A degree in Theatre for Youth and Community

Teach. Perform. Create. Engage. 

Do you want to create theatre for community? Are you interested in becoming certified to teach theatre in Arizona? Develop your skills and knowledge under the mentorship of award-winning faculty in this internationally-respected program. The Theatre for Youth and Community undergraduate and graduate programs at ASU feature distinguished faculty, comprehensive coursework and practical experiences in all areas of theatre, educational theatre, community cultural development and theatre for youth.

Build your creative research, become an expert theatre teacher or hone your artistic practice as you devise, direct and create theatre. The faculty provides you with individualized attention and focused mentorship in a challenging and supportive atmosphere designed to prepare you for teaching, art making and community engagement. 

Theatre for Youth and Community students are immersed in a wide range of artistic opportunities including directing, devising, performing, playwriting and design. Faculty support students in growing their artistic craft and creating original work that engages with the field on a local and national level.

• Engage widely with the ASU theatre season, including one theatre for youth production featured in the season each year. Students also have the opportunity to participate in the season selection process.
• Participate in the development process of an original performance for young audiences that performs at ASU and tours to local cultural institutions each spring. For more information, contact Amanda Pintore.
• Create a range of self-led projects including play readings, new work development projects and experimental performances with and for youth and community populations. 

ASU’s Theatre for Youth and Community program features a wide range of opportunities to develop your teaching skills. Whether you are a first-year student with a passion for working with young people or experienced theatre professional looking to build out your professional skills in teaching, the TFYC program has courses and programs to support your goals.

• Receive theatre teacher credentialing (undergraduate and graduate students) through a variety of certification pathways. Our programs also support teacher certification reciprocity with other states through the Inter-State Agreement of NASDTEC. For more information on theatre teacher certification or becoming a professional theatre educator, contact Mary McAvoy.
• Receive a comprehensive theatre teaching knowledge base in acting, technical theatre, drama for young children and education methods.
• Participate in professional development and course work in teaching artistry for professional theatre artists working in school settings, cultural institutions or community organizations. For more information, contact Amanda Pintore.

Students and faculty in the Theatre for Youth and Community program engage with ethics, methods and facilitations skills for community engaged praxis, both locally and within the field at large. Our program builds out artistry, pedagogy and research that honors community values and celebrates creativity beyond traditional theatre walls. 

• Work within MDT Engage, a vital program that nurtures partnerships between communities and the ASU theatre season. For more information, contact Amanda Pintore. 
• Expand expertise in community-engaged design in collaboration with Design and Arts Corps and ArtsWork: The Kax Herberger Center for Children and the Arts.
• Build partnerships with local organizations and cultural institutions based on your interests. For more information, contact Stephani Etheridge Woodson.

ASU’s Theatre for Youth and Community program features expert faculty with expertise in community cultural development, theatre for social change, performance as research, theatre arts education policy, and arts in education. Our research emphasizes transdisciplinarity and supports artists as researchers and researching artfully. We offer graduate degrees and graduate-level coursework for all students interested in advanced study in TFYC.

• Visit or work in the Theatre for Youth and Community Collection, one of the world’s leading repositories of archival material on performances with, by and for children. 
• Gain experience as a faculty research assistant or publish with faculty support.
• Access and grow from national and international networks of scholars and artists who study, create and engage with performing arts for young people and communities