2024–2025 and 2025–2026 Arts Education for Actors Alumni Program and Playmaking Performances at Circle in the Square Theatre

Welcome back! It’s been a while since I’ve written here. I didn’t post in this blog last year because my dad was in and out of the hospital before he passed away in March, just as we were beginning rehearsals and performances for this FY25 Playmaking program with PS 11.

While it was a very rough year for me, all of my work continued. We had excited young PS 11 playwrights looking forward to seeing their scripts come to life on the Broadway stage, a Circle alumni team that worked hard all season, and grant applications and reports that needed to be handled. As they say, the show must go on!

Auditors at Circle in the Square asked why I didn’t post in 2025, so I’m doing a quick check-in to say that yes, all of my Circle work and programs continued. I flew back to be with my dad every chance I could, while continuing my responsibilities in NYC.

There were four PS 11 3rd-grade classes in FY25, culminating in four final performances on the Broadway stage at Circle in the Square Theatre on May 19, 23, 30, and June 3. The student playwrights did a fantastic job, as did our alumni Residency Assistants and actors.

You can learn more about this Arts Education for Actors alumni program and Playmaking residency in my previous blog posts and here.

I’m grateful to have made it through a difficult year, and thankful to this 2024–2025 team that did a phenomenal job!

2024–2025 Team: Left to right: Me, Gretchen, Alex, Gwyneth, Elle, Johannes

Our 2025–2026 Arts Education for Actors alumni program and Playmaking residency at PS 11 began in early fall when a team of Circle alumni was chosen and I began preparing for our Orientation and workshops. By then, I had already scheduled our Playmaking residency dates at PS 11 and was waiting on final schedule confirmations from PS 11. Orientation was November 6, 2025, and then the team began their training with workshops in Classroom Engagement and Strategies for Inclusion to learn about working in Manhattan public school classrooms and supporting diverse learners before the residency started right after Thanksgiving. Our Planning Meeting with PS 11 was in November to give me enough time to prepare all worksheets and documents tailored for each class and student. We are committed to making sure that each child, no matter their language, learning style, or individual needs, has the support and care to successfully write a play that they feel good about by the end of our time with them.

We always work with every 3rd-grade class at PS 11. There were five classes of 3rd-graders this year: three G&T, one Gen-Ed, and one ICT. We love working with each class and the varying learning styles and personalities of each student. Playmaking has always been feeling-based, encouraging playwrights to explore the emotions they and their characters may feel through expressive dialogue. On the first day, as always, we began with a scribble exercise in which students discovered their characters through a Rorschach-esque scribble-examining creative process. Once they chose two of their favorite characters, they created detailed character profiles before beginning their scripts. At the end of each school day, I met with our alumni team to debrief and discuss the kids’ work and wellbeing as well as their own. Our team this year was unique in that they all graduated together and knew each other from Circle the prior year. Each of them had their own vibrant and distinct personality, while their support for each other as a team was beautiful to witness. They always had each other’s backs and rooted each other on, which brought me great joy.

We finished the residency on February 12, then jumped into rehearsals before the five performances at Circle in the Square Theatre on March 2, 6, 9, 10, and 13. The team did a spectacular job, and the young playwrights were thrilled to come see their plays on the Broadway stage. The residency portion of our year ended on March 19 with an Assessment Meeting with all of the teachers at PS 11 to debrief and discuss all of the successes of the season along with any fine-tuning for the following year.

Each year the Arts Education for Actors team attends the 2-day NYC Arts in Education Roundtable’s Face-to-Face Conference in April at City College of New York, along with optional online workshops, all of which are paid for by Circle in the Square Theatre School. As always, we are incredibly grateful to our patron, foundation, and government support at Circle. We could not continue our Arts Ed work without the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and The Waldman Foundation. A huge thank you to them!

The Arts Education for Actors season ends with a few more workshops to help prepare our team for future work in the teaching arts, and a final 1-on-1 meeting with me to debrief and see how I may be of service and support to each of them in their future should they choose to continue their work in Arts Education. I’m thrilled for all of our graduates and their new teaching arts endeavors at The New Victory Theatre and beyond. Congratulations, team! Your work as a group and charisma as individuals, along with your enthusiasm, support, kindness, talent, and care were remarkable, and you were truly a tremendous pleasure to work with!

I never post photos of students or the sweet notes and posters they create for us in order to respect their privacy, so instead I'll do what I've done in the past and share a photo of our team during one of our performances:

2025–2026 team, left to right: Anissa, Jaylen, Faith, me, Hayley, Pascal

…and our vibrant team at the Face-to-Face Conference on April 8–9:

2025–2026 team, left to right, top row: Pascal, Jaylen, Anissa, Hayley; bottom row: Faith