Dear friends,
I’m not sure any of us anticipated just how much our daily lives would change in the months after the coronavirus outbreak. And yet here we are, more than 7 months in, and still adjusting to our new realities.
I’m not sure any of us anticipated just how much our daily lives would change in the months after the coronavirus outbreak. And yet here we are, more than 7 months in, and still adjusting to our new realities.
Here at SCT we made an early decision to forgo a traditional mainstage season, and we, like you, are waiting for the day when we can once again experience the shared joy of live theatre. In the meantime, we have invested in partnerships like Saturday Mornings Stories with Classical King FM 98.1 and A Kids Play About Racism, a virtual play produced in collaboration with 41 other TYA theatres nationwide (be sure to check out the curriculum for the latter, which was led by SCT and laid the groundwork for a series of residencies being offered through our Community Engagement programming this Fall).
We’ve also used this time to reinvent the offerings within Arts Based Learning (ABL), which takes theatre into schools across Washington State, this year virtually. ABL uses theatre to open important conversations about mental health and social emotional learning with Middle and High School students. Now in our 4th year of partnership with Kaiser Permanente, we could not have anticipated just how vital the work would become and are happy we were able to adapt these offerings for virtual classrooms when children need them most.
All of this reinvention has been incredible, and I am so proud of the SCT team and board of directors, who have all worked together to steward us through these uncharted territories and make sure we keep finding new ways to bring theatre and art to the youth of our region. But it leaves me yearning for a theatre packed with young people, laughing with Go, Dog, Go! or awed by the puppetry of Black Beauty.
SCT is rooted in bringing people together through shared experiences. We use the power of theatre and arts education to grow empathy, spark joy, and invite young people to engage in the stories that surround us. For over 45 years, SCT has shared stories with the youth of our region, reaching more than 5 million children, families, and educators.
We want to get back to that work, and are actively planning scenarios for live performances this Spring (anyone up for theatre in the park?), in person classes this Summer (are you kids ready to explore masked theatre?) and a mainstage season for 2021-22.
Until that time, we will continue to do what we do best, bring innovative theater and theatre education to young people, in whatever way we can safely do so.
Thank you for your support for the past 45 years, and your continued support as we inspire the next generation with empathy, hope, and joy!
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Malgesini
Managing Director