Artists-in-Schools (AIS)

Court Theatre’s Artists-in-Schools program is designed to help cultivate fundamental life-skills, such as literacy, teamwork, self-esteem and creativity. To this end, we employ professional actors, directors and designers who recognize that theatre is an effective learning tool and that today’s youth should be exposed to the different ways one can communicate, create, interact and learn. Engaging these students both in the classroom and at our theatre, Court’s artists guide students in the creation of theatre and the exploration of a classic text through a contemporary mindset. Court’s teaching artists conduct in-school and after-school residencies in High Schools on Chicago’s South Side with the purpose of enriching the participating Schools’ arts programming. Inspired by Court’s Artistic Director Charles Newell and directed by our AIS Director Cree Rankin, these residencies are called Court Connections and Classics and the Community.

Court Connections (CC)

Court Connections are eight-week residencies that pair Court’s teaching artists with a high school classroom at each one of our Partner Schools. Supervised by AIS Director Cree Rankin, Court’s teaching artists conduct in-class, theatre-based workshops, collaborating with teachers on a pre-determined curriculum that addresses the educational needs of the specific class. Students will learn acting basics and create a simple performance piece, which is presented at the end of the residency. Adhering to Court’s philosophy of embodying the aesthetic and integrity of our mainstage work these curricula also directly connect to a specific production on Court’s mainstage. In-school activities are paired with a trip to Court Theatre to see the highlighted production and to take part in pre- and post-show discussions.

Classics and the Community (CAC)

Classics and the Community (CAC) connects Court with a Partner School for a lengthier residency. The partnership begins during the first year of a Court Connections in-school residency, then grows into an after-school, ensemble based program for another two years, culminating in an onstage production of a classic work. The first year concentrates on acting basics and familiarizing students with classic plays and using the text for a deeper investigation of the story’s relevant themes. During the second and third years, students work closely with a Court Theatre artistic team to explore aspects of a vision and aesthetic for a production of a classic text, which is performed at the end of the residency. Court’s goal is to work with the same group of students for the duration of the three-year period, using Court’s artists and resources to assist the students in realizing both artistic and life goals. We encourage students to look at a classic text through their own eyes—that is, to view it as a story that relates to themselves and their lives. In doing this, we hope to empower students to feel that they—as much as anyone else—are entitled to interpret and shape a classic play for a theatrical performance.

From February 1-3, 2007, Court Theatre will launch our new program, the Hyde Park Bank High School Performance Festival. Students in our Classics and the Community program at Kenwood Academy, Harper High School, and Dunbar Vocational Academy will perform classic plays—Moliere’s Tartuffe, George Wolfe’s Spunk (based on the short stories of Zora Neale Hurston), and Everyone, an original piece based on the medieval morality play Everyman, respectively—for friends, family, and the community in our theatre.