Play Time Theater: A Non-Profit Children's Theatre Company

Author(s)

Alexander Diehl, University of Rhode IslandFollow

Major

Business Administration (General)

Advisor

Gamache-Griffiths, Donna

Advisor Department

General Business

Date

5-2016

Keywords

Theatre; non-profit; entrepreneurial; creative

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Abstract

I grew up participating in the theatrical performing arts since the age of three. Since then, I have been in, on average, at least one production a year for eighteen years. I attribute much of my success to the life lessons I learned growing as up a “theatre kid.” Theatre is a great creative outlet for individuals to grow into their best selves in a diverse atmosphere where each person’s uniqueness is celebrated. From my experience, and the experience of others around me, I have found that theatre helps individuals build self-esteem, confidence, and happiness. Although there are so many advantages to participating in theatre, it is underappreciated by society. This is represented by many school programs cutting the budgets of arts education. In the state of Rhode Island, theatre programs are currently scarce and expensive. For my project, I explored the entrepreneurial effort of starting my own children’s theatre company called “Play Time Theater.”

This project has two main components: theory and application. The theory component is a comprehensive business overview that brings together and explains the various dimension of running a business. These dimensions include marketing, business law, human resources, and entrepreneurship. As a company, Play Time Theater offers creative writing and acting classes that teach the fundamentals of theatre education as well as basic creative writing and story-telling techniques. The company’s goal is to create a safe and inclusive atmosphere where children can grow. The application component is executing my theatre class in the local community. For this project, I taught my acting class at a local YMCA. It is important to apply the theory component of the project to be able to observe how the business actually operates. This project was extremely beneficial as it provided me the opportunity to apply the knowledge learned in my general business administration major in an actual business setting. The experience has furnished me insights I would not have learned in a classroom setting and I feel it has better prepared me for my future.