Education

As the Education & Engagement Associate, and before that as a 2050 Administrative Fellow, I found writing for the NYTW Blog an incredibly inspiring aspect of my time at the Workshop. Creating posts to document the history of Mind the Gap or solo performances at NYTW made me feel proud—they were opportunities to celebrate the work of our intergenerational participants and engage with a legacy of diverse and iconic artists. Interviewing community partners and sharing their stories reminded me of why I love doing what I do. And illustrating the impact of our shows, events, and collaborations affirmed my own long-term interests in theatre: to always make bold, new work that is issue-oriented and community-created.

July 17, 2026 by Marty Chandler, Emma Yaniger, Dylin Taylor

It’s the start of summer! Now that the school year and the season at NYTW have both ended, we thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on our year of Education & Community Engagement programming. In addition to another successful season of our after-school programs, including Mind the Gap (in NYC and London) and a comedic new work created by our Youth Artistic Instigators, we hosted a range of in-school residencies through our Learning Workshop program, and a variety of community engagement events through our For the Culture series.

June 25, 2026 by Marty Chandler

Since 2017, New York Theatre Workshop has partnered with Southwark Playhouse and London South Bank University to bring our Mind the Gap program over to London for a week of intergenerational theatremaking. Just last week, NYTW Director of Education & Engagement Psacoya Guinn and Education & Engagement Associate Marty Chandler headed across the pond to facilitate the program again this year, guiding participants through interviews and devising exercises which culminated in the group’s final ‘works-in-progress’ performance of their piece titled “Is This the Real Life?”

Amidst the busyness of the program, Marty sat down with our partner from Southwark Playhouse, Head of Participation David Workman, to reflect on the history of the partnership and the impact of the program on its participants.

June 17, 2026 by Marty Chandler

NYTW’s intergenerational theatre program, Mind the Gap, has been connecting teens and elders through the power of storytelling for over sixteen years. Over the course of several weeks, participants interview one another in intergenerational conversations, getting to hear stories from each other’s lives, as well as their dreams, fears, and ways of seeing the world. From these exchanges, each participant writes a short play inspired by what they learn from their partner, and these plays are performed by professional actors on a day of public readings.

May 21, 2026 by Marty Chandler

Students from NYTW’s partner schools are attending a matinee performance of The Peculiar Patriot this week, and you can join them in reflecting on the themes of the play with this edition of “The Brief” Study Guide! Learn about Liza Jessie Peterson’s development of the play and its production history, unpack the prison industrial complex, and understand the historical significance of the play’s title and the importance of community. Then, join us at the Workshop and see Liza’s final run of the play, concluding her 25 years of work with this piece.

May 18, 2026 by NYTW Education & Engagement

How does social media build and break relationships? Can we use our online presence for good? How do the web and artificial intelligence affect how we create and consume art? And what’s the deal with tech bros?! These are the questions our 2025/26 Youth Artistic Instigators set out to answer as they devised and wrote their piece, REEL LIFE OR REAL LIFE? After months of creating and rehearsing, it’s finally time for their piece to take the stage at NYTW.

April 11, 2026 by Marty Chandler

As you dive into this edition of “The Brief” Study Guide, we invite you to reflect on the themes of MY JOY IS HEAVY. What do you remember from your time in the pandemic? What do you do to get through hard times? Learn about The Bengsons and their story of grief and joy, the role of music in resilience, how access is woven into the production, and more. And then, join us at the Workshop to see the show and celebrate our joy and community!

March 24, 2026 by NYTW Education & Engagement

With the deadline for our NYTW 2050 Administrative Fellowship less than a month away, we thought we’d take a moment to hear all about what our current fellows have learned so far this year.

Do you envision yourself working with donors as part of the Development team, or supporting new plays as the Artistic Workshop Fellow? Do you hope to lead Education and Engagement workshops and programming, or maybe use skills in Marketing to support the local community?

Read on below, get to know which projects each of our fellows work on at the Workshop, and see if any spark your interest.

March 4, 2026 by Marty Chandler

Our Casebook program pulls back the curtain on one show in the Workshop’s season each year, and this year, participants spent eight weeks taking a behind-the-scenes look at the making of TARTUFFE. From conversations with the generative artists to sitting in on tech rehearsal, Casebook participants (or “Casebookers”) learned all about what goes into taking a new work from page to stage at an Off-Broadway theatre company. NYTW Education & Engagement Associate Marty Chandler chatted with a few Casebookers to recap what Casebook covered this year and hear about their experience in the program. Let’s hear what they had to say!

December 22, 2025 by Marty Chandler

Before seeing TARTUFFE at the Workshop, we recommend that you pop
over to “The Brief” Study Guide, where you’ll learn from all that’s inside
about topics like comedy and farce, themes of hypocrisy, and even could parse
through the difference between rhymes made by Lucas Hnath and Moliére.
Whether a student or curious theatregoer, we’re excited to share
this knowledge about the show—and then see you there!

December 5, 2025 by NYTW Education & Engagement