One part of the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program includes the Mentees reading two books during the program year. This year, the Mentees read the August Wilson play, Seven Guitars. This is the second August Wilson play that the Mentees in the Program have read. In 2019, the Mentees read, Gem of the Ocean. Also in 2019, the Mentees and parents went to the local Pasadena theater, A Noise With, to see a rendition of Gem of the Ocean. In 2021, the Mentees and parents repeated that experience by seeing the rendition of Seven Guitars at the same theater. The experience had two significant components. First, the Mentees read the play in advance and had an opportunity to experience the written word prior to seeing the performance of the play. Second, after the play, the actors came on stage and fielded questions from the audience, including the Mentees. A few of the actors in Seven Guitars were in Gem of the Ocean and remembered the experience of the L.A.M.P. Mentees coming to the earlier play. Finally, the staff of the theater and several patrons commented on the manners, cleanliness, and decorum of the L.A.M.P. Mentees. The leadership of the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program continues to observe how the presence of 35 young African American men in suits and ties causes a pleasant stir in every environment we encounter.
We wish to thank the staff of A Noise Within and the theater itself for being a continuing Community Partner of the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program.
