Dobama Theatre Inc

The playwrights' gym is dobama theatre's professional playwriting unit. The gym provides local playwrights the opportunity to workshop new work in a variety of ways, including direct feedback, rehearsal space, marketing, open readings, and other public events supported by dobama. The gym's goal is to nurture and encourage new work in a supportive environment and to continue dobama's commitment to the creation and premiere of important new plays. Admission to all gym events is free to the public to encourage attendance and audience feedback.

Education programs: the marilyn bianchi kids playwriting festival (mbkpf), the dobama emerging actors program (deap), and the intern program (part iii, 4b) as the oldest youth playwriting festival in the country, the mbkpf exemplifies all aspects of dobamas mission: it encourages the creation of new plays, cultivates young audiences for the arts, and asks students to examine the world around them. Northeast ohio students in grades 1-12 are invited to submit original plays to dobama for evaluation and feedback. The mbkpf culminates in an annual, fully-produced festival on dobamas stage of outstanding student plays as a community celebration of students work and creativity year-round. This is the core of dobamas educational programming and has been a staple in cleveland for more than 40 years. In-school literacy workshops are offered at no cost to public schools and provide educators with the tools to incorporate the program into their curriculum. Deap is an auditioned acting intensive hosted by dobama each summer where high school- and college-age students learn essential acting techniques from area professionals. Summer interns receive training in the areas of design, directing, and stage management. At the end of the program, students perform a fully designed, directed workshop production of a heightened-text play in order to apply what they have learned. The program prepares students for college auditions and future employment in the professional theatre world while honing communication and social-emotional skills. Tuition is on a sliding scale, and no student is turned away due to inability to pay. This program allows dobama to identify emerging talents and connect them with an opportunity to advance their craft in an environment that prizes diversity, experimentation, and excellence. The intern program admits groups of students for either a full mainstage season (september may) or a summer (may september). Interns receive close mentorship from administrative, artistic, technical, and support staff to provide a rounded education of the industry. The goal of the intern program is to provide opportunity for emerging professionals and to create a robust community of theatre professionals in the cleveland area. All interns have the opportunity to work in official positions on dobama productions, and all interns are paid for their work.