Education

MTC Education

Founded in 1989, MTC Education was the first education department created by a major theatre company in New York City, and quickly became a standard of excellence for the field. We prepare students to see our plays and inspire them to write their own; as a result, minds awaken, imaginations ignite, hearts open, and lives change. Our range of programs helps us connect authentically with the disparate constituencies and communities we serve.

OUR CORE VALUES

  • MTC Education connects students with theatre as a source of joy, understanding, empathy, and self-expression.
  • Like Manhattan Theatre Club itself, MTC Education champions the power of words to change lives.
  • MTC Education is dedicated to equity, diversity, and inclusion in everything we do.

2022-23 Schools Served

Our Teaching Artists

MTC’s teaching artists are the linchpin of the outstanding educational experiences we offer high school students and lifelong learners. Click here to learn more about our faculty.

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Celebrating 25 Years of Theatre Education

School Partnership

Lights Up!

Students attend a matinee of an MTC production after intensive classroom preparation. Four workshops with MTC teaching artists supported by classroom teachers enrich students’ experiences at the performance. Students discuss the play, do improvisations on its themes, perform key excerpts, and write scenes of their own. This work provides specific insights into the plays being studied and deepens the students’ understanding of theatre in general.

  • Lights Up! reached 2,113 high school students during the 2022-23 school year.
  • I loved the way the students reflected, wrote, and created… [Our teaching artist] was phenomenal in engaging the students, motivating them, and directing their ideas. We loved the quality of the production and the workshops! – Teacher, High Tech High School
  • “[This whole experience] really motivated me to open my eyes to all the possibilities, not just in a play, but in life, too.” – Student, High School for Fashion Industries

Are you a New York City area high school educator interested in learning more about our Lights Up! program? Please click here to complete an interest form and a member of the MTC Education team will be in touch with you.

Write on the Edge

Students develop original scripts inspired by the Manhattan Theatre Club production they have studied and attended. A team of professional actors, directors, and the classroom teacher supervises the writing and revision process; the project culminates in a performance of the students’ work by the professional actors.

  • Write on the Edge served 446 high school and high school equivalency students during the 2022-23 school year.
  • “My students were given the confidence to see themselves as writers. They became committed to their “vision” and their ownership of the creative work. [They grew] as people, creatives, and theatre lovers. Thank you for providing such an empowering space for them.” – Teacher, Memorial High School
  • “The only term I could use to describe it is ‘eye-opening.’ It taught me the power that story building and human emotion have when combined with each other.” – Student, Judith S. Kaye High School Manhattan
  • “When I was writing the play I never imagined I was going to love it this much. The actors’ performance… was much better than I thought it would be. It was an amazing experience.” – Student, Abraham Lincoln Young Adult Borough Center

Are you a New York City area high school educator interested in learning more about our Write on the Edge program? Please click here to complete an interest form and a member of the MTC Education team will be in touch with you.

Theatrelink

Students in geographically disparate communities collaborate on a playwriting and production project via the internet. Classes at each site write an original play based on an MTC production; their play is then produced by students at a partner school. Using distance-learning technologies, students confer with MTC teaching artists, study the MTC play, and communicate with their partner school. The work culminates in a presentation of the plays via video conference.

TheatreLink teachers are required to attend a three day professional development conference in New York City in December. The TheatreLink semester runs from January-May.

