Call today to book a FREE performance by the Changing Lives Youth Theatre Company for your Middle School or High School population! The show is appropriate for 7th graders and up and audiences can range in size from 20-500. Click here for booking information.

The Changing Lives Youth Theatre Company is a very unique and exciting program that TAP and SafePlace have provided to the Austin area since 2003. This program puts the powerful tools of peer education and theatre in the hands of youth and adults who want to stop the cycles of domestic and dating violence. Each year a group of paid teen actors create an original interactive play to tour the entire Central Texas Area. This year's performance will tour throughout the Central texas area from January-May.

A few facts about The Changing Lives Youth Theatre Company:

• Currently, the project is year-round with15-20 youth working on the project
• In 2007-2008 3,200 people saw the youth perform their original production of "Unmask the Unseen"
• All performers are paid employees of Theatre Action Project
• Since 2003, over 10,000 people have seen the youth company perform

A recent SafePlace study of greater Austin middle and high school students showed:

48% had a friend in an abusive relationship

44% had experienced domestic violence

43% had a friend who had been sexually assaulted

41% had been sexually harassed at school

28% had been hurt or threatened by a dating partner

Dating violence and abuse have a devastating impact – young victims and witnesses have a dramatically increased risk of academic failure, unemployment, depression, drug and alcohol abuse and suicide. According to the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, teenage girls who have witnessed violence are two to three times more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, taking drugs, drinking alcohol and having unsafe sex. Teenage girls who have experienced domestic and dating violence firsthand were also more likely to take these health risks. Parents and teachers often lack the awareness and resources to respond to these problems. Youth, who are often more aware of their peers' problems than adults, can find themselves in a painfully powerless position, watching from the sidelines with no idea how to help. Youth and adults need more education regarding critical issues related to healthy relationships in a format that is interesting, engaging, and accessible.

TAP and SafePlace developed The Changing Lives Youth Theatre Company precisely to address these social problems now, and to train leaders to generate solutions for them in the future.