Playground Stage nurtures and empowers children to learn 21st century skills through hands on theatre education and professional theatrical performances.

Playground Stage is a newly formed children's theatre serving the Asheville/Buncombe County area. We want to offer after school theatre classes at five local elementary schools in fall 2019. Students in grades Kindergarten-5th grade can sign up and learn the art of musical theatre. Once a week the children will meet with a teaching artist to learn singing, dancing, and acting. At the end of the class the students will have a final sharing for parents, teachers, and classmates.

Our programming combines national core arts standards with social/emotional skills that are relevant to each age group. For example: In Kindergarten our students will learn how to identify emotions of characters, portray those emotions using their imaginations, and tell a story along with their cast mates using their body and voice. Just by doing that our students use 21st century skills of critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, and communication. Not to mention they are learning empathy, focus, and gaining self confidence.

Classes are divided by age group so that the instruction can meet the specific needs of each developmental stage of elementary students.

Kindergarten - 2nd grade will work on group storytelling, as well as singing and dancing as an ensemble.

3rd-5th grade will work on a mini musical where each child has a different role and responsibility to learn and execute. They will work on singing solos, memorizing lines, and dancing in small groups and alone.