Galveston County Daily News

Oct. 7, 2007

The Institute for the Medical Humanities Theater Outreach and Education program, along with the Resource and Crisis Center of Galveston County, will present several performances of "Breaking the Silence," an evening of music and theater taken from real life stories of domestic violence. The article quotes writer and director Cheryl L. Kaplan, director of Theater Outreach and Education.

From staff reports
The Daily News
Published October 7, 2007

GALVESTON - The Institute for the Medical Humanities Theater Outreach and Education program at the University of Texas Medical Branch, along with the Resource and Crisis Center of Galveston County, will present several performances of "Breaking the Silence," an evening of music and theater taken from real life stories of domestic violence, written and directed by Cheryl L. Kaplan.

Kaplan, director of the Theater Outreach and Education program, believes that talking openly about family violence can help empower its survivors.

"Those who spoke with me and shared their stories or their advocacy work assisted me with gaining a better understanding of family violence in order to write this play," said Kaplan. "And as I spoke with these people, I began to understand how empowering it can be simply to break the silence. Once the silence is broken, we see that we are not alone."

All performances begin at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Here is the schedule:

  • Oct. 16, at the Community Room, 1109-B Bayou Road, in La Marque.
  • Oct. 18, at the Nessler Center Captain's Room, 2010 Fifth Ave. N., in Texas City.
  • Oct. 25, at the Island Community Center, 4700 Broadway Blvd., Suite B100, in Galveston.
  • Dec. 6, at the Joel Faggart Community Center AARP Hall, 1750 Highway 87, in Crystal Beach.
  • Dec. 13, at the Historic Railroad Center Community Room, 218 FM 517 W., in Dickinson.

The Theater Outreach and Education program promotes theater as a tool for education and uses theater to raise awareness of health science and medical humanities issues within the community.

The production was funded by the UTMB President's Cabinet Award. For information, call 409-763-1441, ext. 109.