The People's Light & Theatre Company

Now in its 37^th season, The People's Light & Theatre Company is one of Pennsylvania’s largest professional nonprofit theaters and is known for its resident company of artists, its eclectic mix of productions, and its innovative work with young people. The company produces seven to nine plays per season, mixing world premieres, contemporary plays, and fresh approaches to classic texts. It commissions and produces new work, of which 397 productions (over a third) have been world or regional premieres. Arts Discovery is a suite of arts education programs that inspire and inform the production season. These programs further extend the theater's mission of working with youth and adults with school residencies; student matinees that bring students from high schools to the theater each year for free; a broad array of theatre arts classes; and special projects inspired by the needs of the community. People’s Light includes two black box theatres with 340 and 160 seats, employs 79 full and permanent part-time artists and staff members and almost 200 guest artists, and serves a community of 85,000 each year.

The People’s Light & Theatre Company presented student matinees of The Winter’s Tale directed by Guy Hollands, as part of their Discover Series. In addition, the company provided workshops, post-performance discussions, and study guide. A total of six performances and 19 educational activities benefitted more than 1,200 middle- and high-school students from 23 schools located in Pennsylvania.

Our workshops in the schools, our social media and web presence, and our production were thoughtfully interconnected in a way that one resonated and amplified the other. Students felt great ownership of the story and investment in the characters. Several students shared on Facebook that they told their friends to come and see the production or that they themselves came back to it again during an evening performance.