In Hartford, Connecticut, a dramatic change is taking place. More precisely, change is occurring through the use of drama. HartBeat Ensemble, a professional theater group whose mission is to employ theater for active change, is working to effect substantive transformations in the Hartford community. Those changes are enacted through mainstage productions, outreach programs to Hartford youth and local school systems, corporate workshops on diversity and conflict resolution, and street performances. "We believe theater is a vehicle for sharing ideas and giving voice to those who largely go unheard," claims Steve Ginsburg, one of the three founding members of the Ensemble. "Our work is based on the premise that theater is a powerful mechanism instigating change."

A recent mainstage production tackled the current controversy surrounding the "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) legislation. Though Connecticut, through the filing of a lawsuit, positioned itself at the forefront of the opposition to the federally mandated NCLB Act, the voices of those most affected by the legislation have gone unheard. The play, News To Me, which premiered at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford, put a human face on the issues that underlie NCLB. Told through the eyes of teens, the play reveals the impact of the drive for standardized testing and what it means to those who do not measure up to the tests' requirements.

The play itself grew out of the Ensemble's High School Vacation Theater program where students interested in theater create and perform a play about what's important to them. What the students were saying on a personal level was directly related to what was going on at a political level regarding NCLB. Through caricature and the use of urban, hip-hop musical numbers, the play skewers the media and the businesses who exploit the opportunities that NCLB makes available. News to Me poignantly evokes the struggles of the teens themselves, who are pawns in the larger political and economic games being played at their expense.

The play's message attracted the interest of Allan B. Taylor, Chairperson of the Connecticut Board of Education, who termed the play the "Fahrenheit 9/11 of No Child Left Behind," and the Commissioner of Education, Betty J. Sternberg, who felt the play "captured the essence and problems of the No Child Left Behind Act in a theatrical format that was both funny and compelling."

Both were interviewed by HartBeat during the research phase of play development. Though agreeing with the goals of the NCLB Act, Sternberg has been an outspoken critic of the expansion of formalized statewide testing to achieve those goals, due to the cost involved and the administrative overhead that reduces the opportunity for effective teaching time. The success of News to Me proves that a play can appeal to both those who shape policy as well as those being shaped by that policy.

But NCLB is just one of the issues that HartBeat tackles. Now entering its fifth year, the Ensemble has initiated an ambitious season that includes a series of short plays based on the lives of working people in the city. "Theater has become very expensive; many in our community cannot afford to attend a play, and many have never seen a live play performed at all," notes Greg Tate of the Ensemble. "So we are taking this series of short plays into public parks throughout Hartford." The Ensemble will also continue their work with the "2 Way Youth Employment Program" by using theater to teach employment skills and behavioral modeling to inner city youth in order to improve their ability to land and hold jobs. Two mainstage productions are planned for the coming year: a revisionist view of Dickens' A Christmas Carol that will focus on the economic and class issues of contemporary Hartford, and a bilingual play that examines the political clashes that led to the fall of Julius Caesar.

"Theater is a meeting ground for exploring questions," states Julia Rosenblatt, "questions such as how can we make justice possible in our community, country and our world. We work as an ensemble, without hierarchy, because we believe that equality and inclusion are essential when confronting issues that affect us. There are many ways to effect change. Our way happens to be the oldest form of art in human civilization; telling stories."