Theatre for Young Audiences

Director and educator Luane Davis Haggerty reflects on how prioritizing movement as a form of communication encouraged diversity and intersectionality in her New York City summer classroom. 

Fight instructor Jamie Macpherson addresses objections to teaching stage combat to young people.

Samantha Mueller, a theatre practitioner who works with the special needs community, talks about Seesaw Theatre which creates multi-sensory work for children with autism.

Alice Stanley won a grant to conduct a young women's after school improv program for an underserved CPS school, but the program almost didn’t happen. Here she considers obstacles to launching the program and makes a case why the arts have to integrated into schools.

Director and educator Ashleigh Worley talks about process versus product, advocating for giving students opportunities to grow as artists.

In the last installment of the series, Briandaniel Oglesby reflects on his queer adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, and advocates for more queer-centered theatre made with and for young people.

Actor Billy Flood discusses his performance as the Earthworm in StageOne Family Theatre’s production of James and the Giant Peach, sharing how he engaged with the role to resist gender norms.

Adventure Stage Artistic Director Tom Arvetis and Playwright in Residency Carlos Murillo discuss how Carlos’ perspective has affected the company’s goals and operations.

Max Cerci discusses watching Gemma Cooper-Novak’s Through the Glory Hole and What We Found There as a summer intern for The Theater Offensive, reflecting on his theatre background and his queer identity.

Tatiana Gil reflects on her experience interning for The Theater Offensive in Boston, Massachusetss last summer, sharing her vision of organizing creative spaces for queer youth.

Teresa A. Fisher discusses International Playwrights’ Intensive, a new play development program that facilitates international collaboration for theatre for young audiences. 

Playwright Mia McCullough discusses how teaching classic plays in high school alienates future young audiences, and advocates for contemporary playwrights to craft comprehensive anthologies of their work. 

Playwright Carlos Murillo writes about how he and Adventure Stage Artistic Director Tom Arvetis created an original play for and about the young people of Chicago’s West Town neighborhood.