Factory Summer Youth Intensive

The summer is a notoriously slow time in the theatre world. But that isn't stopping Factory Theatre. In fact, they are using the downtime to expand their year old student summer intensive program. This past weekend I spoke with Sara Meurling, the Factory's Managing Director, who initiated the youth program, last year. Below is some information about the program from our conversation.

Me: Why a student summer program at Factory?

Sara: Factory Theatre is a world class theatre company, but outside of student matinees, we don't connect with young people as often as we would like. And we are space rich, and while we use the space for productions that adults enjoy we wanted to reach out to young generations and get them involved with the company. We have had connections to Secondary students but many of our productions are very challenging for youth audiences. While they do come to the theatre as school audiences, we wanted to offer them another program created especially for them. This is an opportunity to engage them further. Young people bring a different kind of energy to the Factory. It is very exciting to have them in the building.

Me: What is this program all about?

Sara: The Youth Playbuilding Ensemble is a holistic approach to theatre production. We wanted to provide young people with more than just acting training. We want them to understand all aspects of non-profit theatre production, from creative training to technical training and production development. We based the program on other programs but this summer's structure is more streamlined than the pilot project last year.

Me: How have you attracting students for the program?

Sara: Last year, we got funding approval very late so we did a limited amount of outreach. We knew we wanted to focus on our local community. We started by reaching out to the high schools in our area, speaking with teachers and asked them to recommend students they felt would enjoy the program. It was very ad hoc, as it was the first year. But, this year we were more experienced so we expanded our approach. Again we used teachers and school administrators as our primary liaisons with students, but did more outreach and started the outreach earlier.

Me: The program has a participation cost. Are their scholarships or subsidies available for students who can't afford to participate.

Sara: The program is very affordable, $300 for the two week session. But there are subsides available for students who express an interest and who would not be able to participate otherwise. The application process is fairly straightforward at this point. We ask students to submit a letter of interest, in which students can request subsides.

Me: Is there a public presentation? Or what is the relationship of the program and the audience at large.

Sara: Right now we do a presentation at the end of the two weeks, show casing what the students have been working on. But the audience is largely friends and family members, as well as internal staff. This is a learning experience for these students, some of whom have never been part of a theatrical production before, so we wanted to keep the pressure as low as possible. The emphasis is on training.

We also spoke briefly about Sara's vision for the program in the long term. As of this summer all applicants have been accepted, but as the program grows that could change.

This year Factory is holding two sessions of the Youth Playbuilding Ensemble. The first started this past Friday, but the late session doesn't get underway until August 15th and runs till the 26th. You can get more information on signing up for the late session by clicking the header.