News

Playwright Sonya Sobieski sits down with her eleven-year-old daughter to talk about life, theater, and her new play Morning Announcements. Skyler is about to enter sixth grade, and like many persons her age, is incredibly loquacious and forthcoming. Sonya: Hey, Skyler. Skyler: I don’t really want to do this, and I’m not going to say anything.   Sonya: C’mon. What are you looking forward to about middle school? Skyler: Being more organized. Sonya: Yeah? Skyler: ‘Cause I got a lot of stuff. Sonya: What kind of stuff? Skyler: School stuff. D&D books. Sonya: What else? (Silence.) Sonya: Okay, what are...

Education Director Maria McConville offers ideas for making the auditions process a skill-building process. Get students to show you their best work through these simple tips. Auditions can be the most nerve-wracking part of the theater process. As a theatre teacher, you want each of your students to get the part. They put themselves out there and they should be proud of the work they present. I know it can be overwhelming to see our students so stressed. Oh, the nerves! But auditions are also an opportunity for students who don’t normally participate to really shine. Here are some tips...

Stage Partners Education Director, Maria McConville, shares her thoughts on starting a new school year and how theatre games can help break the ice. Your approach to the first few weeks of class or residency can set the tone for the rest of year. How will you introduce this group to the ideas of theatre? How will you begin to guide them to trusting one another in order to collaborate and create? Do you want your space to be peaceful and focused or bursting with energy?

 Stage Partners Education Director, Maria McConville, sat down with director and teacher Peter Royston between productions, to chat about why theatre is the BEST teaching tool there is, bar none. He was fresh off his production of A Wrinkle in Time and had plenty to share... (And check out he 5 FREE LESSON PLANS we commissioned him to develop for A Wrinkle in Time stage adaptations...) ........... MARIA: After working off-Broadway, what brought your focus to connecting the professional theatre to theatre education? PETER: Theatre’s in my blood, I can’t get enough of it, and I’ve always wanted to share it! I grew up onstage and...

                          Playwright, Director, Teaching Artist and Stage Partners Founder Morgan Gould shares her tips on how to tackle serious or dark material with your students in rehearsal and beyond. Here are her 5 tips...  1. SOLUTION-BASED TRANSPARENCY. When something comes up in a play that’s difficult, transparency and honesty is important. Students of all ages (especially drama students!) are very good at detecting when you’re protecting them from the truth. Be honest but age appropriate about the reality of the situation. In My First Lockdown, for example, the students...