School Matinees and Resources
We think students benefit immeasurably from the chance to see live performing arts, but we also know that it's important to be sensitive to the financial realities of lower-income students and cash-strapped school systems. Therefore, all students, no matter how big or small your group, get into our student matinees for only $5 a ticket. And all chaperones, no matter how many you bring, get in FREE.
Moreover, all study guides, pre-show workshops, post-show Q&As, and backstage tours are free to student groups.
If you'd like to bring a group, you can contact our PR director for more information about reserving tickets and planning a pre-show workshop.
Due to the themes and language in our productions, we generally recommend our matinees for upper middle school and high school students, and highly suggest that teachers go over the study guide with their students so that they can be prepared for the issues raised by our productions. If you have questions about the suitability of a particular show for your student group, please contact us.
Our student matinees during the 2019-2020 season:
BALTIMORE
by Kirsten Greenidge
Directed by Josh Glenn-Kayden
Rand Theater
Oct. 16 at 10
Sharp, funny, and searing, Baltimore is a timely drama about racism on college campuses.
When a racially-charged incident divides her first-year students, reluctant resident advisor Shelby finds herself in the middle of a conversation she does not want to have. As pressure to address the controversy mounts from residents, the new dean, and even her best friend, Shelby must decide if she will enter the fray or watch her community come apart at the seams. See a performance and stay after to join our community in a conversation about how we create positive change.
Presented in collaboration with the Office of Equity and Inclusion and Student Affairs and Campus Life.
Check back as each performance approaches for a link to our study guide.
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THE BACCHAE OF EURIPIDES
by Wole Soyinka
Directed by Judyie Al-Bilali
Curtain Theater
Nov. 13 at 10
Ecstatic dance and music fuel political uprising in Soyinka’s adaptation of Euripides’ classic play about a god and the despot who attempts to control him. When autocratic King Pentheus of Thebes imprisons Dionysus, the god of wine, fertility, and theater, he unleashes a frenzied revolt among Dionysus’ female followers, the Bacchantes. Gender, sexuality, and identity become transgressive, visceral expressions of protest among Dionysus and the women, linking a mythical past to the music and art that powers political change today.
Check back as each performance approaches for a link to our study guide.
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MR BURNS A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY
by Anne Washburn
Songs by Michael Friedman
Directed by Erin Eggers
Curtain Theater
April 15 at 10
In Anne Washburn’s darkly funny, imaginative Mr. Burns, survivors of a nuclear apocalypse may not have much, but they have a shared cultural history. Gathered around a camp fire, they piece together the plot of a "Simpsons" episode from memory. It’s the first moment of a people re-establishing a culture, and we follow this society seven and then 75 years later, as this mainstay of modern TV, mashed up with songs and snippets of pop culture, becomes the foundation of a mythology and artistic tradition. Mr. Burns is a paean to live theater, the resilience of Bart Simpson, and our need to find meaning.
Check back as each performance approaches for a link to our study guide.