Feature: TEEN ARTISTS THEATER UNIVERSITY Is the Digital Theater Intensive You've Been Craving
By: Audrey Morabito May. 27, 2020
Well, you know what they say: if you give an artist quarantine, he'll create the next great digital theatre mentorship program.
Oh. You haven't heard that one before? Then you're in for a treat.
These past few months, I suspect that every member of the theatre industry has grappled with the same question. What do you do when your home-base theatre, school program, or summer camp has been forced to shut its doors? When you're an artist indefinitely detached from the stage, well, what's next? Playwright, lyricist, and teacher Scott Greenberg did the only logical thing a theatre-maker, starving to create, would do. He made a new stage.
Spoiler alert: it comes in the form of a six-week theatre intensive taught by industry professionals, and it's everything I wish I had as a high school theatre-lover.
Teen Artists Theater University (TATU) was born out of two months of quarantine, an adaptive spirit in the face of uncertainty, and Greenberg's growing passion for theatre education. TATU has taken the best of summer camp, academic classes, and the professional industry to bring you an immersive virtual theatre program built for enthusiastic young artists. Greenberg expressed, "There's all these artists that I know are so fantastic, and we're in a time where high school students will have nothing to do over the summer. What better opportunity to bring students the classes they've never been able to take, and [give] educators the opportunity to teach students that are dying to take their class."
Session One launches June 8th through July 19th, so let me break it down for you. Here are the three components that make TATU invaluable to you as an early-career theatre artist, or just a human with an interest in stretching your creative muscles.
ACCESS to creative classes, such as Pilot Writing or Scene-Study, that aren't offered in high school, but that you're dying to take. Plus, classes are structured with customizable price packages.
With most summer programs and productions cancelled, TATU united professional artists from across the country to teach you the classes you don't get to take at school. The gem of this program is that it offers the best of summer camp, college classes, and real-life experience all wrapped up in a six-week program for high schoolers. The six classes, offered twice a week for 1.5 hours each, include Scene Study, Pilot Writing, Playwriting, Off-Broadway Club, Sketch Comedy, and Improv. Not only could these be plucked straight out of a university's curriculum, but they're affordable and customizable. You want to take all six? Sure, let's do it! Or maybe you'd rather choose class-by-class? They'd love to have you. Perhaps you want to drop in only on Fridays for masterclasses with artistic directors, casting agents, and the like. Yep, there's an option for that too!
TATU also has needs-based scholarships available as well. Knowing that cost can be a barrier at times in theatre programs, Greenberg noted that his two biggest goals with TATU are supporting artists in the classes and building a program that is accessible to students. Bottom line, if you want to be there to collaborate and create, TATU would be thrilled to have you. All you need after enrolling is a piece of paper and something to write with, along with a device that has access to a Zoom account. The rest is taken care of!
MENTORSHIP with a network of industry professionals and artists across the country, eager to teach tomorrow's talent.
Generally speaking, it can take until junior or senior year of college for a student to be granted this much access to those working in the industry. TATU wants to bring that opportunity straight to you as a high schooler. All TATU courses are led by industry professionals as your teaching artists--which is a fancy way of saying they not only know what they're doing and have loads of experience doing it, but they can't wait to share it with you. Plus, the connection between student and teacher does not end when the program does. Rather, TATU connects you with professionals that will be there for you as a growing artist. When you have a new screenplay that needs editing, or you'd like some advice for an audition, your teachers from TATU will be a continuous resource to you.
CREATIVE PRODUCTS like your own TV pilot show bible, play, or sketch comedy script. Teen Artists Theatre University guarantees you'll not only walk away with your ideas realized, but that you'll have dedicated and supportive mentors all along the way.
So, you've spent six weeks learning from the experts, collaborating with other students, and creating with your teaching artists. Now, here's the best part. TATU assures you'll walk away with a tangible product of your time spent creating with them.
Are you taking playwriting? If so, be prepared to write a play. If you were a proud member of the Off-Broadway Club course, I'm betting you'll be itching to share your list of theatre's newest works and tomorrow's classics. This is the real deal--but don't stress, you've got all the resources you need right there in class with you to make your ideas reality.
"The world of theatre that you usually get before college is really small," says Greenberg, "What's cool about this unfortunate time is the move to things being digital. If this were a physical program there would be no way to get the teachers and guest artists all in one place. So here's the opportunity to get an agent for television writers in California to hop on a call and talk to students on Friday, and a casting producer for theatre from Chicago to hop on the next week. We can put together this team of people that is the best team, rather than the team that is in one place." TATU's summer program is the ultimate chance to get time in the room with professionals who have done it all before, and want to help you do it too.
TATU's Session One begins June 8th and continues through July 19th. So come, create, collaborate. Visit thetatu.com for all you need to know about enrollment options, pricing, teaching artists, and more.
Instagram: @thetatu2020
Email: tatuartistic@gmail.com
Facebook: The TATU 2020
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