IN CLASS Workshops
We offer year-round programming with something for every class from grade 4-12!
We’ve got a world premiere Mainstage production in the fall, new works IN DEVELOPMENT in the spring, and our beloved Finding Your Voice and Reclaiming Black Canadian History experiences available year-round. And this season we’re introducing our newest workshop: the Queer Elder Series. Check out our full season of programming to learn how Studio 180 IN CLASS can support your efforts to decolonize your classroom, examine Black and Queer histories, and support your students in finding and raising their voices!
MAINSTAGE WORKSHOPS
Experience a full production of a provocative play, featuring award-winning creative teams. Pre- and post-show sessions – delivered at the theatre or in your classroom – contextualize and delve into the themes, big questions, and characters of the play, while fun and generative drama-based activities inspire ensemble-building and student creation. An additional fee of $25 per student will apply when booking tickets to a performance.
THE CHRISTMAS MARKET
A b current Performing Arts production in association with Studio 180 Theatre and Crow’s Theatre
Written by Kanika Ambrose
Directed by Philip Aikin
$25 student group rate
Wednesday matinées Nov 19 (SOLD OUT), 22 & Dec 3 @ 2:00 PM
Studio Theatre, Streetcar Crowsnest (345 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto ON)
From Dora Mavor Moore Award–winning playwright Kanika Ambrose (our place, Truth), The Christmas Market is a radical and deeply felt new play set against the shimmering bustle of a snowy holiday market.
Recommended for grades 9-12.
Content Advisory: This play contains mentions of an incident of sexual violence, as well as moments that touch on hardship, isolation, and the realities of working-class immigrant life in Canada. The characters frequently use strong language including one instance of the n-word. It’s not used as a slur. The word appears in a moment charged with emotion and honesty, exchanged between characters who share cultural and generational ties. Its inclusion reflects real language that exists within some Black communities, particularly among young men. In this context, it speaks to identity, familiarity, and tension, not hate.
We know this word has weight. We also know it shows up in life, and that theatre often reflects that life. The moment in question is brief but intentional. It’s part of a larger conversation about survival, migration, friendship, and what it means to find belonging far from home.
IN DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
Get a rare glimpse into the theatre creation process with a workshop featuring one of Studio 180’s plays IN DEVELOPMENT. Pre- and post- show sessions focus on the themes, characters, and big questions of a work-in-progress, inviting students behind the scenes to meet the artists, provide feedback, and activate their own creative expression.
In 2025/26 these workshops are available during SECOND SEMESTER ONLY. Attendance at all IN DEVELOPMENT readings is FREE but space is very limited so book your spot ASAP!
Specific dates & location coming soon. To hold a spot for your second semester class and guarantee a workshop subsidy, contact jessica@studio180theatre.com. (No payment required at this time).
FALLEN STAR: The Shooting of Ukrainian Airlines PS752
Created by The Ensemble in collaboration with filmmaker Moze Mossanen
Back by popular demand! In the aftermath of one of the worst civil aviation tragedies in recent history, the families of victims of Ukrainian Airlines flight PS752 come together with a collective of actors to seek answers as to how and why their loved ones perished.
Following last season’s powerful IN DEVELOPMENT play readings, the Fallen Star ensemble returns to the studio to further develop this work that combines verbatim, improvisation and devised creation practices to mine the devastating cost of promising lives cut short and the possibility of finding truth and closure through the path of creative inquiry.
A pre-reading workshop contextualizes the play and two follow-up sessions guide students in their own verbatim and devised creations, inspired by the work-in-process.
Recommended for grades 11 & 12
Content Advisory: Themes of tragic loss and grief. This is a work-in-progress and may ultimately include some mature language.
It felt so personal and it was such an honour to experience a work-in-progress.
Grade 12 Drama student, Earl Haig Secondary School, TDSB
QUEER ELDER SERIES
NEW IN 2025/26! Inspired by the overwhelming success of student engagement during A Public Display of Affection, we are continuing the essential intergenerational dialogue with this brand new workshop that introduces youth to diverse 2SLGBTQ+ stories, promoting self-reflection, empathy and community-building. Each three-session workshop takes place in your classroom and is led by an experienced Studio 180 artist-educator and a Queer Elder. Through dramatic presentation and hands-on creative activations, Elders model courage and vulnerability in storytelling, empowering students to bravely listen, create and make their voices heard.
The pilot year of this workshop is generously supported by the K. M. Hunter Foundation.
Recommended for grades 9-12.
“It was a beautiful opportunity to get to know my peers on a more personal level and have a broadened perspective about the queer experience.”
Grade 12 Drama student, Earl Haig Secondary School, TDSB
finding your voice workshops
Looking for an explicit focus on student writing and creation? Our popular Finding Your Voice workshops amplify student voice and offer a diverse range of theatre practices from which to choose. Flexible and adaptable to your class’s needs, our standard model includes three sessions culminating in the creation of a solo piece. Our process-oriented approach nurtures a brave, judgment-free space in which students can build trust and take creative risks. Teachers also love using this work to launch final assignments and performances!
Finding Your Voice workshops are customized for each class and grade level, recommended for students from grades 7 – 12.
Finding Your Voice: Identity, Culture & Community
In these empowering and uplifting sessions, students reflect on themes of culture and community, excavating their own responses and opening themselves up to the experiences of others. Through ensemble-building, improvisation activities and other innovative drama-based exercises, we collaborate to foster trust and nurture a brave space for creation and sharing.
