Hello friends of Ghostlight,

As we approach the end of 2019 and Giving Tuesday, we wanted to share with you our personal stories of why theatre is so important to us and, in turn, to others.

We know this is the time of year you are bombarded with requests from very worthy organizations and some of them are literally making life or death differences in people's lives. But we’d like to take a moment to explain why the arts matter as well.

Supporting the arts is more nebulous. You look at Ghostlight and you think, "They put on theatre. That’s nice." And we do that, yes. We put on theatre that challenges the status quo, that asks probing questions, that doesn’t shy away from a fight. Through our Nightlight series, we bring engaging, yet meaningful theater to young audiences. We are trying to make them, not the consumers of culture that our society is so actively engaged in pursuing but, active participants in our culture and in our society in general. Theatre can do that.

But theatre can also sometimes make a life or death difference in a person's life. It empowers young people, gives them purpose, brings them friends, it helps them realize there are others like them and they are not alone.

It has done that for all of us here at Ghostlight and for countless other theatre kids around this world. It may be doing it right now for someone you know and love, someone you don't realize is struggling to understand why they are here on this planet at this time and place.

That is why you should support the arts and why we hope you will support Ghostlight, as we make a place for future generations of artist to tell the stories that matter to them and to help them find their purpose, their home.

Keep scrolling to read personal stories from our Ensemble members about how theatre made a difference in their lives and continues to do so to this day.

— The Ensemble