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What is JNS Theater for Social Change? 
  • It is a program that works with students to consider multiple perspectives on a current social issue in order to develop thoughtful responses through the tools of theatrical storytelling.
  • It is a guest residency for two professional theatre artists—the heart of our program— who work with students either on-campus or remotely to develop plays about a chosen topic.
  • It is currently designed as a one to two week experience for university students, but can be adapted to other age levels and program lengths. 
  • It is a partner program to Theater Masters, and currently managed by Artistic Director Julia Hansen and Managing Artistic Director Stephen Cedars.

What does JNS Theater for Social Change do?
The goal of the residency is that every student write their own short play, rigorously engage a social issue in a personal way, and enjoy the process of using artistic expression to confront the world’s complexities.  

More specifically:
  • It works with university classes to incorporate into their curriculum a rigorous examination of a major social issue.  Previous topics have included: Immigration Reform; Prison Reform; The Decline of the American Small Town; United States Healthcare Reform; Big Business and the Environment; Women’s Rights; and Public Health.
  • It develops a syllabus bridging playwriting instruction and materials to guide student research into the chosen topic.  The program is designed to work within diverse fields of study including english, history, sociology, history, ethics, political science, criminology, psychology, and economics, among others. 
  • It collaborates with the professor or group facilitator to choose a topic and integrate our method into any particular setting. The program has been successfully run both in close collaboration with professors and as a stand-alone program solely responsible for instruction.
  • It provides direct classroom instruction to students on playwriting essentials, the nuances of the chosen topic, and research skills.
  • It meets individually with every student to both guide their writing and develop their facility for self-expression. We believe every individual has a unique perspective that dramatic writing can enhance, and work to facilitate that process.
  • It publicly presents the student plays alongside a public talk-back component.
  • It provides a final round of feedback on revised student work following the residency week.
  • It encourages students to consider the multifaceted perspectives on an issue while activating both their artistic and activist ambitions.

What is the goal of the JNS Theater for Social Change?
The program has been featured at the University of Nebraska, Doane University, and Ohio State University, where it has been endowed in order to fund an annual program in perpetuity.  The JNS Theater for Social Change program has been in business for four years and operates as a partner program to Theater Masters, which has worked for over twenty years with emerging playwrights, high school students in the Roaring Fork Valley and MFA playwrights from schools including Yale, NYU, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, University of Arizona and UCLA, among others, to produce and develop plays in Aspen, CO and New York City.

How can I  work with JNS Theater for Social Change?
​The program works with any professor, teacher, or community leader who wants to engage their students or population with imaginative approaches to the issues confronting contemporary society.  

The program has been refined through work with the University of Nebraska, Doane University, and Ohio State University, where it has been endowed in order to fund an annual program in perpetuity.  We adapt our approach and syllabi to each partner’s needs, and are always open to new challenges.

Please visit our Contact page for more information.