COMPANY ONE’S STAGE ONE EDUCATION PROGRAMS
In service of Company One Theatre’s mission to build community at the intersection of art and social change, C1’s Stage One programming focuses on developing authentic relationships with, and among, young people and early career artists, fostering a sense of belonging where they are encouraged to access their voices and express themselves.
We do this through our In-School Residencies, Professional Development for Actors, Teen Internships, and Youth Matinees.
Interested in bringing a Stage One residency to your school? Reach out to Mark VanDerzee, Education Director, at mvanderzee@companyone.org.
IN-SCHOOL RESIDENCIES
In service of Company One Theatre’s mission to build community at the intersection of art and social change, our Education Department’s Stage One Programming focuses on developing authentic relationships with, and among, young people and early career artists, fostering a sense of belonging where they are encouraged to accces their voices and express themselves.
Developing Changemakers
Stage One uses theatre in the classroom to support young people in the process of becoming changemakers who practice active and responsible citizenship: a skill set that will serve the student, their communities, and ultimately, all of us.
Activate Your Voice
Our theatre integration program is designed to support multilingual learner ages 11-22 develop their voices through literacy and creative development. The classes for are designed for Grades 9-12, to center the stories and experiences of young people of color, with a focus on personal and social development skills.
Beyond the Classroom
Crafted specifically for Grades 6-8, these after-school programs encourage students to develop their creative voices by creating original work meaningful to their communities.
Anti-Racism Residencies: Hype Man
Crafted specifically for Grades 6-8, these after-school programs encourage students to develop their creative voices by creating original work meaningful to their communities.
Step Into your Power Series
A developmental workshop series designed to help students articulate their personal strengths, build confidence, and develop advocacy skills in various workplace scenarios.
See full list of partner schools
Boston Adult Technical Academy
Boston Community Leadership Academy
Dearborn Academy
Fenway High School
Jeremiah Burke High School
Josiah Quincy Upper School
Orchard Gardens
Tech Boston
Watertown High School
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ACTORS
Calling all actors! C1’s Prodessional Development for Actors (PDA) course provides a low cost alternative to expensive theatre courses offered by higher education institutions. Stage One aims to bridge the wealth gap often associated with training in the arts as we believe that cost shouldn’t be a barrier to gain the skills needed to work in theatre. Aimed at helping actors of all experiences, participants will hone their craft through in-depth character script analysis and monologue work, preparing them for future auditions and roles. Participants will also explore their individual responsibility towards equity and social justice as theatre practitioners, an avenue of study not often found in college courses and programming.
Interested in our Spring 2025 session? Email training@companyone.org to be the first to know about program and audition dates!
TEEN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
C1’s Teen Internships provides opportunities for leadership and work experience in a community arts setting. Teens learn literacy skills, college and career readiness skills, and changemaker skills.
“Without knowing it, you help[ed] me believe in myself and give me confidence…. Because of you I’m not afraid anymore to make my voice my strongest weapon.”
– Former teen intern Lucy Jura
Would you or a teen that you know like to learn more about the program? Email stageone@companyone.org for more information!
STAGE ONE SEASON 26 TEACHING ARTISTS
Our teaching artists bring cultural responsiveness and years of experience to the classrooms of our partner schools. Their ability to adapt to the needs of each class is key to the success of our programs. Through an emphasis on communication, collaboration, and flexibility, these artists are vital additions to any school’s arts programming.
Elijah Brown
In-School Teaching Artist
Anjaliyah Echemendia
In-School Teaching Artist
Patrice Jean-Baptiste
In-School Teaching Artist
Jenny S. Lee
In-School Teaching Artist
Alex Leondedis
In-School Teaching Artist
Jen Lewis
In-School Teaching Artist
Dev Luthra
In-School Teaching Artist
Joshua Olumide
In-School Teaching Artist
Josh Glenn-Kayden
PDA Teaching Artist
SEASON 26 TEACHING ARTIST BIOS
Elijah Brown they/he
Elijah is a theater artist, educator and technician. He trained at Emerson College graduating with their BFA in Acting with a minor in dance. Elijah has also trained at the Kristin Link later Voice Center in Orkney, Scotland. They’ve directed, choreographed, and taught at Pied Piper Youth Theater in their hometown Stormville, NY. During this time, Elijah was mainly working with children on the autism spectrum. As someone on the spectrum himself it was crucial for him to also educate himself on the different ways to communicate and reframe his teaching to better support their students’ needs. Elijah then went to teach with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company at Boston public schools as well as coaching the summer apprentices! Elijah specializes in Linklater and devising practices to uplift and empower their students to listen and trust themselves and their body. His artistry and advocacy mainly focused around accessibility in both viewing and performing in theater. They hold the same sentiment when it comes to education believing that there isn’t just one way to learn. Information can be delivered in so many different ways; Elijah’s main goal in arts education is to provide ample support for every student!
