When
you
hear
the
word
"theatre,"
what
do
you
think
of?
If
the
first
phrase
to
come
to
your
mind
isn't
"poverty-ending
community
fundraising,"
then
you
might
want
to
read
on
to
learn
how
a
ground-breaking
production
resulted
in
grant
money
for
Baldwin
Wallace.
This
past
January,
the
Cleveland
Public
Theatre
-
in
partnership
with
United
Way
of
Greater
Cleveland
and
Sojourn
Theatre
-
produced
an
interactive
production
titled
"How
to
End
Poverty
in
90
Minutes
(with
119
people
you
may
or
may
not
know)."
A
new
kind
of
theatrical
experience
At
each
performance
of
"How
to
End
Poverty
in
90
Minutes,"
audiences
were
invited
to
consider
the
five
approaches
most
frequently
employed
in
the
United
States
to
fight
poverty:
creating
opportunities,
education,
daily
needs,
direct
aid
and
system
change.
After
hearing
about
several
worthy
causes,
the
audience
voted
on
which
cause
they
would
like
$1,000
-
from
that
night's
ticket
earnings
-
to
go
to.
This
culminated
in
an
onstage
reveal
that
propagated
real
change
in
the
local
community.
Giving
back
to
BW
On
the
third
night
of
performances
-
the
education-centered
show
-
the
winning
cause
was
the
Baldwin
Wallace
University
Scholars
program,
which
prepares
academically
at-risk
male
African-American
students
for
post-secondary
success
by
providing
assistance
in
academic
enrichment,
college
preparation,
leadership
and
service.
Sojourn
Theatre
head
Michael
Rohd
spoke
on
the
impact
of
the
piece
and
said,
"We
hope
that
for
the
audience,
just
like
for
us,
we're
reflecting
on
our
own
perspectives
and
values
around
poverty
and
our
responsibility
for
other
community
members."
Prior
to
its
Cleveland
run,
"How
to
End
Poverty
in
90
Minutes"
premiered
in
Chicago,
where
it
facilitated
the
giving
of
over
$12,000
to
local
organizations
that
continue
to
combat
poverty.
