About
Youth on Stage includes creative drama and discovery, imaginative play, movement, rhythm, basic storytelling, and drama games and exercises. Participants take part in pantomime, simple vocalization, sensory exploration, creative movement inspired by fairy tales and familiar stories, and small-group performances of simple scenes and songs for family and friends. Activities also include learning to use their voices, mirroring movements, using exaggerated expressions to act out emotions, improvisation, character development, learning stage directions, basics of script analysis, scene study, emotional range work, advanced character analysis, exploring various theater genres, exploring directing, basic set design, creating and performing original stories, performing a short scripted play, showcases with several short pieces or scenes, and drum class, and some programs may touch upon musical theater, puppetry, and costume design.
• Ages: 3–14 years old
Youth on Stage is part of a youth, summer performance theatrical day camp of the arts whose curriculum offers a multi-stage approach to theater with instruction and performance activities organized by age group. The Little Stars component is for ages 3–5 and focuses on creative drama and discovery, the Kids on Stage component is for ages 6–10 and focuses on ensemble work and foundational acting techniques in a non-competitive atmosphere, and the Stagecraft Kids Academy component is for ages 11–14 and offers advanced technique and collaboration. Program culminations include low-pressure sharings or informal showcases for family and friends.
Youth on Stage is offered by the Black Repertory Group, which was founded in 1964 and is described as the oldest and longest-running African American theatrical organization of its kind in the nation, celebrating more than 61 years of African American theatre. The Black Repertory Group states that the theater is used as a means to uplift the individual and in turn uplift the community and serves as a training ground for amateurs who aspire to become professional. Its mission includes providing a stage where people of all races, creeds, colors, and orientations have the opportunity to experience Black America’s cultural heritage, and providing a space for creative expression for all people while specifically showcasing the talent and culture of the Black artistic community.
The organization’s leadership and teaching team connected to these programs includes Stanford researcher Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott PhD, the current Executive Director, board member Dr. Orr, and Dr. Spencer, who teaches drum class, along with founders who are the parents of Mona Vaughn Scott and Nora Vaughn, founder of the Black Repertory Group. The theater has a costume rental program with costumes spanning roughly 600 years of costumers and integrates classes in costume design and training opportunities for costumers of different ages. The Black Repertory Group notes the use of Dr. Moreno psychodramatic techniques in its Health Education Through Theater (HETT) outreach.
The Black Repertory Group reports community outreach programs addressing social issues and the needs of at-risk youth and families through HETT, including collaborations with PFIZER on hypertension and funding for HETT, and with board member Dr. Orr working with GILEAD to bring programs into the Alameda County jails. Under the current Executive Director, alliances include Judge Horace Wheatley’s alternative program described as “Jail or the Black Repertory Group,” and the programs have provided enrichment and job training for at-risk youth and mothers. Historical collaborations include work with CIL leaders Gerald Baptiste, attorney Jan Garret, and Stuart James, as well as job training collaborations with LAO Family through lfcd.org, and the costume rental program enables youth from employment training collaborations to share this experience with enrolled youth.
The Black Repertory Group notes that MacArthur “Genius” Award and AUDELCO award winner Ishmael Reed has been associated with the theater as a writer.
Last updated March 16, 2026.
• Ages: 3–14 years old
Youth on Stage is part of a youth, summer performance theatrical day camp of the arts whose curriculum offers a multi-stage approach to theater with instruction and performance activities organized by age group. The Little Stars component is for ages 3–5 and focuses on creative drama and discovery, the Kids on Stage component is for ages 6–10 and focuses on ensemble work and foundational acting techniques in a non-competitive atmosphere, and the Stagecraft Kids Academy component is for ages 11–14 and offers advanced technique and collaboration. Program culminations include low-pressure sharings or informal showcases for family and friends.
Youth on Stage is offered by the Black Repertory Group, which was founded in 1964 and is described as the oldest and longest-running African American theatrical organization of its kind in the nation, celebrating more than 61 years of African American theatre. The Black Repertory Group states that the theater is used as a means to uplift the individual and in turn uplift the community and serves as a training ground for amateurs who aspire to become professional. Its mission includes providing a stage where people of all races, creeds, colors, and orientations have the opportunity to experience Black America’s cultural heritage, and providing a space for creative expression for all people while specifically showcasing the talent and culture of the Black artistic community.
The organization’s leadership and teaching team connected to these programs includes Stanford researcher Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott PhD, the current Executive Director, board member Dr. Orr, and Dr. Spencer, who teaches drum class, along with founders who are the parents of Mona Vaughn Scott and Nora Vaughn, founder of the Black Repertory Group. The theater has a costume rental program with costumes spanning roughly 600 years of costumers and integrates classes in costume design and training opportunities for costumers of different ages. The Black Repertory Group notes the use of Dr. Moreno psychodramatic techniques in its Health Education Through Theater (HETT) outreach.
The Black Repertory Group reports community outreach programs addressing social issues and the needs of at-risk youth and families through HETT, including collaborations with PFIZER on hypertension and funding for HETT, and with board member Dr. Orr working with GILEAD to bring programs into the Alameda County jails. Under the current Executive Director, alliances include Judge Horace Wheatley’s alternative program described as “Jail or the Black Repertory Group,” and the programs have provided enrichment and job training for at-risk youth and mothers. Historical collaborations include work with CIL leaders Gerald Baptiste, attorney Jan Garret, and Stuart James, as well as job training collaborations with LAO Family through lfcd.org, and the costume rental program enables youth from employment training collaborations to share this experience with enrolled youth.
The Black Repertory Group notes that MacArthur “Genius” Award and AUDELCO award winner Ishmael Reed has been associated with the theater as a writer.
Last updated March 16, 2026.
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