Phase 1 – Writing a Play
- One 30-minute assembly for all 3rd and 4th grade students where actors act out plays and engage students in improvisation
- One 60-minute in-class teaching session where teaching artists introduce the art of playwriting through interactive games and full class demonstrations of the playwriting process
- One 20-minute video, presented in 3-4 minute sections, that guides the teacher and student through the playwriting process, step-by-step
- Digital Student Packets and Teacher’s Guides, compatible with Google Classroom that can also be printed as PDF’s
- At the end of this phase, teachers submit student plays to Chautauqua Institution for Phases 2 and 3.
Phase 2 – Reading the Plays
One 90-minute session where community members visit your classroom in-person, to read and act out your students’ plays.
Phase 3 – Field Trip: Seeing the Plays
Will take place in mid-June, 2024.
Students are invited to visit Chautauqua Institution for an entire day that includes:
- Viewing a select number of plays from all those submitted after Phase 1
- Experiencing other activities on-grounds, including STEM or Literary Arts, Recreation and a Mindfulness Moment
- Eating your sack lunch by Chautauqua Lake or anywhere on grounds, enjoying the day here!
Alexandra Nader, Lead Teaching Artist
Andrew Barbato
Gaby Hornig
Marissa Miller
Emily Olcott
Nimene Wureh
Adam Coy is a NYC-based Tejano actor and director. Regional: Romeo and Juliet (Westport Country Playhouse). NYC: Southern Promises, Fill,Fill,Fill,Fill,Fill,Fill,Fill (The Flea); Lilia (New Dramatists); Syracuse University: Laura and the Sea, Constellations, Measure for Measure. Recent directing: Zabelle, Crave (Access Theater); Pterodactyls (Syracuse University). Directing Observer/Assistant (Chay Yew, The Public Theater). He is a founding member and artistic associate of Egg & Spoon Theater Collective, a member of the SDC Foundation Observership Class (18-19), a resident actor at The Flea Theater, and an SDC Associate Member. Education: Syracuse University, BFA Acting.
Kelsey Deroian is a recent graduate from the University of California Irvine where she received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting. Her favorite credits include playing Dolly in One Man, Two Guvnors (Chautuaqua Theater Company), Ellis Veritas in the short film Titanica (Blood Brothers Cinema), Kristin in the short pilot Recipe for Disaster (Dodge Film Productions) and Paulinka in A Bright Room Called Day (UC Irvine). She has also enjoyed work behind the scenes such as: teaching undergraduates at UC Irvine, working as a casting intern at Conan O’Brien and an intern at a Talent Agency. She recently had the pleasure of performing in Young Playwrights Project this past summer and is excited to get to work on the development of the project this go around.
Jacob Dresch (CTC 2013) is thrilled to return to Chautauqua to help inspire imagination, creativity, and love in our young ones. Since having been a member of CTC in 2013 playing Dromio of Syracuse in Andrew Borba’s production of the Comedy of Errors, Jacob has been acting professionally around the country and teaching around the world. Acting highlights include: School for Scandal (Off-Broadway, Red Bull Theater), The Foreigner, Lend Me a Tenor, Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival) The Great Gatsby, Shakespeare in Love, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Twelfth Night (Orlando Shakespeare Theater) and many more! As a teacher he has taught a wide variety of courses with the New York Film Academy. Most recently, Jacob had the opportunity to be an instructor at both NYFA’s Mumbai and Harvard campuses. 
Carmen Martinez is a designer and maker based in New York City. She lives with her wiener dog Clementina, loves fresh flowers, and knit sweaters.
Katherine McGerr is a director and teaching artist who is honored to be in her fifth year with the Chautauqua Young Playwrights Project. She has worked with Chautauqua Theater Company since 2006 in various positions, including director, literary manager and artistic associate. Katherine is an assistant professor in the Syracuse University Department of Drama; she previously taught at Allegheny College and served as a director and teaching artist with Yale School of Drama’s Dwight/Edgewood Project. Recent directing credits include: The Baltimore Waltz, Laura and the Sea, Julius Caesar (Syracuse University); The Second Shepherds’ Play (Colgate College/Syracuse University); Building the Wall (Chautauqua Theater Company New Play Workshop Series); Measure for Measure (PlayMakers Rep); A Dream Play (Allegheny College). Katherine is a graduate of Columbia University and the Eugene O’Neill National Theater Institute; she holds an MFA in Directing from Yale School of Drama.
Adrianna Mitchell, Actor. Writer. Wanderer. American Conservatory Theater MFA Candidate. Spelman Alumna. Chautauqua Theater Company Member. British American Drama Academy Alumna
Blake Segal (Music) is a NYC-based performer and educator. National Tour: Mary Poppins. Regional: The Corn Is Green (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (The Old Globe); Noises Off (Syracuse Stage); Nerds (Philadelphia Theatre Company, Barrymore Award Nomination); Romeo and Juliet, POP!, Rough Crossing (Yale Repertory Theatre); Carousel (Paper Mill Playhouse); Amadeus, Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale (Chautauqua Theater Company); Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (PlayMakers Repertory Company); Into the West (Tantrum Theater); Good People (The Public Theatre, ME). NYC: Bones in the Basket (Araca Project); Les Enfants de Paris (NYMF); Frogs (Fault Line Theatre). Concert: Swan Lake (Original Cast, Hollywood Chamber Orchestra). TV: Blue Bloods. Education: University of Virginia (B.A.) and Yale School of Drama (M.F.A.).