Theatre for Young Audiences

Theatre artist and teacher Oscar Franco shares his experience normalizing theatregoing as a viable recreational activity for families of color in Texas. 

Brent Eickhoff discusses the challenges of programming large theatre productions with youth, advocating clear, realistic goals for teaching artists, students, and parents. 

Roxanne Schroeder-Arce interviews her ten-year-old daughter Genevieve to get her thoughts on a recent theatre for young audiences show in Austin, Texas.

Roxanne Schroeder-Arce shares a list of published Latina/o plays in the hopes that more of them will be produced in schools with Latina/o students.

Producer Teresa Fisher details the season selection process for New Plays for Young Audiences at Provincetown Playhouse.

What if the only thing “childish” about a children’s theatre was the age of the performers? Fun House in Dallas-Ft. Worth is a youth acting program that avoids the “juniorization” of work.

Peter Brosius sheds light on how the 50th Anniversary season at The Children’s Theatre Company came together.

Neal Reynolds on American Theatre Company’s Youth Ensemble production of Greensboro: A Requiem by Emily Mann in Chicago, Illinois.

Playwright José Casas discusses Rising Youth Theatre’s process for incorporating hip-hop in its upcoming project for theatre for young audiences.

In the third installment of our series on Latina/o theatre in Texas, Marci R. McMahon discusses the work being done in educational institutions in the Rio Grande Valley.

Roxanne Schroeder-Arce on Cenicienta by Rupert Reyes and Caroline Reck, and Alvaro Saar Rios’ LUCHADORA!

In her latest installation, Morgan Greene rediscovers high school through Albany Park Theater Project’s immersive experience Learning Curve.

Norwegian composer Marte Røyeng has created a musical exploring sustainability with children, hoping to help them think about big issues.

Corey Ruzicano talks to playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer about making theater for young audiences, how a kid should be a kid, and what he thinks of when he writes from his community in Tasmania.

Sydney Chatman is the creator and director of The Tofu Chitlin’ Circuit, a community and youth ensemble training collective based in Chicago’s South Side. Before creating TCC, Chatman worked on productions from Chicago to Broadway, while also teaching at the University of Chicago Charter School. When students she once taught as kindergarteners came to her as teens and said, “Can you train and teach me?” she said, “Yes.”

Yet after reading about staged readings and their role in play development, I hit a roadblock. I couldn’t come up with a definition that addressed every possible scenario. More vexingly, I couldn’t figure out how to negotiate concrete meanings for words like “minimal” and “basic” that are often used when discussing staged reading elements. Despite the many points of agreement found when looking at various discussions, there are too many differences in definition to develop a clear picture of what exactly a staged reading is or how it should look.

Anne Towns shares an overview of the Alliance Theatre Collision Project.