Hello, and welcome everybody.

I am Madeline Cohen, Education Director and Director of the

All Write! Program. All Write! is always a special occasion,

but today is extra special because it is All Write's

25th Anniversary.

For 25 years Symphony Space has been thrilled to present

original stories and poems by students like you

performed by wonderful actors like the ones here tonight.

It has meant so much to me and everyone here to be able to

bring together students and teachers from all around

New York City to share the creativity, the honesty,

the beauty, the laughter, the tears in your stories and poems.

The All Write Committee and I have been honored to read

every single story and poem submitted every year

and we've been honored to get to know something about so many

so many interesting lives, so many different backgrounds

and so many unique imaginations.

We loved reading them and wish we could present all of them

but then we would be here until 7 o'clock tomorrow morning.

So - we had to make a choice, and it was hard.

I'm so excited tonight to present stories and poems by you

read by our wonderful actors.

This is a night we all look forward to at Symphony Space

all year. We received over 150 stories and poems

from classes all around the city, and it was so tough

choosing the 34 that we will perform tonight

I said to the actors, these 34 fantastic stories are not

necessarily the 34 best stories. There were so many great stories

so we had to make decisions about how to get serious stories

funny stories, stories from this school, stories from that school

it's a really hard job but one we love to do because we get to

read all of them

I want to thank the teachers for all the hard work they did

overseeing and submitting the writing because I know

it's a huge job. Thank you teachers.

I think you are going to really enjoy hearing these stories

and poems. Some are funny, some are sad, serious, angry, scary,

you name it. Some are long, some are short, some might remind you

of the postcards you may have seen in class or the stories

and poems that were read here in February if you were here in

February. Those stories were called Agouti, Abandoned Farm

House, Vision Out of the Corner of One Eye, Homage to my Hips

Indian Education, Still Life With the Accent, and The Bells.

Some of your stories are based on real life, some are

completely made up. All are wonderful.

So, before we sit back and listen to the fantastic stories

and poems written by you and your peers,

I'm going to ask you to turn off all cell phones, or anything

else that makes noise or light. So, if you brought your blender

or your motorcycle, please turn it completely off

and, of course your cell phones - I mean OFF. No texting

no nothing because we're listening to stories tonight.

Please don't take any pictures

until the end of the show. The actors will stay on stage

during the bows. You can take pictures then and if you shoot

a picture, a photo with a flash it's very distracting.

At the end of the show, the ushers will be handing out

a booklet, one per person, with the names of everybody who

submitted any stories or poems.

So tonight we have five fantastic actors

Nathan Hinton began his professional career at the

Public Theater and most recently performed with the

Mosaic Theater Company in Washington D.C.

Let's welcome Nathan.

[Applause]

We are thrilled that Dylan Carusona is back with us

since February. He just appeared in a play called Mangled Beams

produced by American Indian Artists Inc.

[Applause]

Sonia Manzano is known to millions as Maria on

on Sesame Street, a character she played from 1971 to 2015.

[Applause] She is also an author.

Crystal Dickinson is an actress of stage and screen. She returns

to All Write! after recently appearing in The Low Road

at the Public Theater.

[Applause]

And you will remember Dawn Akemi Saito from our

February performance. She is an actress, writer,

movement artist, and director. [Applause]

You can read more about our wonderful cast in your program.

Before I say another word, I am going to apologize in advance.

I'm going to do my best, but I know I am going to mispronounce

some names. So if I mispronounce your name, just tell me later

how to do it.

But now we are in for a wonderful evening of stories and

poems, so let's get started.

Every one here has memories of home, whether home is up the

street or across the ocean. Many of you wrote about where you

were from and brought your experience to life with

your words. Let's welcome Sonia Monzano to the mic to read

Where I'm From by Nancy Bentancourth.

[Applause]

Where I'm From

I'm from South America,

Cali, Colombia, a beautiful country.

My country has many traditions

like eating delicious food, especially at holidays

My whole family makes different dishes.

Bandeja has arroz, frijoles, carne asada, huevos

platoon maduro, aquacate and this is a wonderful plate.

My family sings loudly at Midnight Mass

on the 24th of December.

I am from Mama and Papa and feeling very happy.

I am from Colombia and I am from laughter and this story.

[Applause]