Acting credits include: Orpheus in the Overworld (Orpheus) with Fresh Ink Theater Company, Romeo and Juliet (Lady Montague) and Macbeth (Caithness) with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Power Play (Sarah) with Artist’s Theater of Boston, Antigone (Creon), and As You like It (Duke Senior) with Emerson College.
Anjaliyah Echemendia she/her
Anjaliyah is a Boston native who began teaching with Company One as a student apprentice in 2018. A dancer, choreographer, performer, stage manager and director, recent directing credits include Heathers: The Musical, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; both for 20Cent Production Company, of which she was president. Recent stage management credits include Clue: On Stage, Unto This House, Lion King Jr., and Triggered. Recent choreography credits: Zombies from the Beyond, which she also assistant directed.
Patrice Jean-Baptiste she/her
Patrice Jean-Baptiste studied at Boston University receiving a B.A. in philosophy and french. She also earned an M.A. Rhode Island College/ Trinity Rep Conservatory. Patrice has been a teacher of public speaking and performing arts at Milton Academy for a period of twenty three years during which time she created a course on Spoken Word Poetry, taught acting, directed plays, served as academic advisor, worked in five dormitories, coached and directed a nationally recognized speech and debate team. She also taught speech and debate at Harvard’s Crimson Summer Academy. Patrice is fluent in French, Haitian Creole and actively learning Spanish.
Over the last two years, Patrice returned to acting. She has most recently been in Actors’ Shakespeare Projects productions of Coriolanus, Taming of the Shrew and King Hedley II. She was also in Lyric Stage’s production of Trouble in Mind. You can see her in the upcoming production with Huntington Theatre’s The Grove and Central Square Theatre’s Her Portmanteau.
Jenny S. Lee she/her
Northern Virginia native and Boston College graduate Jenny S. Lee is a Boston-based Korean American teaching artist, director, actress, and arts administrator who serves as Associate Producer at CHUANG Stage, Boston’s Asian American theatre company. As an artist, she finds meaning in theatre as a method of philosophical explication, a necessary mover of social change, and a space for radical catharsis, conversation, and curiosity within and around the AAPI community. Select directing credits include The Heart Sellers (Assistant Director) at Huntington Theatre, Luz & Urduja at CHUANG Stage, Volt Lab Directing fellow at Company One, and John Deserves to Die (Assistant Director) at Fresh Ink. Select acting credits include The Hound of the Baskervilles (Watson) at Central Square Theatre, Yellowface (Jane Krakowski & Others) at Lyric Stage, Stir Frying Mahjong (Winnie) at Mass Coalition for Suicide Prevention, Concrete Dreams (Tala) at TC Squared, and Troublemaker (May Yu) and Takeover (Pansy) at Asian American Playwrights Collective. IG: @_jennyslee_
Alex Leondedis he/him
Alex Leondedis is an actor, director, and teaching artist based in Boston, originally from Kansas. Alex received his BFA in Contemporary Theatre from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Past Acting credits include The Antelope Party and Lunch Bunch (Apollinaire Theatre Company); Macbeth, Much Ado, Romeo and Juliet, and Midsummer (Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare); Midsummer (Boston Theatre Company); A Wrinkle In Time (Wheelock Family Theatre); Medusa Reclaimed (The Nora); and Hurry Home: A Collaborative Performance (Samuel-Lancaster Productions). Alex has worked as a Teaching Artist in programs with Wheelock Family Theatre, Central Square Theatre, Boston University Summer Theatre Institute, The Boch Center, Harvard’s TDM Division, and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. In his time outside of teaching and acting, Alex enjoys biking, reading, and having deep discussions about movies. leondedis.com
Jen Lewis she/her
Jen currently teaches Acting at Bunker Hill Community College, at Wheelock Family Theatre, and with Company One in Boston Public Schools, and earned an MFA in Theatre Education at Emerson and BFA in Acting at NYU. She has performed roles ranging from Shakespeare heroines to gangsta molls with companies including Lyric Stage, CHUANG Stage, Boston Playwrights’, Stickball, and Merely Players. Jen has been Event Director of the Boston Area Theatre Auditions, and was formerly Interim Executive Director of StageSource, serving over 2,000 members of the theatre community. A Native of Philadelphia, Jen lives in Medford with her husband and two children. Proud member of SAG-AFTRA and the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
Dev Luthra he/him
Dev Luthra trained at East 15 Acting School, London, England and at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA. Dev is in his second year as a teaching artist with Company One, teaching full year elective courses to students at Dearborn Academy, Burke High School and middle-schoolers at Holland Tech.Dev also teaches at Wheelock Family Theatre. His courses there include Shakespeare/Stage combat, Actors Toolbox, and Page to Stage, among others; he has directed the teen ensemble (Clue and Visions 2020 with Jeri Hammond, As You Like It and Midsummer Night’s Dream for WFTh’s Shakespeare on the Green program). With And Still We Rise Productions, Dev has taught at the King (formerly Mckinley/SEA) and Boston Collaborative High School. He has taught acting and movement at Boston College and Emerson College and at Boston University’s Prison Education Program. From 2007 to 2022, Dev served as the Artistic Director of And Still We Rise Productions, a theatre company committed to the advocacy of the rights of people impacted by the prison system. He is a contributing author to The Heart and Soul of Psychotherapy, S. Linden, ed. Macbeth’s Children, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, co-written with Michael Bettencourt, won an AATE New Play award.
