The MCC youth initiative is a free after-school program for under-served youth interested in learning playwriting and acting from theatre professionals. The program "is designed to inspire young people to find and express their voices through theatre, while providing them with a safe environment in which to grow and learn."

MCC Theater Youth Company is comprised of an Acting Lab and a Playwriting Lab. Each lab meets weekly and involves 30 students aged 14-20, from all five boroughs of New York City.

Uncensored is the annual spring performance for the Acting Lab and includes performance pieces developed over months of rehearsal. Each actor has a chance "to show his/her hopes, fears and dreams through monologues, dialogues, and ensemble pieces that are sometimes comic, sometimes dramatic, but always meaningful expressions of their inner lives."

Uncensored tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Seating is limited and reservations are highly recommended. For reservations, contact MCC Theater at (212) 727-7722 ext. 60. Baruch's Bernie West Theatre is at 17 Lexington Ave. on the ninth floor.

* MCC Theater (Bernard Telsey, Robert LuPone, artistic Directors; William Cantler, associate artistic director; John G. Schultz, executive director) has presented work Off-Broadway for 19 years. Its three-play seasons offer New York, American and world premiere plays.

MCC Theater's mission to bring new theatrical voices to New York audiences extends outside of the main stage productions with the MCC Theater Education & Outreach Department. These programs "bring theatre education to New York City youth, allowing more than 1,000 students each year to discover their own voices in the arts, without censorship, or the parameters designated by their school system."

Visit www.MCCTheater.org.