Paper Wings

Paper Wings is Theatre Exile’s in-school residency outreach program.  Experienced, professional teaching artists go into the classroom to help students find their creative voices, build bold confidence, work collaboratively, and engage with the world in an empowered way.

Each Paper Wings student writes and performs their own work as part of two annual festivals: our Winter Monologue Festival and our Spring Play Presentations.  Working with their teaching artist and classroom teacher, students learn to write and perform original monologues and plays based on themes they want to explore; whether autobiographical or a topical concern, students feel that presented works need a community spotlight.

Currently, Paper Wings operates in two schools in our South Philadelphia neighborhood: Andrew Jackson Elementary School and South Philadelphia High School.  At Andrew Jackson, Education Director TS Hawkins works with James Lindberg and his middle school playwriting students.  At South Philadelphia High School, Mx. Hawkins works with Nicole Monsalud and her high school Honors English students.  Paper Wings also offers a summer camp program for elementary school-aged students at Columbus Square Park: mycolumbussquare.org

Since the program began in 2007, our students have been awarded numerous awards for both monologues and plays, including both first- and second-place awards for monologues and plays from the Philadelphia Young Playwrights festivals.

Want to stay tuned to the minds of our Paper Wings scribes?
View our Season Highlights in our Fall 2020 Commemorative Mini Monologue Fest Book

“College is one of the biggest steps in my life, because in my family, they had to stop to work and couldn’t go to college. What would my mom say about me not getting in? Would she be mad?”

Gilbert Mariano, Slow Day