Theatre For Young Audiences/usa Announces 2025 TYA/USA NATIONAL FESTIVAL & CONFERENCE

Theatre for Young Audiences USA (TYA/USA), in collaboration with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, has announced the 2025 TYA/USA National Festival & Conference: BLOOM, taking place on May 6th-8th, 2025, in Washington,D.C.

Held annually as the largest national convening  of leaders, educators, artists, and organizations in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences, The TYA/USA National Festival & Conference expects an attendance of 350 for three days of exchange, dialogue, and the presentation of 10 live performances and more than a dozen workshops from acclaimed international theatermakers. 

2025 Programming Highlights include:

• A Conversation between Author Sonia Sotomayor and Director and Writer Fran Sillau about the stage adaptation of her children's book “Just Ask.”

• Excerpts of Young Dragon, a show in development about Bruce Lee's life, with a post-show conversation between Shannon Lee, Chair of the Bruce Lee Foundation and daughter of the legendary martial artist and cultural icon, and renowned playwright Idris Goodwin. 

• 10 live performances and staged readings: including international productions and readings in all stages of development, ranging from innovative puppetry to live music and circus performance.

• A professionally performed SONG SLAM cabaret featuring songs from a variety of new musicals for young audiences, music directed by renowned theatrical composer Deborah Wicks La Puma. 

• 16 Breakout Sessions led by TYA leaders across the nation: including “Co-Producing Across Hemispheres,” “Leave it on the Stage: Trauma-Informed Tools for Performers,” “How to Grow Audiences (and Revenue) through Access,” “Mind Matters: New Plays and Drama-Based Curriculum to Promote Mental Wellness in Teens,” and “Research, Play, and Performance: Adults and Very Young Children as Co-Devisers.”

• Research and Scholarship Working Group: This new Working Group was founded to promote the health, vitality, and visibility of TYA research in academic institutions and member organizations. This group seeks to advance scholarship and publications that address the field of TYA and theatre education research.

Pre-Conference Leadership Summit

TYA/USA will also host a one-day Leadership Summit on Monday May 5th in partnership with Childrens Theatre Foundation of America, with two tracks occurring simultaneously on the Kennedy Center campus. The first track for Emerging Leaders will serve current students, emerging career professionals, and independent artists. This event will directly address the need to diversify and expand future leadership across the TYA field through hands-on training, professional development, and exchange. The second track will serve current TYA Theatre Leadership to gather existing industry leaders for action-oriented discussion about the state of our field. Attendees of the second track will include existing TYA Executive Directors, Managing Directors, Artistic Directors, and Board Members for an intensive day of group discussion and goal-setting. Both tracks will merge for a networking opportunity for all at the end of the event.

“We are thrilled to gather the international Theatre for Young Audiences community together in the 60th Anniversary year of TYA/USA,” shares TYA/USA Executive Director Sara Morgulis. “We will engage in artistic exchange, meaningful dialogue, and advocacy for the future of the industry in our nation's capital. The theme of the 2025 National Festival and Conference is BLOOM, as we cultivate new artistic practices and leadership, embrace change in our own organizations, and support the growth of our field as a whole. We are honored to be hosted by the prestigious Kennedy Center for this extraordinary event.”

Kennedy Center's Senior Director of Education Programs and Productions David Kilpatrick shares, “This year feels particularly right for this collaboration given it marks the 25th anniversary of our last collaboration with TYA/USA in 2000, often touted as the most significant gathering of TYA professionals in a generation. Additionally, this collaboration comes on the heels of the five-year anniversary of the opening of the REACH expansion, which is envisioned as an immersive learning center where communities can reach into the artistic process and discover what it means to make art.  I can't think of a more ideal location to host the TYA/USA National Festival & Conference and celebrate and uplift the field of theater for young audiences.”

Registration is now open. More information can be found at www.tyausa.org/festival 

About TYA/USA:

Theatre for Young Audiences/USA (TYA/USA), is a national service organization whose mission is to promote the power of professional theatre for young audiences through excellence, collaboration, and innovation across cultural and international boundaries. With a membership comprised of 1,450  independent artists, educators, and both commercial and nonprofit performing arts institutions across 47 states, the nonprofit  provides advocacy and resources to strengthen and diversify the field of theatre for young audiences. TYA/USA is the United States Center for the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ). TYA/USA hosts an annual national conference and offers a range of professional development opportunities, both for its membership and the greater field. www.tyausa.org.

About the Kennedy Center:

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is America's living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, attracting millions of visitors each year to more than 2,000 performances, events, and exhibits. With its artistic affiliates, the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera, the Center is one of the nation's busiest performing arts centers dedicated to providing world-class art, powerful education, and outstanding memorial experiences to the broadest possible constituency. Across all its offerings, the Kennedy Center is committed to increasing accessible, inclusive opportunities for all people to participate in, and learn through the arts, including more than 400 free performances each year and a variety of Specially Priced Ticket programs for students, seniors, persons with disabilities, and others. On September 7, 2019, the Kennedy Center inaugurated the REACH, its first-ever major expansion. Designed by Steven Holl Associates, the REACH provides visitors with new opportunities to interact and engage with the Center as the nation's premier nexus of arts, learning, and culture. On September 8, 2022, the Kennedy Center unveiled Art and Ideals: President John F. Kennedy, a new 7,500-square foot permanent exhibit exploring Kennedy's presidency and his commitment to the arts. To learn more about the Kennedy Center, please visit www.kennedy-center.org. 

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