Student play draws full house in Providence and raises funds for Oasis International

Gary Guo’s original play “No Swears Academy” premiered Aug. 26 at the Providence Public Library, pairing a student theater debut with a benefit for Oasis International. The performance drew a full house and highlighted questions about academic pressure, mental health and the value of learning beyond grades.

Why it matters: - The premiere tied student art to direct community support, with proceeds and donations set aside for Oasis International’s youth and scholarship programs. - The play also put teen mental health, academic pressure and immigrant education experiences in front of a local audience. - The event showed how a school production can become both a cultural moment and a fundraising vehicle.

What happened: - “No Swears Academy,” an original play written by Phillips Exeter Academy student Gary Guo, debuted Aug. 26 at the Providence Public Library in Rhode Island. - The benefit performance drew a full house. - Students, educators, families and community members attended the event. - The production supported Oasis International, a Rhode Island-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving African immigrant communities and low-income neighborhoods in Providence. - Proceeds and donations from the performance were designated for Oasis International’s youth and scholarship programs.

The details: - The play follows Brian, JK, Clara and their classmates during the first week of school. - A summer reading assignment of “Flowers for Algernon,” a fish taco disagreement and a Capri-Sun joke help drive the story. - Brian starts out focused on straight A’s and admission to Harvard. - Brian’s outlook shifts as conversations with friends, teachers and family push him to rethink learning as curiosity, independence and freedom. - JK uses humor to hide loneliness and distress, bringing adolescent mental health to the center of the story. - Audience members responded with laughter during comic scenes and quieter attention during scenes about family strain, loneliness and emotional distress. - The performance ended with sustained applause for Guo and the cast. - Guo said Brian is not a direct self-portrait, but a composite drawn from students he has observed, including himself. - Guo said he once spent “all of their time chasing an A.” - Guo said curiosity helped him participate more fully in class, ask better questions and engage more deeply with difficult material. - Guo said a grade is only one measure of subject mastery, not the full picture of meaningful learning. - Guo said “the joy in learning” is the most important message he hopes audiences take away. - Guo traced the play’s inspiration to a competitive academic environment and to reading “Flowers for Algernon.” - Guo has been involved in acting and theater for about six years. - Guo said theater helped him turn serious questions into something immediate and personal for audiences. - Humor was a deliberate choice to keep the production from feeling relentlessly stressful. - Guo spent the first 13 years of his life in China’s public school system, where learning centered on absorbing information and memorizing facts. - After moving to the United States, Guo experienced a more discussion-based classroom environment. - At Phillips Exeter Academy, Guo takes classes using the Harkness method, with students and a teacher sitting around a table and exchanging ideas. - Guo said the method encouraged him to ask “why,” consider author and context, compare information and draw conclusions from multiple perspectives. - Guo is a rising sophomore at Phillips Exeter Academy and also works as a writer, actor and student journalist. - Event materials said Guo’s work has been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, The New York Times and the John Locke Global Essay Prize. - Julie Batten, the play’s director, Guo’s writing advisor and his instructor for four years, said the production showed how words create meaning between people. - Batten said the play reflects concerns about the pressure placed on teenagers in intensely competitive environments. - Batten said, “Nothing is more valuable than a life,” and added, “Not a Harvard degree, not a fancy car. Not a nice home.” - Batten praised the cast for balancing professional, academic and family responsibilities to stage the production. - Cast members included adults and younger performers managing the start of a new school year. - Guo said he looked for a local nonprofit after deciding he wanted his creative work to benefit the community around him. - His search led him to Oasis International and its youth initiatives. - Guo said he wanted to “pay that kindness forward to the world.” - Oasis International has served the local community for more than three decades. - The organization supports education, scholarships, mentoring, creativity, leadership development and civic engagement. - Oasis International also provides college scholarships to high school students. - Muraina “Morris” Akinfolarin, Oasis International’s founding member and executive director, attended the performance. - Akinfolarin said the project was meaningful because he is also an immigrant and remembers arriving in the United States at a young age. - Akinfolarin said, “I think it’s marvelous. I think it’s a job well done.” - Akinfolarin encouraged young people to keep pursuing education and reinventing themselves. - Guo said teachers, tennis coaches, voice instructors and other mentors helped him build confidence after growing up in rural China and coming to the United States as an English-language learner. - Guo wants to bring writing, acting, directing, journalism and charitable organizing together in work that benefits society and invites others into service.

Between the lines: - Guo’s play uses humor to make heavy themes easier to approach, which can broaden the audience for a story about academic anxiety and emotional strain. - The benefit format makes the production part art project, part civic action. - The emphasis on curiosity over grades reflects a broader critique of high-pressure schooling without turning the play into a lecture. - The local nonprofit partnership also links a student’s personal story to immigrant and low-income communities in Providence.

What’s next: - Guo hopes to use future performances and collaborations to keep expanding educational opportunity and community engagement. - Guo said even a small contribution can have a meaningful effect. - Oasis International may continue looking for opportunities to collaborate with Guo. - The production’s reception suggests the play could reach more audiences beyond its first staging.

The bottom line: - “No Swears Academy” turned a student-written play into a full-house benefit that connected theater, education and local giving.