  • Since 1997, over 6,000 students have participated in TheatreLink.
  • 369 student written plays have been developed through TheatreLink.
  • “I was surprised by the way… our creative visions really aligned, which was cool to see considering the physical distance between us.” – Student, Springfield High School (Oregon)
  • “I always find it interesting when we receive plays from schools in different states or countries because it enables us to get an insight into the lives and cultures of other students. Their way of speaking and how different it is from ours is always interesting to see…They also have different life experiences, which they are able to communicate through the plays they write.” Student, Spotswood High School (New Jersey)
  • “My students love this program for the interaction with the other schools. I love the program because it covers reading/analyzing of a script, creating an original script, and producing an original script all in one semester.” – Teacher, Collierville High School (Tennessee)
  • “Teaching English as a foreign language, I found that my students managed to cultivate and develop their language skills in a setting which is truly unique… English jumped out of the pages for them, and they learnt to use it as a means to come to an understanding of a play.” – Teacher, Anatolia College (Greece)

Are you a high school educator outside of the Connecticut-New York-New Jersey tri-state area interested in learning more about our TheatreLink program? Please click here to complete an interest form and a member of the MTC Education team will be in touch with you.

Youth Theatre-making

Stargate Theatre

MTC Education’s “theatre company within a theatre company,” Stargate Theatre hires eligible young people ages 17-26 to create and perform an original play. Led by artistic professionals, they explore the world in which they live and reflect it on the stage. Over the course of two months, in addition to developing valuable skills transferable to any workplace, the company members become an ensemble pursuing a common goal: creating a theatre piece that celebrates and honors the diversity of lived experiences in New York City.

Stargate Theatre’s summer ensemble is named the Sharon Sullivan Company in honor of a generous long-term gift made by former MTC Board Member Sharon Sullivan and her husband Jeffrey B. Kindler.

This program is on hiatus until Summer 2024.

Learn more about Stargate Theatre

Write Now!

Highly motivated high school students learn about the art and craft of playwriting. In weekly after-school sessions conducted by master playwrights, participants develop plays by bringing in successive drafts for critique by leaders and the group. The program culminates in a reading of the participants’ work performed by professional actors for an audience of family and friends. This nine-week program runs during the fall semester.

  • “Thank you for giving me the chance of a lifetime. Because of this program I am a better writer. I am going to a playwriting program for college in the fall because of Write Now.” – Student Participant
  • “I really want to write for the rest of my life.” – Student Participant

Expanding Access

Family Matinee

High school students bring an adult of their choice to a Saturday-morning workshop focusing on the MTC production they attend in the afternoon. This free program promotes family theatregoing and intergenerational dialogue.

  • 19 unique NYC-area zip codes were represented by 2022-23 Family Matinee participants
  • “I just want to thank you for offering this program. My children (ages 14, 16, 19, 21) have all gotten so much from the workshops over the years. It is a great opportunity for us as a family, in different configurations, to connect with each other. We became more than just mom and kids or siblings. We see each other differently and then see the production and share that experience in a much more full way.” – E. Albert, parent participant
  • “MTC has made some of my students true New Yorkers. I have former students who have decided to explore every corner of the city, from museums to walking tours, because they no longer felt like ‘outsiders’ and they gained confidence from the interactions and maybe even gained faith in people different from themselves. My students often stick to what they know, and MTC allows them expand their horizons.” – Teacher, William H. Maxwell Career and Technical High School

2023-24 Family Matinee Dates:
October 21 – Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
November 18 – Poor Yella Rednecks
February 11 – Prayer for the French Republic
March 16 – Brooklyn Laundry
May 18 – Mary Jane

Advance reservations are required for these events. Please click here if you would like to be added to the Family Matinee invitation mailing list.

Lifelong Learning

Patron/Subscriber Workshops and Curtain Call

MTC’s Patrons and Subscribers receive exclusive invitations to workshops aimed to deepen their theatre-going experience. Invitations are sent via email four to five weeks in advance of each workshop.

Workshop participants are invited to attend Curtain Call at the end of a production’s run. This event serves as a reflective bookend to the workshop and theatre-going experience.

Post-Show Discussions

Facilitated post-show discussions are offered to all audience members attending Saturday afternoon performances during a production’s subscription run. These discussions begin approximately five minutes after the performance concludes.

Note that post-show discussions for Prayer for the French Republic will take place following Sunday afternoon performances instead of those held on Saturday afternoons.

