The Year We Thought About Love

Gr 9 Up—This behind-the-scenes documentary is a clear, compassionate look at the teen actors and creators of True Colors, a theater troupe for LGBTQ youth ages 14–22 and their straight allies, during the 2012–13 season. The group spends the year brainstorming, writing, acting, directing, and building a community around plays they perform in various contexts around the Boston area. The dramatic pieces and the candid interviews of the participants focus on various types of love: romantic, self-love, religious devotion, family ties, and chosen family. The transitions these teens are going through—between genders, childhood and adulthood, and being closeted and out—are affecting for any viewer, queer identified or not. The almost exclusive attention on teens of color is very welcome, since the overwhelming majority of LGBTQ representation in media is usually white.