Treva Offutt, Playhouse Square’s director of education, is passionate about the theater district’s education performances and the positive effect on the children and teens who experience the productions.

“Theater is truly magical because you can see yourself represented in so many different ways,” Offutt reflects. “You see your own stories and the power of your own stories on stage. You also see stories that maybe you didn’t think about before.

“The power of being able to do that when you have your peers and other people you trust around you, and then have a deep conversation after the show about what you’ve just seen is unforgettable,” she adds.

Playhouse Square’s Education Performance season is dedicated to providing those experiences to classrooms throughout the state.

During the school year, Playhouse Square’s education department offers in-person matinees at the theaters and on-demand streaming shows for preschool through grade 12 students that provide pathways for teachers to introduce their students to live theater and make the community their classroom.

Subject matter ranges from plays based on classic children’s books to those exploring systemic racism, inclusion, and other relevant, issues of today.

In addition to providing teacher resource guides that meet Ohio Learning Standards, Playhouse Square also produces Classroom Connections Workshops that feature pre- and post-show videos of tailor-made content to complement select productions.

The performing arts center partners with local organizations and artists to compose these videos—offering film segments filled with age-appropriate activities, fun facts, and field trips to popular Ohio destinations.

Social Justice Short - 10 SecondsA focus on social justice

The 2023-2024 Education Performance season’s social justice series features one on-demand streaming video event and two theatrical performances that include:

• “10 Seconds,” a streaming video of the story of two high school students who discover what it means to be young Black men when they encounter police.
• “The Unauthorized Biography Series” at the Mimi Ohio Theatre—celebrating the lives of Martin Luther King Jr., former President Barack Obama, Malala Yousafzai, and Serena Williams through hip-hop songs and documentary-style music videos.
• “Show Way The Musical” at the Mimi Ohio Theatre, written by Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence and Ohio native Jacqueline Woodson, which traces seven generations of a Black family through a quilt that shines a light on the past and paves a road to the future.

• “Nothing Rhymes with Juneteenth,” in which a mother and her daughter explain the importance of the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
• “ACT FREE,” highlights three friends as they learn of their freedom and contemplate how to move forward.
• “The Water Gun Song,” describes how an innocent play date can have a moving impact for one family. In lieu of a traditional resource guide, the production includes primer materials designed to prepare teachers for the sensitive topics the work explores.

“In our climate of anxiety when it comes to talking about certain topics, we’re offering opportunities and resources for teachers to bridge the gap,” explains Offutt, “and have these conversations through a common base of theater and through the lens of theater.”

Students at school matinee performance in the Mimi Ohio TheatreSchool matinees

Written for students in grades preschool through 7, Playhouse Square’s Education Performance Season school matinee series is designed to inspire, teach, and bring literature to life.

The season includes the in-person productions of:

• “Giraffes Can’t Dance The Musical” at the Mimi Ohio Theatre: The tale of a fun-loving quadruped who dances to the beat of his own drum.
• “The Rainbow Fish” at the Mimi Ohio Theatre: The uplifting fable of a beautiful fish that learns to share his most prized possession.
• The on-demand streaming of “Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch:” The on-demand streaming of Eileen Spinelli’s heartwarming story of how unexpected kindness can make loneliness disappear.
• “Rosie Revere, Engineer & Friends” at the Mimi Ohio Theatre, which takes author Andrea Beaty’s characters Rosie, Iggy Peck and Ada Twist on an adventure spotlighting the STEM curriculum of science, technology, engineering, and math.
• “Air Play” at the KeyBank State Theatre: Created and performed by silent comedians Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone and air sculptor and inventor Daniel Wurtzel, which physically plays with air to create auditory “airplay” that includes Balkan gypsy music, Nordic boys’ choirs. and Appalachian ballads.

Plans are already in the works for the 2024–2025 Education Performance Season. The lineup will include Playhouse Square’s musical adaptation of productions of Margery Williams Bianco’s classic children’s book, “The Velveteen Rabbit”; and a play based on the life of social reformer, abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass.

“We’re always moving forward and look to our community to make sure we’re supplying an answer to a need,” Offutt says.

Darlene BurksConnecting the dots  

Cleveland’s Davis Aerospace & Maritime High School is tailored to scholars who have a passion for, or want to pursue a career in, aerospace or maritime fields.

