Seeds for A Script

Playwright Cusi Cram has the task of writing a play "about Queens" that includes a cast of 30 - 40 people, including 2 Cornerstone actors, a few Institute Participants, and many local residents with an emphasis on first-time performers.

The play is meant to be about an hour long in performance, including some music probably.

Cusi is particularly sparked by The Freedom Mile in Flushing, Main Street, and the epic journey of the 7 Train that takes people to Queens and, with an additonal bus ride, to Queens College.

She's using some part of The Odyssey to "hang the story of the play on."

Known community partners are Queens College staff, faculty and students, and residents of Pomonok Houses. 
Pomonok Community Center is run as one of many Queens Community House centers around the borough.

Some crash courses in the plot of Homer's The Odyssey:
Cliffs Notes
Wikipedia
Shmoop (?!)

I'm sure you have other ideas, too, but I also recommend finding a kids version of the story for the streamlined story, character and plot details.  The Odyssey is a story that many have interpreted in graphic novel form, too.

The Queens-bound 7 Train - 10-minute video and 30-minute video from Operator's POV. 

During the first first week of the Cornerstone Institute in Queens, Cornerstone will host 4 Story Circles, and each one is a different sort of story circle in structure, invitation, timing and environment, etc. 
Here's what they look like:

1. An evening event, about 2.5 hours long, at Flushing Town Hall, open to all and invitations sent out through Flushing Town Hall and other organizations we've met or been introduced to that are not super-proximal to Queens College.

2. An afternoon event where we are invited to piggy-back on an event at Pomonok Community Center: the Food Access Initiative is starting up again for the summer and Cornerstone is invite to have a story circle in combination with their 2-hour potluck lunch.

3. An open event at Queens College, primarily to reach the QC community, with particular outreach to and by CERRU and a few others campus programs/clubs.

4. A "captive audience" story circle with a specific summer class on campus at QC in an existing 2-hour class period.

A bonus captive audience story circle will be part of our Institute class that focuses on Story Circles. What does Queens mean for our Institute Participants that includes 3 Queens residents and many intentional outsiders?

Some Cornerstone support staff and facilitators will be at the story circles, as will Cusi.  Cornerstone Institute Participants will be divvied up so that each person attends 2 of the 4 non-Institute Story Circle events.

What are your curiosities about the community of Queens?

What questions would you want to ask local residents or others who have strong connections to Queens?