Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

My Favorite Mistake

Burlington native David Schein thought he’d made a big mistake at the debut performance of the Awassa AIDS Education Circus (now called One Love AIDS/HIV Awareness Theater, pictured). As the Southern Ethiopian theater troupe, founded in part by Schein, began its sex-ed-themed circus stunts, an overenthusiastic crowd nearly trampled them. Happily, a riot was averted and the show has been performed all over the country. Schein shares his experiences this week in a solo act called MYethiOPIA. “It just warms the cockles of my heart that you can use the performing arts for this kind of education,” he explains. Schein follows it up with Queen City Songs, containing reflections of growing up on Maple Street in the 1950s and ’60s. Groovy.