Theatre Arts Education School Field Trips

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

As an arts education leader in LA for 25 years, 24th Street Theatre knows that arts are the least emphasized discipline in K-12 STEAM initiatives. 24th Street sees arts, and theatre arts in particular, as a primary youth pathway to personal, academic and creative excellence and college studies. Theatre arts provide youth low-stakes opportunities to express their ideas, work collaboratively with their peers, develop interpersonal skills, and practice empathy, respect and tolerance. Success in the arts builds confidence that supports risk taking, leadership development and success in other academic disciplines. Despite the many benefits of arts participation, arts instruction is typically the least funded of all K-12 activities and usually the first to be cut in economic downturns. Further, there is a significant arts equity gap that favors youth in more affluent neighborhoods, while low-income youth and youth of color, who may benefit the most from arts engagement, are left wanting.

Enter Stage Right is a live, interactive production that introduces 9,000-10,000 K-8 students annually to the 2,500-year-old art form of theatre, empowers them to self-identify as storytellers, and demonstrates how theatre mirrors life. The 90-minute show demonstrates the inner workings of theatre, acting techniques, story composition, conflict and resolution, music, and technical production elements. A pre-field trip, 45-minute classroom sessions occurs one week before each theatre visit with a teaching artist introducing students to theatre vocabulary, the "actors toolbox” of skills, and story elements. For the field trips, school buses arrive at 9:30 a.m. delivering 100 students. The performance begins in the lobby, where students watch a short introductory video starring actor Jack Black who excites them about theatre arts, and then continues with an introduction to the theatre staff, a visit to the box office and how an audience prepares for a show. During the stage production, youth learn about the history of theatre, participate in pantomime and tableau, and learn how lighting and sound can be layered to create excitement, tension, sadness and other feelings. The show concludes with a poignant scene about racism that casts a student volunteer as the target of racist behavior. The scene elicits empathy from the audience of peers, who experience the power of theatre to explore conflict and social issues, encouraging students to speak against injustice.

The project's success ties directly to the theatre's mission and its ongoing efforts to effect change in the culture of LA: people animated by a greater sense of inter-connectedness, empathy and humanity. The project's success will contribute to 24th Street's 25 years of leadership advocacy for K-12 arts education, and youth self-realization and empowerment through the arts. Enter Stage Right has served more than 120,000 K-8 youth since 2003, becoming one of the most requested LAUSD arts field trips. The success of this program facilitated an ongoing partnership with the LA County Office of Education to lead professional development workshops to help teachers integrate arts learning in classroom curricula. Continued growth of this program will further promote the importance of arts education for broadening youth pathways to personal and academic excellence, and help youth acquire social emotional learning skills to help them direct their fears and anxieties to positive, creative ends.

2022/2023 Enter Stage Right teacher surveys revealed: 100% agreed that ESR engaged their students and excited them about learning; 96% agreed that after participating in ESR, they have a deeper understanding of the theatre arts learning standards; 74% agreed that they plan to use theatre exercises to reinforce other subjects; 84% agreed that ESR increased students’ collaborative spirit; 90% agreed that acting exercises made their students more willing to participate in activities; 88% agreed that more of their students now self-identify as artists or creative individuals; 88% agreed that their students display greater creativity and use of imagination; 66% agreed that their students display better conflict resolution skills as a result of engaging in theatre activities; and 78% agreed that their students are more empathic and better able to identify and relate to others’ feelings or points of view. Goldhirsh Foundation funding will help the theatre serve the hardest to reach schools.