Arizona Theatre Company Putting Creative Content Online from Play Readings to Educational Experiences

from our friends at Arizona Theatre Company:

The curtain may have come down early on Arizona Theatre Company’s (ATC) 2019/2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the creative juices haven’t stopped flowing.  ATC is bringing education and engagement programs online through engaging digital classes and binge-worthy videos and podcasts.

“We are looking at the value and importance of being part of a collective experience now and pushing toward what we will be when we comeback in the fall,” said Managing Director Designee Geri Wright.  “We are constantly thinking about and developing new products for the next five months, not just for ATC social posts but for really meaty video and artistic content and online experiences driven by an overarching theme promoting the concept that ‘You Are/I Am/ We Are’ Arizona Theatre Company.”

The company’s education program, ATCteen for students 13-19 years of age, has been adapted for the current situation and moved online, including:

• Weekly classes every Tuesday at 3 p.m. on topics including playwriting, acting, dance, production, design and more;

• Playreader’s Club every other week for students to choose a play to read with discussions.  Playwrights may be involved on a regular basis;

• Private Coaching for students by professionals in a range of specialties;

• Improv Troupe for the ATCteen Improve to continue exploring and creating performances;

• Radio Drama Project for students to write, record and produce; and

• #ATC Create Anyway & Creative Challenges for students across the world to join in by creating and posting their own projects using the hashtag and offering creative challenges for students to think outside the box.

“In bringing our education initiatives online, we are excited to not only continue serving our current student population, but also to give our audience, patrons and friends the opportunity to learn alongside us and explore the art of theatre from home,” said ATC Director of Learning and Education Jasmine Roth.

General ATC content is being divided into four “rooms:”

• The Blackbox Room for play readings and online workshops of plays and musicals.

• The Green Roomfor conversations with national and local artists and friends.

• The Rehearsal Hallfor deeper conversations around plays, musicals and topics affecting the community, and

• The Classroom for educational, creative and informative content for all ages featuring directors, designers, playwrights, actors, technicians and producers.

Each “room” will be available on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and ATC’s own podcast and radio station, which is being developed. Video and podcast episodes will be released every Sunday beginning April 12.  Daily content and updates will be found on Instagram and Facebook. Schedules and details can be found at www.arizonatheatre.org.

“Content is being developed quickly and creatively and we will push it out across all platforms and capabilities,” Wright said. “And, we’re very interested in gauging and listening to the response from our diverse communities as to what we are providing and what may be missing.”

Recognizing the pandemic’s widespread financial impact on both nonprofit and for-profit organizations and businesses, “we’re looking at everything, not just revenue for ATC, but that giving this year is more important than ever before to local businesses, charities or whoever our patrons support, including us,” Wright said.

“We are in unchartered territory on so many levels with this pandemic,” Wright said. “We know the health, safety and well-being of our friends, families and co-workers is the top priority, but we’re also trying to look beyond how we are adapting to the situation through a creative lens that brings not just joy and diversion but may also bring us all together at a time when being part of a collective community has never been so critical.”