Brief description: A place-based performance project, PlaceMeant collects oral histories that pertain to specific sites in the community, then works with a local theater to craft stories or monologues about these places and perform them live in those sites.
How to: Step one is collecting oral histories pertaining to specific sites valued in the community. Step two is seeking out a playwright to craft these collected narratives into monologues or scenes about the places. Step three, actually producing the traveling theatrical performance, where actors and audience move through the town together, stopping here and there to hear a story about a place while standing on the very spot. Build in step four—an invitation to audience members to contribute their very own stories about the same places—and you begin to see a richly layered portrait in stories of your own community in all its diversity.
Inspiration: The Ukiah Players Theater: http://www.ukiahplayerstheatre.org/
Impact statement: PlaceMeant fosters a strong sense of connectedness to the physical spaces of the community while encouraging dialogue and exchange about site-specific histories and possibilities.