Education

You belong here.

Classes for ages 5 through Adult

Spring classes are here to get you growing!
We meet you where you are. No experience? We will help you build.
Have experience?  We will guide you higher.

Jump to Spring Youth OR Adult Classes- Click the links below!

YOUTH CLASSES ADULT CLASSES 2023 Summer Camps

Click the graphic to download a pdf of all Spring Class offerings and all our details (it’s all linked to make it direct and easy).

photo of the interior of the NorShor Theatre looking from the stage into the empty house. There are many levels of deep red seats and murals on the walls in circular frames.MISSION: The underlying goal of our educational programming is to use the framework of theatre and creativity as a way into developing both as a human and artist. We believe theatre education fosters the intrinsic understanding and practice of many vital and rarely deliberately taught ‘soft’ skills.  Examples include using empathy as a lens into processing the world around you, effective communication and collaboration, and developing deliberate intrapersonal (inside the self) awareness and intentionality.

Education that prioritizes evolving its students into mature and reflexive artists is a primary guiding concept for our curriculum. Through a combination of teaching substantial and well-researched theatrical techniques along with consistently exercising a spirit of openness, experimentation, and an attitude just as interested in the things that don’t work as much as the things that do, we believe the Artist Mindset prepares students of all ages (adults too!) equally well for a life in the arts/theatre or any path they choose to pursue.

The way we teach theatre supports multiple modes of intelligence that don’t always get practiced through more traditional educational frameworks, including kinesthetic/spatial, musical/rhythmic, and making the interpersonal/intrapersonal explicit. In addition, logical/quantified and verbal intelligences are practiced and reinforced through the lens of critical thinking, experimentation, and creativity. We feel strongly that this process not only creates great theatre artists, but also bolsters aptitude and a sound foundation for all arenas of learning. In other words: theatre training makes for good lawyers, doctors, scientists, and engineers just as much as it does for actors, writers, designers, and musicians.

Our program emphasizes two core areas of in-depth training: Acting and Music Theatre. Additionally, multiple Special Topics will also be offered that allow for exploration into related disciplines. We also are working hard to create opportunities for all types of theatre artists–designers, technicians, directors, choreographers, playwrights, just as much as actors, singers, dancers–to grow and learn. We also prioritize the importance of diversity of opinion, of identity, of background, and of experience within our classrooms and rehearsal rooms. We know that the more varied the outlooks from individuals in our programs, the better the art we will make. We are working hard to find ways to reduce the barrier of entry to our programming, and want everyone to know they are invited not only to Duluth Playhouse, but also to theatre in a larger sense.

Looking for 2023 Summer Camps?


Financial Scholarship & Assistance

Need assistance in paying for your child’s classes? Click below to apply for a School of Performing Arts scholarship.

QUESTION? Email Courtney Self:  cself@duluthplayhouse.org