My favourite part of the workshop was just the presence of the artist educators in general. They brought a positive energy to the classroom. They taught us how to dive deep into our identities and explore our individuality. I’m proud to have shared my DEEPLY personal monologue.
Grade 12 drama student, John Fraser Secondary School, Peel
Finding Your Voice: The Monologue
This skills-building workshop emphasizes self-discovery and personal storytelling through drama-based activities that promote confidence, foster empathy, and amplify student voice.
Participants will play, reflect, and share as they engage in a variety of creative activations rooted in improvisation, ensemble-building, playwriting, and dramaturgy. A perfect way to introduce younger students to the dramatic form or to support senior students as they hone their craft.
Mark and Ngabo were fantastic and inspiring. They brought passion and competency to their instruction. And they honoured the lived experience and humanity of all students in the class.
Sharon Connelly, Drama Teacher, Mississauga Secondary School, Peel
Finding Your Voice: Devised Creation
With an emphasis on collaboration, improvisation, and physical exploration, students embark on a collective creation journey filled with joyful experimentation and risk-taking, culminating in the sharing of devised group pieces.
Helmed by experienced theatre deviser Jenna Harris, this workshop is a great way to promote student voice while enhancing a sense of community in the classroom.
The complete lack of limits of what our creations could be… how to approach creation through discovery and experimentation. This was surprising and refreshing.
Grade 11 Drama student, Wexford CI, TDSB
Finding Your Voice: Spoken Word Poetry
Looking to ignite authentic self-discovery in your classroom? This workshop, helmed by multidisciplinary theatre artist Marcel Stewart, blends decolonial insights with rhyme, poetry, and spoken word. Together we will be empowered to reject conformity and embrace our unique, individual narratives.
This workshop will nurture self-expression, challenge norms, and amplify confidence through discussions and hands-on activities that prompt student creation. Join us on this transformative journey.
It was such a fantastic workshop. The students were able to voice their opinions in a safe, welcoming space and were even able to share some of their spoken word poems with the class… Some of my students who usually are rather quiet or to themselves really came out of their shells. It was awesome.
Tonya Giuliani, Drama Teacher, Father Henry Carr CSS, TCDSB
Junior Drama Workshops
With so many requests for drama-based programming for younger learners, we are pleased to expand our workshops to include students in grades four – six.
Based on our popular Finding Your Voice model, customizable sessions cultivate a brave space in which to nurture drama, movement, voice, improvisation and writing skills, while building community, fostering empathy, encouraging self-reflection and inspiring creativity. Artist-educators specializing in arts education for junior learners lead these fun and active creation-based sessions with enthusiasm and care.
Andrew and Jessica were amazing teachers as well as artists – their energy and passion came through in all the activities they led, and the students responded really well! Some students who don’t usually participate as much in class really shone, which was lovely to see!
Isabel Stokes, Teacher, Downtown Vocal Music Academy, TDSB
Reclaiming Black Canadian History
Offered in partnership with our friends at b current Performing Arts, this popular workshop harnesses the creativity, curiosity and imagination of young people and guides them in researching Black Canadian historical figures and spaces through a dramatic lens.
Established by Studio 180 Artist Educator Marcel Stewart and led by some of Canada’s most acclaimed Black theatre artists, students will develop skills in research, creative writing, acting, and storytelling through the body and voice and create short theatrical pieces based on their learnings. This workshop can be spread over three separate engagements or booked as one full-day in-school fieldtrip. Perfect for BSAs as well as Drama and History classes!
The workshops were impactful and have led to continued important conversations in our classes.
Benjamin Smith, Equity Curriculum & Student Success Lead Teacher, Chinguacousy Secondary School, Peel
professional development
Workshops for Teachers
Having engaged with thousands of young people across diverse contexts, we are here to support educators in hands-on, participatory sessions where we share tools and techniques and foster a brave space for dialogue. Whether you are seeking support with online engagement, or the challenges of holding space for difficult conversations, our professional development workshops provide a supportive and empowering opportunity to learn, connect and share with artists and colleagues. All sessions include a pre- workshop participant survey and are custom designed to suit your needs.
With the help of our sponsors we offer a limited number of three-session workshops with a 60% subsidy for each successful applicant. Spots fill up quickly. Contact Jessica Greenberg, Director of Youth & Community Engagement for more information or Apply now!
How can teachers best support IN CLASS Artist Educators?
- Please direct all communication to Jessica Greenberg, Director of Youth and Community Engagement
- Your enthusiasm leading up to the first workshop session will be infectious. Please take some time in the days leading up to Session One to familiarize your students with Studio 180 Theatre and the Artist Educators.
- Your leadership during the class is essential. By modelling attentiveness and participation, you lead by example and empower the students to be brave and participatory. Being physically present in the circle or having your camera on during virtual sessions goes a long way to support both the students and guest artists.
- Most workshops are self-contained with very little preparation required on the part of teachers. In some cases, background resources will be shared a week prior to the first session. We appreciate you encouraging your students to engage with these materials before Session One.
- Most workshops include a creative writing component. Please make sure students are equipped with notebooks/paper and writing implements or tablets/laptops. Cell phones do not make good creative writing tools and we request that all phones be put away during performances and workshops
- We are constantly adapting and innovating our workshop models to meet student needs. Please designate time following the final session to have students complete our online Student Feedback Form. We also encourage teacher feedback to help us know what is working and where we can improve.