Touchstone Theatre

1. Professional Training Apprenticeships

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
APPRENTICESHIPS

Touchstone’s Apprenticeship is a unique opportunity for young or transitioning theatre artists to create, train, and collaborate with the Touchstone Ensemble.

Apprentices engage in:
CREATING original solo and ensemble performance in production and lab settings
TRAINING that focuses on creating original work in Ensemble Theatre
COLLABORATING with the ensemble to develop new work and teach theatre in the community

Production Apprenticeships are also available to those who wish to train with the Touchstone Ensemble, but concentrate on stage management or technical direction in an ensemble-centered theatre.

The apprenticeship is a season long commitment (September through June). Apprentices are expected to live in Bethlehem and commit 20-25 hours per week to their work at Touchstone.

To apply, please send a letter of interest, headshot (or recent photo), and resume with references. We will contact you about auditions/interviews. For more information, email Vicki Graff or call (610) 867-1689. If you are interested in the Production Apprenticeship, please contact Production Manager, James Jordan.

ARTSTOUCH
Touchstone’s ArtsTouch programs engage local youth in the arts and creativity and teach a positive means for self-expression through the use of theatre techniques.

ArtsTouch refers to all of Touchstone's programming that involves youth. Examples of our current programs are listed below, although Ensemble members also conduct arts-integration residencies or theatre workshops at local elementary and secondary schools, as well as theatre performances created for young people, such as Don Quixote: The Adventure Begins.

Touchstone’s core ArtsTouch programs include:

Building Bridges
Ensemble members work with teachers, counselors and students in emotional support classrooms. The Ensemble members use theatre activities to help the students to open up and accept one another and themselves. Skills learned in these classes help students more effectively communicate, improve focus and concentration skills, enrich problem-solving and decision-making skills, and strengthen teamwork. As a result, students’ self-esteem is improved and they begin to develop a more positive means of self-expression.

Young Playwrights' Lab
Touchstone teaching artists use dynamic theatre activities and improvisations to teach local students, grades 4 and up, to write original, one-act plays. These students learn theatre skills, monologue and dialogue writing, character creation, and other fundamentals of playwriting. Using these elements, students will learn to develop their ideas into a one-act play. YPL provides a vehicle for a diverse cross-section of local young people to share their stories. Each year ends with our Young Playwrights’ Festival. For more information, visit the Touchstone Young Playwrights' Lab Blog!

Early Childhood Arts Integration
Working intimately with teachers to plan detailed projects that develop creativity, Touchstone artists work in early childhood classrooms, integrating in for one school day a week. Artists and students discover the essence of theatre and creative drama, playing their way towards developing social and communication skills, literacy, and of course communication. Read about one partnership right on the Southside of Bethlehem: PASELA.

Or we can work together to design a program to suit your students:

From pre-school programs to university training, Touchstone’s Ensemble has been actively involved in helping students explore curriculum subjects, critical thinking, listening, teamwork, and the fine art of being fully human… in addition to honing their theatre skills.

"Learning how theatre is made is a blast! I learned the skills of acting, cooperation, good teamwork and responsibility."

"We had so much fun working with you. We learned a lot about teamwork and not to fight with each other"

"I had the best week ever! You taught me that listening is the most important thing in theatre and in life."

Rave reviews are from fourth grade students at Union Township Elementary School, NJ, following a one-week theatre residency program.

Please contact the Education Coordinator to discover how you can make any subject come to life using theatre techniques, through a residency or workshop (some funding support may be available!). Professional Development workshops are also available.

Arts Residencies in Communities
"You have given us something to think about as far as telling our stories across the state. You are golden!" —Rosemary Pawlowski, Bottleworks Ethnic Arts Center, Johnstown, PA

Touchstone can work with your community center, library, museum – you name it – to use creative drama to tell the stories of you and your community.

In our own community we have told stories of the Bethlehem Steel, the Latino/Anglo community coming together, and the history of the African American people in the Lehigh Valley. What story will your community tell?

For more information, e-mail us to begin a dialogue.