Career and Professional Development

Teacher Workshops

Classroom teachers and school administrators participate in free artist-led workshops focusing on a Manhattan Theatre Club production. This process introduces teachers to MTC’s instructional model and to innovative techniques for teaching theatre and dramatic literature.

  • Over 6,000 students were taught by teachers participating in 2022-23 Teacher Workshops.
  • “This is incredibly valuable for teachers. It enhances our teaching methodologies. It gives us a sense of our own value. You have no idea how much this encourages us personally and professionally.” – Teacher, Westchester Community College
  • “I love these workshops. The only suggestion I could make would be to have MORE of them.” – Teacher, East Side High School (Newark)

2023-24 Teacher Workshops:
September 23 – Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
October 21 – Poor Yella Rednecks
January 6 – Prayer for the French Republic
February 10 – Brooklyn Laundry
April 13 – Production TBA

Advance reservations are required for these events. Please click here if you are a New York City area educator who would like to be added to our Teacher Workshops invitation email list.

Paul A. Kaplan Theater Management Program

The Paul A. Kaplan Theatre Management Program provides a unique opportunity to learn about producing not-for-profit theatre both on and off-Broadway through intensive on-the-job training. There are two exciting tracks as part of the Paul A. Kaplan Theatre Management Program: the Early Career Professional Training track that runs during the producing season and the Summer Internship track. In both tracks, program participants are assigned projects and responsibilities that contribute to the day-to-day running of the company. Additionally, support from supervisors and mentors ensure that participants are not only gaining valuable skills, but also receiving continuous advice and feedback.

  • “The internship as a whole has taught me to create a sustainable work ethic (i.e. collaboration/communication with colleagues, work/life balance, ability to prioritize daily tasks vs. long term goals) within an office environment.” Summer 2022 Intern
  • “The traineeship offered me a very in-depth mentorship experience with the department I’m interested in. I was very involved in creative projects here in MTC as well as introduced to a series of hard and soft skills that are required/expected for a job in [theatre] administration.” 2022-23 Early Career Professional Training Program Participant
  • “The seminars gave me a clear understanding of the company and helped me make an informed decision on what I want to pursue as my career path after the program.” 2022-23 Early Career Professional Training Program Participant
  • “I feel as if I have a vision for what my future career in the arts could look like, for the first time.” Summer 2022 Intern

Click here to learn more about our early career training programs for theatre administrators.

Community Engagement

Collaborations and Partnerships

Through sustained, authentic partnerships with community-based organizations, we encourage theatre going, foster the art of playwriting, and open doors to perhaps unimagined career paths for individuals who have experienced systemic inequities that have denied or limited their access to theatre and its expansive possibilities. In everything we do, we support and center the work of our community collaborators.

Click here to learn more about our community engagement collaborations and partners.

MTC Education Funders

MTC Education is grateful for the generous support of:

$50,000 +

Bloomberg Philanthropies
Barbara L. Britt
John Gore Organization
The JPB Foundation
The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation
Sharon Sullivan and Jeffrey B. Kindler
Tiger Baron Foundation

$20,000 – $49,000

ConEdison
Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation
Herbert M. Citrin Charitable Foundation
John and Robyn Horn Foundation
Gina Leonetti
The Lucius N. Littauer Foundation
Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation
The Rona Jaffe Foundation
Sills Family Foundation
Sy Syms Foundation

$10,000 – $19,999

Andrew Family Foundation
The Barbara Bell Cumming Charitable Trust
Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund
Mellam Family Foundation
Michael Tuch Foundation
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
New York State Council on the Arts

$5,000 – $9,999

The Bulova Stetson Fund
David S. Shrager Foundation
Jephson Educational Trusts
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine
New York City Councilmember Keith Powers

$1,000 – $4,999

The Leo Model Foundation
Andrew Otis
Robert H. Sinclair, Ed.D.
Don Weimer

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