Education
Kids Company
Our Kids Company supports youth performer in elementary school by providing professional theater training and performance opportunities. Our first production, Necessary Nonsense, was created from the writing of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll and led by director/creator/instructor Elizabeth Pisel-Davis.
Alaska Theater Festival: Radio Play Writing Workshop
With KTOO, Theater Alaska presented writing radio play writing workshops at Yaakoosge Daakahidi and Juneau Douglas High School in 2024. Led by instructor Ryan Conarro, the students collaborated with each other to write group-written plays that were presented as a part of Alaska Theater Festival: Radio Plays in January/February 2025 at KTOO. These plays were directed by professional directors and featured a company of professional actors. We working to continue this workshop every year.
Middle School and High School Programs
Theater Alaska will be working with Thunder Mountain Middle School and Juneau Douglas High Schools in 2025-2026 to produce theatrical productions and to assist in providing arts training to their students.
Theater Alaska is working with English teachers at Juneau Douglas High School (JDHS) and Yakoosge Daakahidi to introduce students to plays through participation in theater exercises and active discussion of themes and the theatrical artform. We are also bringing theater annually to the high schools to ensure that students have the opportunity to see and interact with professional theater that represents them as individuals. In 2024, Theater Alaska presented A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath and Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe as a part of this initiative.
We are developing programs to introduce students to a broad range of writers, including Alaskan Native playwright and Theater Alaska writer-in-residence Frank Katasse. Additionally, each year students at JDHS and TMHS study Romeo and Juliet (9th Grade) and Much Ado About Nothing (10th Grade), and Theater Alaska is working to provide annual support to English teachers to make the teaching of theatrical scripts active and empowering to students. This is particularly important during this period of time when teachers are looking for assistance in making online lessons more participatory. Theater exercises get students on their feet and into their bodies to effectively communicate their ideas as individuals and within groups.
This work is made possible through funding from the Artful Teaching project administered by Juneau Arts and Humanities Council and supported by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. The Artful Teaching project is a collaborative effort between the Juneau School District, University of Alaska Southeast, and Juneau Arts and Humanities Council. www.artfulteaching.org.
For more information regarding Theater Alaska’s education programs, please contact Flordelino Lagundino at flordelino@theateralaska.org.