LAUNDRY CITY (2016)- commissioned by New York Appleseed
“If integration made money somehow, America would do it.”
Over 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, New York City is one of the most segregated school districts in the United States. Conceived, written, and performed by NYC Public High School students, LAUNDRY CITY is a hilarious and provocative exploration of what “Separate but Equal” means to us today.
ASSIGNMENT: Watch the performance and post-show discussion of LAUNDRY CITY and complete the following tasks:
1. Short answer: What line or character or scene from the play most stuck out for you? What was it about this moment that struck you?
2. Short answer: Who are the stakeholders affected by segregation in schools?
3. Creative assignment: Generate an eight line response to the question, “What does ‘Separate but Equal’ mean to us today?” Your response could be any one of the following:
- an 8 line monologue
- an 8 line scene between two characters
- an 8 line poem
- 8 lines of music lyrics