Programs

For Teachers and School Administrators

Core
Students attend a matinee of an MTC production after intensive classroom preparation. Four workshops with MTC teaching artists and four workshops led 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. To ensure continuity, MTC maintains permanent school partnerships.

Write on the Edge (WrOTE)
Students develop original scripts inspired by the Manhattan Theatre Club production they have studied and attended. A team of professional actors, directors, and classroom teachers supervises the writing and revision process; the project culminates in a performance of the students' work by the professional actors. Write on the Edge provides a uniquely empowering opportunity for students to refine and revise their work and bring it to life. Each year, the program culminates in the Write on the Edge Festival, a daylong presentation of representative student plays from all the participating schools. These original works are performed by professional actors for an audience of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the general public.

InterAct
Students from two culturally, economically, and geographically disparate communities study and attend a play together. Students travel to one another's schools for the preparatory workshops: They act, write, discuss, and debate with a group of their peers with whom they would otherwise have no contact.

TheatreLink
Students in geographically isolated communities collaborate on a playwriting/production project via the Internet. Classes at each site write an original play based on an MTC production; their play is then produced and videotaped 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 videotaped plays. For more information about the program, visit www.theatrelink.org.

Professional Development Workshops Classroom teachers and school administrators participate in 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.

Higher Education A range of programs including hands-on workshops and panels with MTC artists deepen undergraduate and graduate students' understanding of specific MTC productions and of theatre in general. This Initiative also helps train pre- and in-service teachers to incorporate theatre techniques and theatergoing experiences into the K-12 curriculum.

For more information about any of these programs, please contact the Education Department at ed@mtc-nyc.org.