Acting credits include Attorney/The Gaaga and Sorin/Seagull (Arlekin Players); Burbage, Jaggard/Book of Will (Hub Theatre of Boston); Antigonus, Old Shepherd, Bottom/The Winter’s Tale and Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bay Colony Shakespeare Company), Man/Buried Alive (Asian American Playwright Collective); Dance Teacher Pat/Dance Nation, Father/Brilliant Adventures and Azdak/Caucasian Chalk Circle (Apollinaire Theatre Company), Mr. Biedermann/Firebugs (Huellas Vivas), Orsino/Twelfth Night (Sun Valley Shakespeare Festival) Northumberland/Henry IV, parts 1 & 2 (Actors Shakespeare Project), M. le Comte/N. Bonaparte (Pilgrim Theatre), Leonato/Much Ado About Nothing (Public Theatre) Worcester/1 Henry IV (Palace Theatre). His one-man show Secret Asian Man tells the story of his Anglo-Indian parentage, and being raised in two cultures. He has lived and worked in the Northeast since 1978.
Joshua Olumide he/him
Joshua Olumide is an alumni of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy’s New York City conservatory program. His first teaching artist job came soon after graduating, where he was an actor/teacher in an educational tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Since then, being a working actor has been his main focus, but he is excited to return to teaching as he looks forward to sharing some of his experience, using theatre to create an all accepting social environment.
Theatre credits include: The Winter’s Tale (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company), Romeo and Juliet (Classic Theatre of Maryland), Our Town (People’s Light), Macbeth (Hanover Theatre Rep), A Raisin in the Sun (New Repertory Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Willpower Tour). Film credits include: American Fiction (MGM, Oscar winning film), Detroit (Annapurna Pictures). Impossible Escapes (Curiosity Stream).
Josh Glenn-Kayden he/him
Josh Glenn-Kayden is a Boston-based director and the Artistic Producer and Casting Director at Company One Theatre. Josh’s work centers around new plays that help us dream our culture forward and imagine ways to create a more just world together. Josh will be directing the world premiere of Shrike by Erin Lerch with Fresh Ink Theatre in January 2022. Recent directing projects include Wild Flowers by Tatiana Isabel Gil (Company One Better Future series), Visionary Futures: Science Fiction Theatre for Social Justice Movements (consisting of new plays by Phaedra Michelle Scott, M Sloth Levine, and Jaymes Sanchez) at UMass Amherst, Baltimore by Kirsten Greenidge (UMass Amherst), workshops of Walden by Amy Berryman and The Interrobangers by M Sloth Levine (UMass Play Lab), Greater Good by Kirsten Greenidge (A.R.T. & Company One world premiere, associate director), the world premiere of This Place/Displaced (Artists’ Theater of Boston, ArtsFuse Best Stage Productions of 2018), the New England premiere of Nicky Silver’s The Lyons (Titanic Theatre), and the world premiere of Laura Neill’s Don’t Give Up the Ship (Fresh Ink Theatre). Josh is also the director and co-producer of The Legion Tapes, a sci-fi podcast written by Erin Lerch. Josh has directed and developed new work for the A.R.T., Company One Theatre, Fresh Ink Theatre, Flat Earth Theatre, Artists’ Theater of Boston, the Museum of Science, UMass Amherst, Hub Theatre, the One Minute Play Festival, and TC Squared Theatre Company, among others. Josh holds a BA in Drama from Tufts University and an MFA in Directing from UMass Amherst. www.joshglennkayden.com
STAGE ONE PROGRAM HISTORY
In 1999, Stage One, Company One Theatre’s education program, began a summer camp at an independent site in the Boston area. Two years later the summer program was invited to be a resident at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, where the curriculum began to evolve into a more intensive training. In 2006, Stage One took up its home at the Boston Center for the Arts.
In 2012, Company One Theatre, in collaboration with the City of Boston and the Department of Youth Engagement and Employment, began its Apprentice Program, which works with Boston teens to offer positive, pre-professional work experience. Around the same time, the company introduced its Professional Development for Actors Class, which provides Boston actors with challenging character development, technique, and audition training.
As part of Stage One: In-School, Company One Theatre has established teaching artist residencies within elementary, middle, and high school campuses in the Boston Public School system to introduce foundational elements of performing arts, theatre production, and artistic engagement to Boston’s youth.
THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS FOR SUPPORTING STAGE ONE
