St. Louis teens are sharing their talents as actors in
historical plays at the Missouri History Museum.

The cast of Nobody’s Boy poses on the “riverfront” after a performance. From left to right are Kurseaan Muhammad, Elizabeth Pickard (MHS Gallery/Theater Program Coordinator), Brittney Keeton, DeAnthony Farmer, and Dominic Pruitt. Photograph © 2007, Missouri Historical Society.

If you’ve visited the Missouri History Museum’s galleries lately, you’ve probably run into some characters from the past. As part of the museum’s Theater in the Galleries—Teens Make History program, four St. Louis teens don period costumes on Saturday mornings to perform in several 20-minute plays that aim at educating visitors about historical people and events.

This summer, the teens are bringing to life the story of a slave boy named George, who struggled for freedom for himself and others in St. Louis in the 1850s. The play, Nobody’s Boy, is an adaptation of the book by the same name written by Jennifer Fleischner and published by the Missouri Historical Society Press in 2006. It is MHS Press’s first work of historical fiction for children.

Elizabeth Pickard adjusts the costume of student Dominic Pruitt. Photograph © 2007, Missouri Historical Society.

Watching the teen troupe perform with such range, one might never guess the volume of work and time they have put into the program. Months before Nobody’s Boy was to be performed, Elizabeth Pickard, Gallery/Theater Program Coordinator at MHS, began auditioning local teens for the roles. Next, the actors began to meet twice weekly to read the book and discuss the terms, main characters, and conflicts to be worked into a script. Having only 20 minutes to act out a story that is told over 12 chapters forced the teens to summarize the story and dialogue into four pivotal scenes with four main characters. “Not all dialogue works well for a play,” Pickard said. “We’re taking it and collapsing it into one scene.” For example, actor Brittney Keeton’s character uses monologues as a technique to fast-forward the play.

Pickard chose the Currents Gallery to stage Nobody’s Boy. “We’re trying something new with this play,” she said. “The audience will move with the actors to four locations within the gallery, one for each scene.” The depicted scenes include the St. Louis riverfront, the Old Courthouse, George’s sleeping quarters, and a slave’s hiding place.

Brittney Keeton (as Elizabeth Keckly) delivers a monologue. Photograph © 2007, Missouri Historical Society. .

According to Pickard, the biggest change between the book and the play is in a scene depicting George’s friends being sold to a new slaveholder. “Because we only had four actors, we had to reduce the characters,” she said.

To help the students focus on the context, Pickard asked the students questions such as “Was the book trying to convince someone of something?” and “Why did Fleischner choose a 13 year old as the main character?” One poignant answer came from student Kurseaan Muhammad, who said, “To teach that a person as young as George can make a difference.”

				In the first scene of the play, George (played by DeAnthony Farmer), right, finds out that his friend William (Kurseaan Muhammad) is going to be sold away to a new slave owner. Photograph © 2007, Missouri Historical Society.

Likewise, Pickard wants to make a difference in the lives of area high school students. “I want to increase their knowledge of history and encourage higher-level thinking about literacy and literature,” she said. “A theater-and-arts program is effective at teaching work-based learning because of the level of ownership, because of responsibility for end product.”

She added that she is quite pleased with her current troupe. “These four have been surprising me at every turn,” she said. “They are really learning to develop a production and about teamwork, problem solving, and getting along with each other.”

The teens spent weeks rehearsing the play. Pickard even brought in a guest director who gave them tips on how to improve, such as increasing the dramatic tension in their voices to convey the sense of urgency the characters must have felt when discussing being sold or escaping. Often the troupe improvised rewrites during rehearsal. For example, in one scene, a reference to “this place” was changed to “courthouse” so that the audience could better follow the play.

Elizabeth Pickard gives tips and feedback to the students after a dress rehearsal of the play. Photograph © 2007, Missouri Historical Society.

DeAnthony Farmer, who plays George, said, “I like the process because we got to write part of the script.” He added that it made him take more ownership in the play.

Rehearsing in the gallery during the museum’s operating hours helped the teens get comfortable with an audience, especially because the actors invite questions from the audience after their performance. “They’ve developed a much higher level of professionalism since we first started,” Pickard said. “They are really disciplined in giving a consistent performance.”

Visitors to the museum have been impressed with the program as well. In June, four more teens were added to the acting troupe and more plays to its repertoire. In addition to continuing to perform Nobody’s Boy and Shaking up the Status Quo: Scenes from the Civil Rights Movement, the expanded troupe will offer Streetcar Stops! The latter consists of several vignettes. “The audience will look at a menu of ‘scenes’ and get to choose which story they’d like to see performed,” said Pickard.

But no matter what the topic or era, these students are educating and entertaining others by bringing history to life.

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