Know the Law!

Know the Law! was developed by the Huntington Theatre Company in 1997 to use peer performance to teach at-risk youth about Massachusetts law as a means of reducing youth crime and violence. Today Know the Law! is produced in collaboration with Youth and Police in Partnership (YPP), a community-based program of Children's Services of Roxbury that seeks to improve relationships between young people and the police. YPP Peer Leaders, ages 14-17 from some of Boston’s most challenged inner-city neighborhoods, form our Know the Law! troupe, studying acting techniques and rehearsing an original production, written by Naheem Garcia and Amanda Pyne, that dramatizes true-to-life choices that young people face relating to weapon and drug possession, fighting, self-defense, and interacting with the police. Know the Law! tours to schools, community centers, and other public venues, and is followed by a post-show discussion between the peer leaders and the audiences that builds upon the issues raised in the play.

Know the Law has reached thousands of children since its inception and continues to help teenagers make better choices in their every-day lives, and also has increased leadership skills in Boston’s youth. Many participants have continued to accept leadership roles, and have pursued college careers that they otherwise may not have had the opportunity to achieve.

The Huntington presents FREE student matinee performances of Know the Law! for grades 7-12. A discussion between the actors, the audience, and Boston Police and Transit Officers follows each performance.

For more information on next year’s Know the Law! performances, please contact Meg Wieder, Education Manager at 617 273 1558 or mwieder@huntingtontheatre.bu.edu.

Know the Law! is sponsored in part by grants from the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Door.

Boston Public School students in rehearsal for Know The Law!, directed by Naheem Garcia