“We’re not like a neighborhood school,” says freshman English teacher Darlene Burks. “We have students attending from the east side, west side and points in between.”

The educator embraces the cornucopia of cultural diversity her 70 students represent. She makes it a point to honor it in ways that include creating classroom celebrations of Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month—and introduces her students to the live theater and streaming on-demand productions presented during Playhouse Square’s Education Performance season.

“I plan my year school year around the shows we’re going to see at Playhouse Square,” Burks says. “One of my goals is to expose my students to a variety of different experiences. Before performances, we watch the pre-show Classroom Connection videos—which previews what we’re about to see—and, if we’re going in person, talk about the appropriate ways to behave in the theater. Afterward, we watch the post-show video, and our conversations continue.”

Last season, Burks and her students watched a streaming on-demand performance of “Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad,” which chronicled the life of the former slave and renowned abolitionist; and attended an in-person production of “Step Afrika!” that introduced students to a variety of African dance styles.

“‘Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad’ allowed them to understand history in a creative and interactive way, instead of just reading about it,” Burks reflects. “In addition to dancing, the ‘Step Afrika!’ performers, who were close to the age of my students, talked to them about their lives and what it was like to perform on stage. We were thrilled to make that connection.”

This year, Burks is preparing her classes to view the streaming on-demand performance of “10 Seconds” and attend “Air Play.” She explains that each production is an ideal complement to Davis Aerospace & Maritime’s mission and classroom curriculum.

“I love being an English teacher, but I also believe in giving my students the tools they’ll need to be successful in this world,” she says. “For my Black and Brown boys, I definitely need to make sure I address the part of their existence that deals with how to behave with law enforcement, and ‘10 Seconds’ explores that subject.”

“Air Play,” Burks adds, will light-heartedly flame the burgeoning fascination in aerodynamics her students share.

“I’m so thankful Playhouse Square provides access and exposure to these theatrical experiences,” says Burks. “After watching a performance, and when we discuss it in class, I hear laughter and excitement, I see smiles on my students’ faces, I see them engaged and learning.”

Burks is emphatic that the theatrical experiences help get her own missions as an educator fulfilled.

“What I’m seeing and hearing proves what I’m doing is landing the way I want it to,” she says. “Playhouse Square is helping to expose my students to the amazing possibilities life holds for them.”

Patrick Carpenter, principal of Noble Elementary School in Cleveland HeightsIgniting a spark

Patrick Carpenter, principal of Noble Elementary School in Cleveland Heights, vividly recalls the moment his ardor for live theater and Playhouse Square was sparked.

“My dad is a huge theater enthusiast, and I went with him to see ‘Les Misérables’ at Playhouse Square when I was 12,” he recalls. “It didn’t take long for me to get swept away in the story. It opened my eyes to something bigger than myself.”

Thanks to Playhouse Square’s student matinee series, the educator can ensure Noble’s student body of 400 scholars in preschool through fifth grade can partake of shows the performing arts complex presents.

“Research has proven that when students are actively engaged in arts education, they perform better on academic core content,” Carpenter says. “We want to make sure our scholars are exposed to this engaging format of storytelling and learning. Playhouse Square has become an integrated part of all we do here and the academic culture we promote in the building.”

Last season, students in all grades watched a streaming onon-demanderformance of “Havana Hop,” an interactive dance show filled with the rhythms of Cuba.

The content, Carpenter explains, served as the ideal accompaniment to the cultural awareness of the second language students were learning in Spanish class.

This season, Noble’s first and second graders will attend “Giraffes Can’t Dance, The Musical;” kindergarteners will see “The Rainbow Fish;” third through fifth grades will experience “Show Way, The Musical;” and kindergarteners, along with first- second-, third- and fifth-graders will take a seat at “Air Play.” All students will travel downtown for “Rosie Revere, Engineer & Friends.”

Additionally, parents will be invited to watch streaming on-demand performances of “Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch” with students in every grade level.

“We chose that puppet play because it aligns nicely with one of our school’s core values, which is kindness,” Carpenter explains, adding that his deep-rooted love for all things Playhouse Square grows more each year.

“I see the impact it has on my students,” he says. “We’re so fortunate in Northeast Ohio to have this amazing theater center. It would be a disservice not to take advantage of it because our students deserve it. It’s a privilege to engage with it and see them come alive in the darkness.”

Playhouse Square lists the information for show dates, times, and ticket information on its School Matinee Performances page.