Amanda Schlachter’s (MFA Theatre ’15) definition of success is “to work, be creative, serve others and to have a home and a community to which you are connected.” Just months after graduation, Schlachter has found such success in Sarasota, working with SOURCE Productions.
“SOURCE Productions is about empowerment,” she says. “If young people have self-respect then they will make positive choices. SOURCE is safe place where teens gather to talk about life and important decisions. SOURCE is a program that everyone comes back to.”
After years of working professionally and completing a master’s degree, Schlachter returned to the place where her love of theatre began. She was a part of SOURCE Productions when she was fifteen and credits the program for her interest in theatre. “The things I am doing now really feel like the dream,” adds Schlachter.
Schlachter is a modern day theatre renaissance woman. She believes it is important to be a well-rounded artist, and is not only an actress, but a director and a teacher. She is excited to create great theatre with a mission underneath it. Her passion is theatre that does more. Currently, Schlachter is directing a play about emotional bullying.
“There is nothing more powerful than a 16 year-old actor talking to a 6th grader about bullying,” she says. “There is something truly special about peer-to-peer education.”
On the subject of her theatre training, Schlachter says it “really opened up my world and made me a better person.”
Schlachter is an excellent example of an artist with a greater purpose. To find out more about SOURCE Productions, visit wearethesource.org.
