Meet the Gary Playwright Helping Youth Find Their Voice Through Theater

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2 days ago

From a young age, Charbria Shine knew the stage would be part of her life, even if it meant starting as a mascot and finishing as a playwright.
A cheer mascot in kindergarten, she went on to dance at church and landed the lead role in a play on her first try. Her place in the entertainment world seemed predestined, even before she understood what that meant.
Shine attended Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts in middle school, but ultimately graduated from Andrean High School in Merrillville. While not an art school, she found outlets for creativity through art fairs, the dance team, and school musicals.
'I fell in love, and I love dance, but I wanted to do it all like most people,' she joked.
Now a playwright and performer, Shine is carving out space for creativity in Gary, years after the closure of Emerson left a void for arts-minded youth. Through her original stage productions, Shine is helping a new generation find their voice — just as she once found hers.
After college, Shine focused on the business world, specifically the retail industry. But the arts never left her.
She moved back home for a while, where she began performing in musicals locally at the now-closed Star Plaza Theatre and the West Side Theater Guild. After getting married and moving away again, she found herself out of work and seeking to rediscover her life's purpose.
And only one thing clicked: acting.
'I started creating my stories because there weren't a lot of stories that I saw myself in and stories that I wanted to tell, but I had a lot to say,' she said. 'Having a deep love for writing, it made sense just to start writing.'
Drawing on her own experiences — being 'single and unsatisfied' but not a 'damsel in distress or settling for less' — she built a community through YouTube Monologues, blogs, and eventually her stage play The Single Woman Chronicles.
Originally slated to premiere in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic halted all plans for a few years. In 2021, she was able to premiere the show at a local church, and has taken off since. She has created several other stage plays, including The Ladies' Lounge, The Little Black Dress, Dr. Love, and more.Shine is also the author of Self-Love, a book that promotes empowerment, particularly for women, through messages of healing, confidence, and purpose.
The Gary native has staged her work at venues across the city, including West Side's theater, the Gary Public Library Arts theater, and local churches. But being on the stage at West Side hit her a little harder.
'It was such a surreal moment because I grew up dancing on that stage, and then as a young adult, I worked there at the Guild, and I was a choreographer, actor, and dancer,' she said.'It's so much history; just going to Emerson and then being a part of West Side as a kid, and the arts were just so thriving when I was there. To be able to come back and, in a sense, have that full moment of coming back to where I started, it felt amazing.'
She remembers her time at Emerson as a pivotal point in her artistic journey, where the training shaped her into a well-rounded person — something she hopes to pass on to the next generation.
'I think it starts with people that are in power to actually see the value in it, because if they don't see the power, then they aren't going to fight for it,' she said in regard to many of the arts programs getting cut in schools, which could help students. 'Everyone is not a sports kid, so allow them to have different options so they can be exposed to everything.'
Shine often makes her productions a family-and-friends affair, including people she knows share her vision and goals.
Deniel Walker is one of Shine's childhood friends and an early witness to her creative growth. They met in elementary school and attended Emerson together, becoming fast friends.
Walker originally joined Shine at Emerson, but had to transfer out due to moving away. However, the ladies were able to reconnect in their adult years, as if no time had passed.
A supporter of her friend, Walker would always pop out to any event that Shine was hosting to show her support in any way. It was then that she was tapped to be in Shine's show, The Ladies Lounge. While she was nervous about stepping out of her comfort zone, she knew this would be a fantastic opportunity for her.
'She brought out the best in me that I didn't even know was there,' Walker said.
Similar to Shine and others in the community, she remembers the days and the impact that Emerson had on young kids in the community.
'I wish it were still around,' she said with a heavy heart. 'Emerson gave options for students to have a voice in whatever capacity or way they feel comfortable.'
With many students feeling comfortable in the arts, the school created an environment that allowed youth to have an outlet for self-expression and find their voice.
And according to Walker, what Shine is doing is beneficial for the local youth who may feel inclined to do something similar but lack the knowledge on how to do so.
'Sometimes when you don't see someone of your own color doing something, you feel like you can't do it,' she said regarding Shine putting her art out there. 'I think for young girls or young women to see someone doing such a thing makes it okay.'
Like Walker, Shine enjoys having people in her stage plays that the audience can connect with.Deraee' Henderson is no exception.
'What Charbria is doing and what she's bringing to the community is not only entertaining but transformative,' Henderson said. She believes Shine's productions can open the eyes of new generations to the possibilities of entertainment they can create and the potential for it to become big.
Now, with her stage play Dr. Love returning to the community in the fall, Shine hopes that as she continues her work, whether in film, improv, or further involvement in the community, she will inspire what the next generation of arts kids from Gary looks like.
'I'm definitely going to do something with the youth,' she said. Like many others, she hopes something close to what they had growing up can reappear in the community. 'They're our future, and I have the heart to do something with them.'
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