No Child . . .

Nilaja Sun worked as a teaching artist at a high school in the Bronx, where every day the students face huge challenges in simply coming to school. She directed them in a play, and their trials and triumphs form the basis of No Child . . . . In a performance reminiscent of The Syringa Tree, Nilaja herself takes all the parts, transforming into the students, teachers, parents, administrators, janitors and security guards who inhabit our public schools and shape the future of America.

An award-winning hit in New York, No Child . . . is a virtuosic performance, joyous and heart-wrenching. In Nilaja’s words, “I created this piece to be a snapshot from the trenches, something entertaining and provocative that’ll get people talking about the state of our public schools.”

SYNOPSIS

No Child . . . is a distillation of Nilaja Sun’s nine years’ experience as a teaching artist in the New York public schools. It follows her as she attempts to mount a production of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play Our Country’s Good at a Bronx high school. Nilaja plays not only herself, but all the other characters in the story —her students and fellow teachers, parents and janitors, and even the security guard who mans the metal detector at the school gates.

Produced in association with the Loeb Drama Center.

Production Sponsors:
Page Bingham and Jim Anathan
Barbara and Steve Grossman