Lewiston Youth Theater Workshops

MIO’s Lewiston Youth Theater Project engages youth ages 13-18 who are at risk of (or already experiencing) system involvement, including school discipline and the juvenile justice system. This project engages teens during after-school hours to deepen their artistic and storytelling skills, build connections with peers and adult mentors, and create opportunities to elevate their voices in decision-making spaces in the community. 

MIO collaborates on this project with Lewiston community organizations, including Somali Bantu Community Association, Maine Community Integration, Tree Street Youth, Youth-LED Justice, Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services, and others. MIO’s Lewiston Youth Theater Project launched in 2022, engaging students at Lewiston Middle School for two years before moving to an afterschool model. 

MIO’s theater projects are designed to engage the larger community in dialogue about social conditions and the youth artists’ visions for change. Performances held as part of this project engage community partners as well as peers and families of the artists. 

This short film highlights MIO’s work to create original theater, poetry, and music inside Lewiston Middle School, King Middle School, and Mountain View Correctional Facility. The first three minutes of the film feature clips of performances and interviews from a day when Lewiston and Portland students came together to share their plays.