Left to right: Clarence Lee, Emmanuel Serrano, Ian Christy and James Lilley filming a scene for Peace by Peace - the Video Photo: Eddie Miranda

For the past three years, with support from the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, HAI has presented Peace by Peace, a performance and workshop series for high school students and other youths. Initially conceived and written by two HAI artists, Tom Titone and Marianella Virella, the play is typically presented at NYC schools in an auditorium setting. Each attending class participates in two follow up participatory workshops in which students are given the opportunity to work through issues brought up in the play and to find resolutions to the conflicts presented.

The Peace by Peace Project has become an integral part of HAI's Youth Leadership/ Violence Prevention program. The performance clearly and convincingly communicates the experiences of many youths coming of age in urban New York City. Teaching staff at Richard R. Green High School of Teaching referred to the material as "...provocative as well as relevant and well organized." The workshops gave students the chance to explore alternatives to violence. As a teacher from Flushing High School stated, "The follow up workshops engendered lively discussions that focused not only on violence prevention but on values clarification."

The Project benefits from the participation of HAI peer educators. These youths are selected through an audition process and receive training to help HAI facilitators connect with their audiences during presentations and workshops. Seminars by professional consultants from a variety of fields are offered in theatre techniques, conflict resolution and youth violence. As Judith Tarlo, Director of Pupil Personnel Services for the New York City Department of Education describes, "Using peer educators, HAI creates culturally appropriate scenarios and role-play characters with information secured from in-depth focus groups drawn from each target population. The workshops are geared to realistically present peers who are facing pivotal decisions. Decisions may have to do with the use of drugs or alcohol, abstinence, having sex for the first time, unprotected sex and other high risk behaviors. Role-play is a particularly effective means of conveying information leading to appropriate behavior change."

This year, a video version of Peace by Peace was filmed in several neighborhoods. It will be incorporated into the live performance and the follow up workshops as well as be used by HAI to market the project within the school system and to potential sponsors.