Drama Club offers a new act for young people turning lives around

SOHO, Manhattan — Drama Club is a lifeline to a better future.

The nonprofit’s mission is to help incarcerated and court-involved youth by creating spaces where improv becomes a tool for self-expression and growth.

“Me first joining the program, I was incarcerated… I was like, woah, I’ve never done this before. It helped me escape from the reality I was in, and it helped me belong,” said Tiffany “Tiny” Cruz, a teaching artist at Drama Club.

Drama Club brings theater and improv workshops to Rikers Island, Horizon, and Crossroads juvenile detention centers, as well as to at-risk youth.

“We live in a life of ‘no, but.’ Your life cannot begin until you accept the present circumstances and acknowledge that there’s more,” said Drama Club Executive Director Ashley Hart Adams.

These engaging sessions give participants a chance to build confidence, communication skills, and community. Members learn to collaborate and tell their stories in a safe space.

“A lot of our young people enter the crossroads system through gang involvement. That’s where they see community. Drama Club creates a new path,” said Adams.

Improv is backed by research.

“Trauma is a loop. When you engage in something like improv, you don’t know the next thing that’s going to happen, you start to handle stress and uncertainty in a new and better way,” said Adams.

Drama Club’s Apprentice Program offers at risk youth paid personal and professional development internships each year. Apprentices work closely with mentors to set goals for brighter futures.