Create something special!
Represent your community!
Be part of a live, movement based, devised theatre experience
with a professional teaching artist from
La Jolla Playhouse.
Join theatre students
from across the school district!
Meet the Director, Emily Stamets
Emily Stamets lives to put the impossible on stage. Whether it's with puppets, oral storytelling, or ensemble magic, she is a firm believer that no story should be left untold. As a theatre generalist, she has been paid to do every job in theatre, and loves it all. She brings this wide knowledge of theatre making to her work with artists of all ages as a teaching artist, coach, and director. She created the Find Your Light podcast celebrating women+ in theatre, and co-hosts the And, SEEN! Podcast with her husband Tyler. Emily holds Masters degrees in Education, and Theatre Design & Production.
Who? YOU! All high school theatre students enrolled in a theatre class during the 22-23 school year are invited to apply.
What? Create a movement based, devised piece of theatre with other students from across the district. Respond to murals in your community and answer the question "What is YOUR San Diego" Get behind the scenes of a Tony Award winning regional theatre, learn new performance skills, and make your voice heard through guided storytelling. This work will be led by Emily Stamets a California based theatre maker and teaching artist with La Jolla Playhouse.
Where? In person workshops and rehearsals will be held at Mira Mesa High School with performances at The Rady Shell as part of the La Jolla Playhouse WOW Festival.
When? Applications are due Wednesday, March 22. The work starts Saturday April 8. Performances will be April 27-30, time TBD. Rehearsals will be held at Mira Mesa High School, from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. There will be two Saturday workshops. Full rehearsal information in the application form. Additional meetings will be scheduled with the technical and production team as the project gears up.
Why? Connect with your passion! Tell your story! Do something different! Build your theatre community! Meet and work with professionals in the field. Plus, it will look good on a resume or college application. AND you will get an exclusive workshop with Disco Riot, an amazing, movement based arts collaborative with a piece in the WOW Festival
How? Fill out your application now! Talk with your theatre teacher for a recommendation.
What do you want to say? What impact can you, as a theatre artist, make? What does the cutting edge of theatre look like?
What will it be like?
Theatre students from across the district will come together to create a devised piece of physical theatre. Working with a guest teaching artist and professional, La Jolla Playhouse mentors, the company will devise a movement based theatre piece in response to murals in the San Diego Community. Ensemble is the name of the game!
Designers and technicians will be mentored by La Jolla Playhouse staff and participate in the creative process.
The final product will be part of the La Jolla Playhouse WOW (Without Walls) Festival and be performed at The Rady Shell live, for a public audience.
More info:
La Jolla Playhouse and SDUSD are excited to partner with engaged youth from all high schools in the San Diego Unified School District for the Honors Theatre Project. Through the process, you will collaborate through theatre exercises and performance alongside your creative peers all under the guidance of a La Jolla Playhouse Teaching Artist to develop a brand new piece of theatre that will be performed for audiences at the 2023 La Jolla Playhouse WITHOUT WALLS (WOW) Festival.
What is the WITHOUT WALLS (WOW) Festival?
Without Walls (WOW) productions offer a dizzying array of interactive and site-inspired theatre. Full of diverse offerings, WOW shows have one thing in common – they are an invitation to reimagine what theatre can be through intriguing and playful experiences.
WOW performances take place outside the confines of a traditional theatre, whether in the backseat of a car, on a basketball court or completely virtually! Since its inception, Without Walls has become one of San Diego’s most popular and acclaimed performance series, delighting critics and audiences alike.
Check out more about WOW here.
Testimonial from Honor Theatre Project Alumni
“Through the honors program I met wonderful people who are still a part of my life today as friends and mentors. The program was a wonderful experience and it opened a lot of doors for me as an actor. I truly recommend it to all theatre lovers.” - Zayra Nicifore (SCPA Alumna- Honor Theatre Project 2013)
Watch this video from Laura Z, Scripps Ranch High and Honor Theatre Alumna. She now works at The Old Globe.
"There are so many different and new forms of artistic expression emerging from theatre. In traditional theatre, actors would show up on the first day of rehearsals expecting two very important resources at their service, a script and a director. Scripts and directors equip the actor with their lines and stage directions, which pretty much tell the actor much of what they should be doing on stage. But a new form of theatre-making is emerging, many are calling this method “devising”. Devised theatre is a free-formed style in which all members of the creative group work collectively and collaboratively, to design a performance completely from scratch. There is no script involved prior to the devising process, but rather the script gets written along the way. The goal of devising is to develop something new." -Josh Orlando @ThisStage
What does a final script for devised theatre look like?
Read an example of a final script. The second and fourth plays were created under the guidance of teaching artist, Joshua Streeter. In our devised theatre, the ensemble will decide the theme and create all their own work.
Marjorie Treger
Theatre Resource Teacher
mtreger1@sandi.net