CAT Youth Theatre

EXCITING NEWS!

CAT Youth Theatre Program Director Helen White was New York 1's New Yorker of the Week!

Congratulations, Helen!

CAT Youth Theatre is a free, award-winning after school program for NYC middle and high school students to create original theatre. Members meet weekly, from September through May, to explore their ideas and creativity and build their skills through theatre games and exercises, improvisations and scene work, rehearsal, critical reflection, and group discussion.

Each spring, the CAT Youth Theatre company (young people in high school) presents a full production of an original work in a professional venue. Twice a year, the Junior Youth Theatre company (young people in middle school) presents sharings of original work at the CAT studio.

There is no audition or tuition and members are invited on a first come, first served basis. The criterion: a commitment to be an active and collaborative participant. For more information about joining, call (212) 652-2828, email Maureen.Donohue@mail.cuny.edu, or CLICK HERE to apply!

INSIDE OUT - 2013 CAT Youth Theatre Original Show

Thank you to everyone who saw INSIDE OUT! We've just finished a 10 show run at the Baruch Performing Arts Center.

About the show: What meaning can we make from viewing the world through the concept of Inside Out? Sweaters and socks can be turned inside out - but so can people and lives. When do we view things from the inside out and when from the outside in? Can we ever know someone inside out? Through a myriad of themes including relationships, responsibilities, health, and poverty, the CAT Youth Theatre presented INSIDE OUT, an entertaining and provocative original piece.

CAT Youth Theatre receives generous support from the New York City Council, New York State Council on the Arts, and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

Follow CAT Youth Theatre on Facebook.

Click here to apply!

Also available: Ask your school to work with CAT’s NYC Student Shakespeare Festival, Middle School Program, or High School Program.

To provide young people with hands-on opportunities to create original theatre experiences from their own ideas that will stimulate:

Creativity
Self-esteem and resiliency
Broader horizons
A strong sense of community
Reflection on what it means to be a theatre-maker and an active, engaged citizen in society
Social awareness and activism through theatre.

Click here to apply!

Since its founding in 1995, CAT Youth Theatre has:

Presented over 40 original ensemble shows, all created and performed by members
Held two 12-hour, non-stop, sponsored improvisation marathons
Performed, by invitation, in Chicago, London, the U.N., and as the first American company ever selected for the international Contacting the World Youth Theatre Festival in Liverpool, England
Motivated approximately 70% of its members to graduate from high school and go on to college
Seen alumni achieve careers in the arts, business, the military, and other pursuits. Several have returned after graduation to become professional CAT teaching artists

Click here to apply!

Themes for investigation vary from year to year in response to the group’s interests and concerns. Themes from recent shows have included:

Seeking Justice: Examined different kinds of justice, from the legal system to street justice, from vengeance to forgiveness, from families to schools, to look at the questions "what IS justice? And who should decide?"

The Power Game: Looked at relationships to power, responsibilties of power, and what kinds of power young people have.

From Time to Time: Toured to communities of older adults and explored the question, “What does it mean to have lived a good life?’

What Lies Beneath: Explored death, grief, Alzheimer’s, suicide, sexuality, Facebook.

Gone to Look for America: “What does it mean to be American?” Themes included politics, history, race, debt, and the struggles of everyday New Yorkers.

War Zones: Explored literal and metaphorical sources of conflict, including HIV/Aids, gangs, the role of the media, home and family.

Click here to apply!

INSIDE OUT - 2013 CAT Youth Theatre Original Production

What meaning can we make from viewing the world through the concept of Inside Out? Sweaters and socks can be turned inside out - but so can people and lives. When do we view things from the inside out and when from the outside in? Can we ever know someone inside out? Through a myriad of themes including relationships, responsibilities, health, and poverty, the CAT Youth Theatre presents INSIDE OUT, an entertaining and provocative original piece.

“Our year began with a shooting on the street outside the Empire State Building – right around the corner from where we were meeting. Later in the semester, New York City was hit by hurricane Sandy. It was probably not surprising that much of our work seemed to be concerned with how easily our lives can be turned inside out,” says CAT Youth Theatre founder and program director Helen White. “And yet amongst the upheaval, it also became even more important to laugh and celebrate life. The show uses the concept of INSIDE OUT to constantly flip the way we view the world.”

Friday, February 22 - 7:30pm
Saturday, February 23 - 2:30pm and 7:30pm
Sunday, February 24 - 2:30pm
Tuesday, February 26 - 5:00pm - youth groups especially welcome at this performance
Friday, March 1 - 7:30pm
Saturday, March 2 - 2:30pm and 7:30pm
Sunday, March 3 - 2:30pm and 7:30pm

For information and group rates, call 212-652-2828.

Previous Shows

SEEKING JUSTICE - SPRING 2012 ORIGINAL CAT YOUTH THEATRE SHOW

What is our relationship to justice? Who does justice serve? When and how should we fight for justice?

In a time where celebrity court cases and high-profile crimes are all over the news and protests over injustices have erupted in New York and around the globe, questions of what is just, and how justice is even defined, are more relevant than ever. The CUNY Creative Arts Team's CAT Youth Theatre will explore many facets of justice in its upcoming original production of SEEKING JUSTICE, created by the members of the CAT Youth Theatre.

"SEEKING JUSTICE developed from the young people's observations on how they see the Justice System and then reflecting on what justice really is - and should be" says CAT Youth Theatre founder and program director Helen White. "Since November, the 31 members who are working on this production have been researching different kinds of justice - from the legal system to street justice, from vengeance to forgiveness, from families to schools - to generate original theatre that grapples with the question what IS justice? And who should decide?"

This program is supported in part by funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.