ACT In Our Schools

    ACT has two main programs for middle and high school students, designed to introduce youth to the power of theatre. We also provide educators with a variety of resources to bring theatre into their classrooms and to encourage their participation with ACT.

    Questions: Anita Montgomery, Education and Outreach Director, (206) 292-7660 x1227.

    Help ensure ACT's connection with young people by donating to our Young Playwrights Program.

    Young Playwrights Program

    The Young Playwrights Program (YPP) offers Seattle-area students a high quality, exciting new language arts curriculum based on the art of playwriting. Started in 2002, YPP is a natural extension of ACT's commitment to new plays and playwrights.

    Professional playwright/teaching artists teach the basics of playwriting in Seattle-area schools in the fall quarter of the school year. Each student playwright completes a 10- to 20-minute original play by the end of the session.

    ACT selects eight to 10 outstanding plays by the young playwrights from YPP and showcases them in staged readings at ACT Theatre in the Young Playwrights Festival (YPF), which takes place in March. Each young playwright is partnered with a director, dramaturg, stage manager and actors, and each play receives two performances in this festival devoted entirely to producing new work by Seattle-area youth.

    Since its inception in 2002, ACT's Young Playwrights Program has grown from 72 middle and high school students in six schools to more than 300 students in 16 schools.

    Back to top

    ClassACT Matinee & Workshop Series

    ClassACT ignites imaginations by preparing and encouraging Seattle youth to view and discuss contemporary drama. Each year, we organize and offer a popular student matinee and workshop series for our young audiences across King County.

    2007 ClassACT Season

    The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl

    The Women by Clare Boothe Luce

    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Gregory A. Falls

    The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl
    Thursday, April 26, at 11 a.m.
    Tickets: $8 students/teachers/chaperones
    Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House, a quirky and unexpectedly moving human comedy about love, loss and the power of a good joke, follows four very different women as they confront the messy, beautiful ambiguities of life. Due to mature content and adult language, ACT recommends this show for students in 10th grade and up and will supply study guides for use by classroom teachers, and ClassACT workshops designed to prepare students for the play.

    The Women by Clare Boothe Luce
    Wednesday, November 7, 11 a.m.
    Thursday, November 8, 11 a.m.
    Tickets: $8 students/teachers/chaperones
    Director, Warner Shook, who directed the ACT hit shows Enchanted April and Born Yesterday, returns to work with an all-star cast of Seattle’s favorite actresses in this super-stylish, venomously funny 1930s comedy about marriage, divorce and friendship among a group of gleefully back-stabbing ladies who lunch. Recommended for high school students. ClassACT workshops and study guides available.

    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Gregory A. Falls
    Wednesday, November 28, 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
    Thursday, November 29 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
    Friday, November 30, 11 a.m.
    Tickets: $10 students/teachers/chaperones
    Post play discussions after 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. performances.
    The immortal tale of curmudgeonly miser Ebenezer Scrooge. Celebrate with Scrooge as he rediscovers the true spirit of the holiday season with the help of some ghostly visitors from the past, present and future.

    To receive a flyer with additional information and dates when reservations will be taken for the 2007 student matinees of A Christmas Carol, contact Anita Montgomery, Director of Education at amontgomery@acttheatre.org

    Back to top

    Educator & Student Benefits

    The ACT Theatre Club for Teachers includes a special discounted subscription for all of our mainstage plays, special performances and certain ACT events.
    • Professional development for classroom teachers. Each summer, ACT offers two workshops for teachers participating, or considering participating, in our Young Playwrights Program. Workshops focus on using theatre in the classroom, particularly in the area of language arts, and are lead by ACT’s education director and YPP teaching artists. Keep checking this site for details on workshop dates and times in 2007.
    • ClassACT Study Guides are available to educators, whether or not they choose to sign up for one of our ClassACT workshops. To receive our study guide, an invaluable resource for students attending an ACT production, please contact Anita Montgomery.
    • Drop-in writing workshops for students will be offered for the first time for students interested in writing for the performing arts. Playwrights, slam poets, spoken word performers, bring your works-in-progress and take them to the next level. ACT, in partnership with Rainier Valley Youth Theatre, 826 Seattle and The Richard Hugo House, will offer opportunities to work on and perform your new work. Stay tuned for dates and times.
    • The YPP Student Card is a special membership card given only to our young playwrights in ACT’s YPP. Students attend plays at ACT for free until they graduate from high school. A special benefit for schools to sign up for the YPP.
    • Teen Tix. ACT was the first theatre off of the Seattle Center campus to participate in Teen Tix, making it possible for teenagers to purchase $5 tickets to plays at ACT! If you are a Teen Tixer, come on down. If you would like to sign up for Teen Tix, visit http://www.seattlecenter.com/teentix or call (206) 233-3959.

    Back to top

    A Contemporary Theatre