THEATRE LAB

Founded to make the artistic, personal, and professional benefits of high-quality dramatic arts instruction accessible to adults and youth in the Washington metropolitan area, TTL provides exceptional theatre education to students from beginners to professionals in a setting that is anti-racist, equitable, and culturally aware; generous need-based scholarships that remove economic barriers to community participation; and innovative drama outreach to traditionally underserved and at-risk youth, adult, and senior populations.

To reach our goals, we are guided by the following principles:
• TTL believes that theatre craft is a teachable and learnable art.
• TTL believes that theatre skills have personal and professional benefits both on stage and in other areas of life.
• TTL welcomes all students and believes the strength of its community comes from its diversity and inclusiveness.
• TTL believes in setting high expectations and ambitious goals for all students, regardless of experience and skill level.
• TTL prides itself in enabling all students to make perceptible progress in its classes and programs.
• TTL has developed a unique pedagogy with an emphasis on each student's personal artistic growth and the primacy of respect between student and teacher, which sets it apart from other theatre classes.

We put these principles into practice by offering curriculum tracks and theatre education programs for individuals from the diverse community that is Washington, DC. We work extensively with faculty members in the development of curricula, we evaluate all classes and programs to assess their impact on participants, we raise scholarship funds and offer free programming to ensure that income is not a barrier to participation, and we market our programs (via community partners, social service organizations, educators in schools serving low income areas and others) to people whom the arts rarely reach.

TTL's greatest strength is its 31-year history of transforming lives through theatre education. Board members highlight TTL's respected status in the community as a result of programs that give hope and direction to those in need of help, including those who are unhoused, justice-involved, elderly, queer, veterans, and living in low-income households. The success of The Theatre Lab's training programs is further evidence by the unusually high employment rate of graduates from TTL's Honors Acting Conservatory: more than 85% of students who completed the program have gone on to work in respected professional theatres in the DC Metro area.

Furthermore, The Theatre Lab is in a strong financial position, with an established operating reserve and balanced income sources. 77% of TTL's expenses are allocated to programs. As a theatre education center, TTL devotes a significant portion of its yearly expenses to staff and its network of instructors. TTL hires approximately 45 instructors each year, all of whom are distinguished theatre professionals in the DC area; many teach in multiple programs throughout the year. According to its board, TTL also benefits from the artistic and management strengths of its founders and co-directors, Deb Gottesman and Buzz Mauro, who received the prestigious Linowes Leadership Award from the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region which recognizes individuals of great creativity, leadership, and vision. Deb Gottesman has also been recognized as a 2023 Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian Managazine.

Since 1992, The Theatre Lab has provided rigorous training to over 34,000 students, encouraging participants to value the dramatic arts on stage and in everyday life. The Theatre Lab also reaches those communities on the margins of society who rarely experience the benefits of the dramatic arts. Since its inception in 2000, The Theatre Lab's nationally recognized Life Stories program has taught more than 5,500 vulnerableindividuals to create original dramatic works using their own life experiences, and Theatre Lab's scholarship programs provide more than $150,000 annually so that young people living near or below the poverty line can participate in its filled-to-capacity acting and musical theatre camps.

The Theatre Lab has had remarkable success creating a secure niche in the arts ecology of the nations capital. The focus of this plan is on building on this strong foundation and establishing TTL as the regions premier theatre school. This will require the addition of a few high profile programs, a sustained series of online activities, and an increased focus on alumni.

This expansion of programming will be accompanied by a strong institutional marketing campaign that supports an energetic development effort.By working to maintain strong programming, creating a sophisticated institutional marketing campaign and installing a disciplined development culture, TTL will attract a larger family of students, volunteers and donors.

Dynamic programming, marketing and donor cultivation will have the corollary benefit of attracting new board members who can provide strong governance and philanthropic leadership. By building programming, marketing it well and extending its reach, The Theatre Lab will attain a secure position as a leading national theatre school while remaining rooted in its local community.

TTL is also committed to increasing Justice, Equity, Diversity Inclusion and Belonging in its operations and programming. and the following principles are central to its strategic plan:
We believe that the strength of our community comes from its diversity and inclusiveness.
We are committed to creating meaningful opportunities for all students, staff and faculty members in an environment fostering belonging.
We believe that theatre is a powerful tool for fighting oppression and advancing social justice.
We believe the people within an organization cannot flourish if injustice and bias are built into the system at any level and we are committed to being an anti-racist organization.
We believe theatre should elevate voices that too often go unheard, and provide a platform where people are respected and supported with humanity.