Maine Arts Commission Arts Learning Grant Helps Fund Museum & Theatre and Boys and Girls Club Partnership

The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine is excited to announce that we have been awarded a $5,000 Arts Learning Grant to help support Maddy’s Theatre Youth Theatre Ensemble program in partnership with the Boy & Girls Club of Southern Maine (BGCSM).

The Ensemble program will be offered youth at the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine.

Executive Director Julie Butcher Pezzino said, “We are deeply grateful to the Maine Arts Commission for this grant and are very excited to expand our impact, bringing performing arts to southern Maine youth.”

Maddy’s Theatre will offer two ensemble theatre programs at the Riverton Clubhouse of the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine. Each session of the program will be approximately 15 weeks long, beginning with a period of improvisation and ending with a performance in Maddy’s Theatre at Thompson’s Point. 

The 15-week program will immerse participants in all facets of theatre, including production, script development, and performance. In the beginning of the youth ensemble program, participants will become familiar with theatre and story structure vocabulary. About six weeks in, participants will begin a student-led rehearsal process, taking the reins on conceptualizing and creating a story that they want to tell as a group. As play rehearsal progresses, students will develop individual characters and stage directions. Throughout the whole semester, improvisation and theatre games will be a key aspect of the program, empowering students of all abilities to gain confidence and grow. The ensemble curriculum is inherently designed to support interpersonal development within the group through discussion, negotiation, problem-solving and reflection. 

Reba Askari, Theatre Artistic Director at the Museum & Theatre, emphasizes the importance of having the participants create their own play. She said, “This experience is rooted in the process of making theatre, and the listening skills, trust and teamwork involved in making a play. The ensemble chooses the play they want to perform. This is meant to offer an experience of group decision making that empowers young actors to tell stories that they deem as important.” 

Students will choose the play they perform and experience every step of putting on a play.

The Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine recently expanded the core pillars of their impact programs to four pillars: Academic Success, Leadership, Health and Wellness, and the Arts. By making the Arts its own pillar, BGCSM will be able to greatly expand the access that their members have to self-expression and communication through the mediums of visual and performing arts. Many of BGCSM’s nearly 3,000 members come from adverse circumstances, including newly arrived immigrant and refugee youth who are learning English and adjusting to their life in Maine. 

With the new building at Thompson’s Point and the state-of-the-art permanent space, the Museum & Theatre has committed to aging up its exhibits and programming. The Maine Arts Commission grant to fund youth ensembles helps strengthen the work with youth. The Youth Ensemble Program is designed to boost self-esteem, risk-taking skills, and ability to work as a team. Building these skills through theatre is valuable to every child’s social and intellectual development, and fosters a love and appreciation for the arts that will benefit Maine for generations.