relevant to the emerging generation. As is the rule, Teen West Project plays feature all teenaged characters, allowing student actors to portray roles to which they may be most connected. 

About The Importance

As a group of high school drama students rehearses a production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST they come to realize what’s truly important.

This work is has deep roots in the IBWHS Community.  Playwright Sara Jean Accuardi, Director Matthew B. Zrebski, (SW)2 Producer Jamie Miller, and even the venue itself all have had key roles to play in the development of this engaging new theatrical offering.

Playwrights West Mission

To provide platforms for playwrights in the Pacific Northwest at any stage of their development and careers. playwrightswest.org

SouthWest StageWorks, or (SW)2, is Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School's youth theatre company.  Our company produces a wide variety of high quality theatre, partnering with the highest caliber teaching and collaborating artists, providing the very best, diverse, and relevant learning experiences possible for IBWHS students through the theatre arts. 

Our mission with (SW)2 is two-fold: 
1) To help the young people of the IBWHS community take their place in the world as the very best citizens and contributors they can be.  A successful (SW)2 company member will learn time management, critical thinking, creative problem solving, collaboration, service, self-sacrifice, perseverance, how to see the world through another's eyes, and how to never stop working toward a higher ideal.  
and 
2) To help the young people of the IBWHS community take their place in the theatre community as the very best artists they can be.  An (SW)2 company member will have worked with professional teaching artists on stage and behind the scenes, will have had the opportunity to pursue professional internships, will have worked with the widest variety of material from across the theatre canon, will have shared their work with colleagues from around the region, will have had the opportunity to take true positions of leadership with their peers, and will have had their work evaluated at the highest levels.

We are SouthWest StageWorks, The Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School Theatre Company...Enjoy the Show!