Putting several highly-creative strangers together and asking them to create a work of art is bound to produce interesting results.  But how to guaranty something even more interesting?  Put several kids together and ask them to create something, to be performed in front of an audience a few weeks later.

For the three years now, Phantom Projects in La Mirada, CA has produced a show based on this exact concept.  The theater group’s creative director, Steve Cisernos, came up with the idea in 2007 and ran with it, not knowing what to expect.  His goal was to create something that was completely the product of some of Southern California’s brightest young talent.  He conducted auditions and selected six people out of more than 100 applicants, all between the ages of 15 and 21.  Each had unique talents and creative abilities, ranging from writing to dancing.  The teens would collaborate in a two week-long workshop, called “The Young Artist Project,” to produce a piece of live performance art.

“I didn’t know if there would be good creative chemistry in the group,” said Cisernos.  But when the group came together for the first time, the creative energy was palpable and the possibilities were overwhelming.

Phantom Projects was founded in 1996, with a mission of producing theater for a teen audience.  Today, the theater produces classic plays geared toward high- and middle-schoolers, as well as touring shows that deal with teen issues such as sex, drugs, prejudice, and eating disorders.  While featuring all-teen casts, the productions had always been written by adults, until The Young Artist Project.  The project was refreshing and revolutionary because it allowed the audience to experience teen life from first-hand perspectives of the artists themselves.

Now in its fourth year, The Young Artist Project is set to conclude Phantom Project’s 13th season of celebrated theater for teens and by teens, in 2010.