Valkyrie Theatre Company Youth Workshops and School Partnership Programs

Valkyrie Theatre Company Youth Workshops and School Partnership Programs offers school shows for K to 6th-grade students and education-based shows that focus on themes such as cooperation, confidence, communication, bravery, physical health, and mental health. The program uses theatre and drama to engage children and young people, including workshops where students of all ages and levels work with professional theatre practitioners, gain the full experience of theatre production, learn performance skills, and work in a group. Programs include in-school and after-school theatre options for elementary, middle, and high schools, with some programs working toward a final presentation and others toward a fully produced play or musical, as well as a Directing Mentorship Program for directing students who already have some theatrical experience.

• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: 6-week after school workshop sessions

The fall workshop is a 6-week after school workshop for middle and high school students, where students explore elements of putting on a show, from costumes and props to singing and building a character, while gaining skills and techniques of performance. Valkyrie Theatre Company’s School Partnership Program offers in-school and after-school theatre programs for elementary, middle, and high schools in all the school districts in the Sacramento area.

Students work with professional theatre practitioners, including Executive Director Jenny Connors, who trained at the Solano Community College Actor Training Program in a two-year intensive program covering Shakespeare, acting, dramaturgy, stage craft, technical theater, dance, voice, clown, mask, and musical theater, and who received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Highest Honors in Theatre Arts from the University of California Santa Barbara. Artistic Director Alison Gilbreath trained at accredited leading drama schools in London (Academy of Live and Recorded Arts and Academy of Science of Acting), received a BA in Theatre Practice from Guildford School of Acting, continued clown training with Phillipe Gaulier in Paris and Pierre Byland in Switzerland, and worked for 25 years in London as a Professional Equity Actress with several London-based touring companies. Jenny’s original play “Choices” was nominated for an Elly Award.

Valkyrie Theatre Company states a mission to provide a creative, nurturing haven through seven core values and a foundation of integrity and respect for each other and the craft, to create work held to high standards of theatrical art. The seven core values named by the company are Courage, Kindness, Responsibility, Altruism, Respect, Compassion, and Integrity. Valkyrie states that it aims to be a valuable and highly respected asset to its community through premier theatrical works, a high standard of education, and empowering, inclusive opportunities, and that it aims to be proactively inclusive in all casting and employment, with diversity at the heart of its artistic programming and attention to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and ability.

Last updated June 25, 2026.