The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts
900 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001
About
The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts offers acting classes, playwriting classes, Saturday acting classes, and summer camps for kids, along with Teen Programs and Youth Programs. The program also runs Summer Camp 2026 and youth arts programs, and it offers specific courses such as Creating a Musical Role and Creating a Role. In addition to youth and teen offerings, The Theatre Lab provides Adult Programs, public speaking for non-theatre professionals, the Honors Acting Conservatory, the Life Stories® program, and a workforce development program called the Arts Institute for Creative Advancement.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: The Honors Acting Conservatory is an intensive, year-long program for those 18 and older preparing for a theatre career.
The Theatre Lab is Washington, D.C.’s largest and most comprehensive independent, nonprofit school for the dramatic arts, and it has been operating for over 30 years. It offers programs for adults, teens, and children, including beginners and veteran actors, and enrollment has grown to over 2,800 adults, teens, and children a year, with more than 15,000 having taken its classes and programs. Its nationally recognized youth arts programs provide award-winning arts education to over 550 youth and teens each summer.
The Theatre Lab was born in 1992 and was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1993. In 1996, it began launching fundraisers to support scholarship programs. In 2000, Michael Rodgers founded the Life Stories® program, and in 2006 The Theatre Lab launched the Honors Acting Conservatory. In 2010, it received the Mayor’s Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts, and by 2019 student enrollment had grown to over 2,800. The Theatre Lab has been featured four times in Spur Local (formerly the Catalogue for Philanthropy) as one of the best small charities in Washington.
The distinguished faculty is comprised of experienced, award-winning professional artists who perform, write, or direct in theatre, film, TV, and audio recording across the DMV area. The leadership team includes Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Deb Gottesman and Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Buzz Mauro, and Michael Rodgers is noted as an actor and singer with a degree in arts management who joined in 1993 and founded the Life Stories® program in 2000. Theatre Lab Director of Youth Programs Terah Herman-Saldaña is also named in the leadership.
The Theatre Lab’s mission states that it transforms lives through theatre education and works to make both the artistic and real-life benefits of theatre training accessible to all. Its philosophy emphasizes a nurturing, inclusive environment with small classes that stress personal and artistic growth, high expectations for students at all skill levels, and the belief that all students have limitless potential. Theatre Lab classes aim to boost success on stage and off by teaching skills such as heightened confidence, adaptability, social ease, and the ability to work on a team. The organization extends theatre education to traditionally underserved populations through tuition assistance, work-study, and free Life Stories® programs.
Community involvement includes tuition assistance and work-study for disadvantaged kids, youths, and adults, and free Life Stories® programs for incarcerated and at-risk youth, homeless women, adults and teens in addiction recovery, wounded veterans, and seniors throughout the DC metro area. The Arts Institute for Creative Advancement is described as a workforce development program in technical theatre. The Theatre Lab has an expanded partnership with Washington Stage Guild and the Undercroft Theatre and partners with Arena Stage in the context of the DC-Area Performing Arts Camp Fair. The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities has recognized it as one of the 50 top arts- and humanities-based programs in the country serving youth beyond school hours, and its directors have received the Linowes Leadership Award from the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region.
The Theatre Lab has been named by Backstage as one of DC’s top training programs. It has received the Mayor’s Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts and has been featured four times in Spur Local as one of the best small charities in Washington. A former student stated, “The Theatre Lab will not only make you a better actor, if taken seriously, it will make you a better person,” and a student evaluation described the faculty as “invested in your growth, extremely knowledgeable, and experienced.” An early advertisement slogan for The Theatre Lab described it as “A foot in the door that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.”
Last updated January 12, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: The Honors Acting Conservatory is an intensive, year-long program for those 18 and older preparing for a theatre career.
The Theatre Lab is Washington, D.C.’s largest and most comprehensive independent, nonprofit school for the dramatic arts, and it has been operating for over 30 years. It offers programs for adults, teens, and children, including beginners and veteran actors, and enrollment has grown to over 2,800 adults, teens, and children a year, with more than 15,000 having taken its classes and programs. Its nationally recognized youth arts programs provide award-winning arts education to over 550 youth and teens each summer.
The Theatre Lab was born in 1992 and was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1993. In 1996, it began launching fundraisers to support scholarship programs. In 2000, Michael Rodgers founded the Life Stories® program, and in 2006 The Theatre Lab launched the Honors Acting Conservatory. In 2010, it received the Mayor’s Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts, and by 2019 student enrollment had grown to over 2,800. The Theatre Lab has been featured four times in Spur Local (formerly the Catalogue for Philanthropy) as one of the best small charities in Washington.
The distinguished faculty is comprised of experienced, award-winning professional artists who perform, write, or direct in theatre, film, TV, and audio recording across the DMV area. The leadership team includes Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Deb Gottesman and Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Buzz Mauro, and Michael Rodgers is noted as an actor and singer with a degree in arts management who joined in 1993 and founded the Life Stories® program in 2000. Theatre Lab Director of Youth Programs Terah Herman-Saldaña is also named in the leadership.
The Theatre Lab’s mission states that it transforms lives through theatre education and works to make both the artistic and real-life benefits of theatre training accessible to all. Its philosophy emphasizes a nurturing, inclusive environment with small classes that stress personal and artistic growth, high expectations for students at all skill levels, and the belief that all students have limitless potential. Theatre Lab classes aim to boost success on stage and off by teaching skills such as heightened confidence, adaptability, social ease, and the ability to work on a team. The organization extends theatre education to traditionally underserved populations through tuition assistance, work-study, and free Life Stories® programs.
Community involvement includes tuition assistance and work-study for disadvantaged kids, youths, and adults, and free Life Stories® programs for incarcerated and at-risk youth, homeless women, adults and teens in addiction recovery, wounded veterans, and seniors throughout the DC metro area. The Arts Institute for Creative Advancement is described as a workforce development program in technical theatre. The Theatre Lab has an expanded partnership with Washington Stage Guild and the Undercroft Theatre and partners with Arena Stage in the context of the DC-Area Performing Arts Camp Fair. The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities has recognized it as one of the 50 top arts- and humanities-based programs in the country serving youth beyond school hours, and its directors have received the Linowes Leadership Award from the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region.
The Theatre Lab has been named by Backstage as one of DC’s top training programs. It has received the Mayor’s Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts and has been featured four times in Spur Local as one of the best small charities in Washington. A former student stated, “The Theatre Lab will not only make you a better actor, if taken seriously, it will make you a better person,” and a student evaluation described the faculty as “invested in your growth, extremely knowledgeable, and experienced.” An early advertisement slogan for The Theatre Lab described it as “A foot in the door that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.”
Last updated January 12, 2026.
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