Berkeley Rep School Of Theatre Announces Inaugural High School Theatre Festival

Today, the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre announced the inaugural High School Theatre Festival, featuring original works written and performed by students from five San Francisco Bay Area high schools-Berkeley High School, Contra Costa School for the Performing Arts, Head-Royce School, Mt. Eden High School, and Oakland School for the Arts. The High School Theatre Festival will take place on Sunday, March 12 at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Peet's Theatre (2025 Addison St.).

Building off the success of Berkeley Rep's Teen One-Act Festival which ran for 17 years, the High School Theatre Festival gives students the experience of producing original works revolving around topics or issues pertaining to each unique school community. The multi-week residency program began on January 9, 2023. During this time, professional teaching artists visited high schools in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and facilitated the creation of original theatrical works using devised theatre techniques. Through this process, the students learned to cultivate community, find tangible steps to reaching an overarching goal, and develop communication skills through theatre. As they developed these new works, the teaching artists guided the young artists, helping them clearly articulate all the themes they wanted to include through their devised piece.

"The High School Theatre Festival is a major step forward in our efforts to rebuild and celebrate our community of students and educators at the School of Theatre," said Anthony Jackson, Director of Berkeley Rep's School of Theatre. "This opportunity allows us to deepen our relationships with our partner schools and give platform to the voices of students as they share the issues and questions they are grappling with."

In addition to performing their original works on the Berkeley Rep stage, students will also attend a performance of Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band as part of Teen Night at Berkeley Rep.

Tickets for the High School Theatre Festival are free, but RSVPs are required. To RSVP, visit: berkeleyrep.org/hstf.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theatre. Known for its ambition, relevance, and excellence, as well as its adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. Over 5.5 million people have enjoyed nearly 500 shows at Berkeley Rep, which have gone on to win six Tony Awards, seven Obie Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, one Grammy Award, one Pulitzer Prize, and many other honors. Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. To formalize, enhance, and expand the processes by which Berkeley Rep makes theatre, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work was launched in 2012. The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre engages and educates some 20,000 people a year and helps build the audiences of tomorrow with its nationally recognized teen programs. Berkeley Rep's bustling facilities - which also include the 400-seat Peet's Theatre, the 600-seat Roda Theatre, and a spacious campus in West Berkeley - are helping revitalize a renowned city. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org

Berkeley Rep creates ambitious theatre that entertains and challenges its audiences, provokes civic engagement, and inspires people to experience the world in new and surprising ways. The School of Theatre supports this mission through meaningful connections between audiences and our mainstage work, creative entry points for new audiences, tools for artists and students to harness their imaginative power, and immersive training for future theatre makers.

Having first opened its doors in 2001, the School of Theatre offers programming as eclectic as the productions onstage at Berkeley Rep, reaching some 20,000 people in the Bay Area each year. Driven by an expanding community of inspired, curious, and creative theatre lovers, the School's programming provides opportunities for engagement on a variety of levels. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org/school

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