At Portland Stage, we have developed a series of Education Programs that connect and reinforce Common Core Standards and are designed to grow with students as they progress through all grade-levels (K-12). Our touring programming focuses on building and enhancing literacy, cultural awareness, collaborative play, and creative thinking through a multidimensional approach to learning. All programs are accompanied by a comprehensive resource guide to enhance and support student/teacher engagement.
Education for Everyone
Portland Stage Education strives to welcome and celebrate all people regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, national origin, religion, gender identity, neurological, or physical ability.
PLAY Program
For Grades Pre-K to 5
The PLAY Program is an interactive dramatic reading and acting workshop for elementary school students in grades pre-K – 5. Professional teaching artists present a performance of children’s literature for your group, and then work with students in interactive workshops based on the stories. We can bring this program to schools, libraries, summer camps, and community organizations. The PLAY Program meets State of Maine Learning Results and Common Core Standards objectives, including both Performing Arts/Theater and Language Arts.
About the Program
Actors actively engage students in small groups/workshops using their bodies, voices, and imaginations to build understanding of the text while bringing the stories and characters to life. PLAY helps develop literacy and reading fluency, character recall, understanding of themes, social emotional skills, physical storytelling, and vocal characterization. The program also comes with a comprehensive Resource Guide filled with information and activities based on the books and poems.
“Through the PLAY program, students experience text in a new light…The program has potential as a beacon program for teachers who work with 21st century learners.”
– Dr. Alec Lapidus, University of Southern Maine
This program has been studied and written about by Dr. Alexander Lapidus of the University of Southern Maine Literacy Education Department. You can read his paper Multiliteracies in Maine by clicking here.
Program Details:
- Bookings are available for Jan 2023 and April/May 2023 (Theme: Facing Feelings, Finding Friends) and Summer 2023 (Theme: All Together Now)
- Dramatic Readings engage and entertain grades pre-K-5 and last approximately 30 minutes.
- After the performance, students have the opportunity to work with our teaching artists in interactive workshops.
- Workshops are 45-minute interactive experiences.
- Number of workshops can vary based on setting, whether it is select classrooms or different age groups.
- Cost: $1,000 for 8 workshops, performance for the whole school, a resource guide for the whole school. $625 for a summer tour visit to a library.
Virtual Spring 2023 PLAY Program
This program is also available virtually.
For pricing and more information, call 207.774.1043 x104 or send us an email.
Directors Lab
For Grades 5 to 12
What is Directors Lab?
Professional actors perform a 50 minute adaptation of a Shakespeare play, followed by a talkback. In 2023 we will be touring Julius Caesar. After the performance, students engage directly with the text in an interactive workshop with the actors and creative team. In these workshops, students practice effective communication, creative collaboration, rhetoric, and critical analysis. The program also comes with a comprehensive Resource Guide filled with information and resources about the play we are focusing on. Directors Lab puts Shakespeare’s language into the hands and mouths of the students, empowering them to be the artists, directors, and ensemble with the power to interpret the text and produce meaning.
“Portland Stage was able to bring Shakespeare to life for my students and provide them with an entry point into a challenging text and language. The actors and staff brought a high level of professionalism and talent, and a unique ability to relate to, engage, and work with students to enhance their understanding of performance and text.”
– Teacher at Gray New Gloucester High School
Directors Lab:
- The program runs limited engagements February-March 2023.
- The performance is 50 minutes.
- Talkbacks are also available.
- After the performance, the students work with the actors from the play in interactive workshops in their classrooms.
- Teachers receive a Resource Guide 1-3 months in advance.
- Workshops run 45-60 mins and taught to as many as 8 classrooms total.
- For pricing and more information, call our Education Department at 207.774.1043 x104 or send us an email.