Imagine the Busiest Educational Programming Season Yet!

The Massachusetts Cultural Council, Creative Schools Program has awarded URT multi-year funding for Page to Stage, A Young Playwrights Program. Page to Stage is in its fourth year of programming in partnership with Cambridge Public Schools. This hands-on program uses age-appropriate playwriting, improvisation and acting activities to guide teachers and students through an engaging literacy initiative that serves Massachusetts Curriculum Arts Frameworks as well as offering teachers an exciting tool to reinforce MCAS mandated lessons.

Underground Railway Theater has changed the way I teach. The playwriting experience has had a profound impact on my students. – Meg Moloney, Haggerty School

Page to Stage serves a diverse community of students in grades 3-8. This project is offered district-wide along with an intensive 24 week residency at the Cambridgeport School. Activities for the 2006-7 year include:

• A curriculum created by URT in partnership with teachers
• Up to 165 in-school classroom playwriting workshops for students
• A special performance for participating schools of the URT nationally acclaimed, Are You Ready, My Sister?
• Five Professional Development workshops offered district-wide to teachers
• A Young Playwrights Festival, where students will have an opportunity to see and hear their plays performed in 2006-07 by peer performers and in 2007-08 URT professional artists at the Central Square Theater.

In addition to their support of Page to Stage, the Massachusetts Cultural Council YouthReach Program has awarded funding to Cambridge PLAYS Youth. URT, in partnership with the Area IV Youth Center staff and URT Teaching Artist Vincent E. Siders, launches a program to prominently place the perspective and creative work of teens before our audiences. By helping youth find their voices and tell their stories through theater, Cambridge PLAYS Youth is being designed hand in hand with a diverse group of teens, 14-16, who historically have not had an opportunity to participate in theater arts.

It is a URT goal that Cambridge PLAYS Youth will evolve through the input, stories and creation of the teen community. Projected activities over the course of the program include:

• The creation of a Youth Advisory Committee to inform the initial design, progress and evaluation of the 2006-07 project.
• Up to 60 after-school hands-on workshops that will explore youth issues of concern and offer age-appropriate theater skills, culminating in the creation of a series of performance events.
• Community Tours: Youth will take performances to other city youth centers and after-schools organizations.
• Youth Performance event on the Underground Railway Theater Mainstage, which will be the Central Square Theater in 2007-08

URT will be expanding the popular Theater Intensive this year to February public school vacation week (Feb 19-23). Aimed at young “performers” (age 6-12) this will be an exciting week of improvisation, play-making, and special workshops by guest artists. The Intensive will be held at the Cambridge Family YMCA Theater in Central Square. To register or for more information, contact Maggie Moore Abdow, Education Director at 781-643-6916 or mabdow@undergroundrailwaytheater.org

URT is entering the fourth year of a growing relationship with the Cambridgeport School. URT will be working with grades 7-8 on an extensive playwriting project and grades 5-6 on a performance based project. Currently, Maggie Moore Abdow, is planning programming with Cambridgeport teachers to connect the entire residency to school curriculum. Working hand in hand with the wonderful faculty and PTO, long-term plans are in the making to bring URT to Cambridgeport year after year!

Through our ongoing residency at the Museum of Fine Arts, URT will bring Art InterACTion tours to both public school vacation weeks at the MFA (Feburary 19-23 and April 16-20). URT is also starting an exciting relationship with the new Institute of Contemporary Art and anticipates offering Art InterACTion tours in March. Stay tuned for more information about tour times.