Setting the stage for success
Since its founding in 1983, YPT has presented upwards of 150 shows and developed a rich toolkit for providing innovative learning opportunities to young people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Under the leadership of founder Matilda Kunin (1933-2018) and with the support of her family and friends, YPT became a mainstay of the Bay Area arts scene — offering participation in fully staged repertory productions free of charge, enrichment curricula to schools and community centers, and acting classes to children as young as three years old. YPT’s mission, in inspiring youth to shine though self-expression and creative collaboration, isn’t to propel them into performance careers but to instill a life-long appreciation of the arts; provide a welcoming, supportive space for social bonding; and foster the skills necessary to succeed in life including self-confidence, empathy, focus, teamwork and creative thinking to solve problems.
James and the Giant Peach, 2019
© Amal Bisharat Photography
Over the years, YPT has acquired a distinct viewpoint on the interplay of the arts and cognitive abilities; on how performative play and participatory storytelling help youth build core social-emotional skills necessary for becoming attentive and supportive collaborators. Through Theatre in Education, repertory productions, classes and summer camps, YPT sets the stage for success in many fields of endeavor outside of performance.
Kunin’s protégé and successor, Stephanie Holmes, whose parents worked as professional actors in London, joined YPT in 2003 and began working with kids from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods who attended preschools supported by the Mimi and Peter Hass Fund. In storytelling and improv games she’d have the children play, she discovered the therapeutic power of interactive, “performative learning” where kids step into the role of creator, finding inspiration within themselves to free-associate and craft and dramatize stories that don’t come out of a book. Stephanie began directing YPT repertory main stage productions in 2007, while refining a workshop model for classes and summer camps that became a YPT calling card. Students create their own characters and adventures, woven together by instructors into short, original plays staged for friends and families.
Stephanie Holmes with “Mr. Pepper” outside YPT’s new home in Building D at Fort Mason
Photo by Graham Button
New space, expanded possibilities
In 2023, the company moved from its longtime space in Building C at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture to the more modern, fully equipped Southside Theatre in Building D. The new space suits Stephanie’s vision of providing continuity to students who age out of children’s theatre. Her goal is to make YPT relevant to developing a wide range of skills and disciplines including not just acting but theatre tech, playwriting and screenwriting, and sound design for film.
Beyond its home base at Fort Mason, YPT offers on-site theatre classes at Bay Area schools. Programming is tailored to the needs of each school and may be extracurricular, sometimes funded by Parent Teacher Student Associations (PTSAs). YPT also makes its space at Fort Mason available to schools and other organizations to rehearse and present productions and host events. In addition, YPT hosts birthday parties and other festivities that can include facilitation of theatre games and the addition of performance and entertainment components.