Fort Wayne Youtheatre explores social issues with ‘Something Happened in Our Town’

Standing near the audio booth at the rear of First Presbyterian Theater, Marcus D. Weems explains why he agreed to direct this year’s performance in the Fort Wayne Youtheatre Young Heroes of Conscience series.

“One of the things I thought about a little bit was that as a youth when I participated in Youtheatre, the directors that I worked with had an impact on me in a positive way,” he says. “They gave me an avenue to do something outside of my school arts programs and things like that.”

Weems grew up in Fort Wayne and moved away for college and work. He returned to the city to be near family and now works as executive director of housing and dining service for Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Because of the impact Youtheatre had on his life, Weems says he really wanted the chance to be able to give something back to the kids currently participating in the program. Directing the Youtheatre’s performance of “Something Happened in Our Town” was a great way to do that. The show opens Feb. 21.

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