Hartbeat Ensemble—Connecticut’s version of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, exploring social issues through a variety of entertaining styles—has a Youth Play Institute. The program’s teenaged playwriting interns learn how to create topical new works through interviews, research and some techniques pioneered by Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed.

The latest Hartbeat YPI show is 9 Months to Life, and the subject is teen pregnancy. Performances are March 28 & 29 at 7:30 p.m. and March 30 at 2 p.m. at the Carriage House Theater in Hartford. Details are here. Or call (860) 548-9144.