Green Room Theatre Company Coachella Valley (GRTCCV) is proud to announce “Staging Section 14,” a new public humanities initiative funded by California Humanities that documents and shares how GRTCCV used public history records to develop a new play based on the stories of Section 14. This project will include 4 community listening sessions as part of the co-development of a digital community archive and educational tool. The archive will connect users to archives and materials used in play development and will support learning about how local history can be transformed into theatre. As the only theatre company in the region bringing professional theatre and dance education directly to under-resourced communities, GRTCCV continues its 17-year tradition of enhancing literacy and community connection through the performing arts. Save the date for the following programs. More details below.

• Community Listening Session on Engaging Our Youth in Local History | January 29, 2026 | 6:00-7:30 PM | Online
• Bringing the Desert’s Social Justice History to Life |February 6, 2026 | 6:00-7:30 PM | College of the Desert, Pollock Theatre 
• Call for Student Creative Projects | February 16 – March 20, 2026 | Online 
• Restorative Practices Talk & Community Archive Scanning Session | April 19, 2026 | 12:30-1:15 PM Talk | 1:30-2:00 PM Scanning |The Church of St. Paul in the Desert 
• Community Archive Final Listening Session | April 23, 2026 | 6:00-7:30 PM | Online

Note: GRTCCV emphasizes that it does not “own” the history of Section 14. This talk will include a discussion of “community-based archival agreements,” agreements that empower families and historically marginalized groups to retain ownership and control over archival materials and that ensure the use, access, and preservation of family historical documents. The sharing of community stories and photos in a digital archive is intended to help the community understand the real people and true stories that inspired Displacement: Stories From Section 14 – but it should not be mutual and not extractive.

GRTCCV emphasizes that it does not “own” the history of Section 14. Instead, the company seeks to share existing archival materials, scholarly works, and primary sources that informed the creation of Displacement: Stories from Section 14, demonstrating how theatre can ethically and responsibly engage with difficult community histories. The digital community archive – intended as an educational tool for local school districts, colleges, libraries, and community leaders – will document the devising process behind Displacement and offer pathways for students, educators, and artists to engage with archival materials in creating new works. The initiative aims to foster civic participation and deepen public understanding of cultural erasure, forced displacement, and the role of the arts and humanities in advancing community dialogue and the preservation of local history.

Anchored in the humanities disciplines of California history preservation, theatre, archival management, and service learning, “Staging Section 14” expands the impact of the company’s successful Displacement: Stories from Section 14, a new play development project that was first performed for the public in June 2024. Funded in part by a California Arts Council’s California Creative Corps grant, the piece was devised over the course of a year by an ensemble of directors, actors, playwrights, and designers who broadly represented the community, even including an actor who personally survived the forced evictions as a child. 

Using the historical record, archival materials, and existing oral histories of survivors and descendants, Displacement focused on multiple perspectives of the forced evictions on Section 14 land in the 1960s. The play was performed as an elaborate staged reading in 2024 in the City of Coachella and in Palm Springs – directly on the land where evictions occurred. The subject of a major Los Angeles Times profile, Displacement was also called “an important piece of theatre, not to be missed” by the Coachella Valley Theatre World.   

Through a 4-part community series and the creation of a digital community archive, the goals of the “Staging Section 14” project include deepening public awareness around one of California’s most significant forced eviction episodes, creating opportunities to engage youth in learning about challenging local histories, and using archival materials to inspire theatre and creative works. GRTCCV has committed to centering youth voices from middle school to college and is collaborating with Riverside County youth on the development of the archive. The community archive will provide an overview of the Section 14 history, themes, and methods for producing theatre work using archives. It will also serve as a repository for the research and staged readings of Displacement.

“Staging Section 14’s community archive is just one way educators, creatives, and community members can discover the stories of Section 14 and learn more about how the playwrights and actors used the existing historical record and archival materials to create a fictionalized account of this episode in Palm Springs history,” said Carolyn Schutten, Principal Humanities Advisor for the project. “The archive will link to other critical archives and sources, such as the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, Palm Springs Historical Society, City of Palm Springs, Black History Tours, and Palm Springs Section 14 Survivors Advisory Group. Displacement depicted numerous complex historical perspectives – with biographies, newspaper articles, and oral histories anchoring the development of moving scenes in the staged readings. Our hope is that others will use this process of engaging history to create theatre, stories, and art about our region.”

Aside from the community and youth engagement events described below, the “Staging Section 14” project will continue to benefit from the guidance of a project-specific community advisory committee, a diverse group of experts on local history, performing arts, and communications. This project may also help GRTCCV refine Displacement for eventual fully staged performances throughout the Coachella Valley. “Our Section 14 project is an exciting, innovative way for Green Room to serve our community, bringing important stories to new audiences via the stage and online,” Founding Artistic Director David Catanzarite said. “We are especially pleased that we can inspire local youth to explore our shared local history and develop their own creative potential.”