COMPANY ONE’S STAGE ONE EDUCATION PROGRAMS
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, Teen Internships, Professional Development for Actors courses, and production-related events such as Professional Development for Educators, Teen Night Out and Weekday Matinees.
Interested in bringing a Stage One residency to your school? Reach out to Cheyenne Wyzzard-Jones, Associate Director of Education, at cwyzzardjones@companyone.org.
If you are an after school program interested in these residencies, don’t hesitate to reach out!
IN-SCHOOL RESIDENCIES
Activate Your Voice
A long-term residency—theatre elective and/or theatre integration into English Language Learning, English Language Arts, and Humanities classrooms. Flexibly designed to support students, especially multilingual learners aged 11-22, to develop their voices through literacy and creative development.
Anti-Racism Workshop Series
Designed specifically for grades 3-12, and uses plays to engage young people in conversations about racism, oppression, and injustice, and to investigate individual and shared responsibility and advocacy.
Finding Your Voice Workshop Series
Designed for students in elementary, middle, and high school to encourage students to explore their identity and grow their skills in self-expression in front of their peers.
Step Into Your Power Workshop Series
Designed to help students with career readiness, articulating their personal strengths, building confidence, and developing advocacy skills in various workplace scenarios.
Professional Development for Educators
Training on relevant, timely topics in arts and education such as culturally responsive teaching, building anti-racist classrooms, social emotional learning, healing centered practices, and theatre integration.
See full list of partner schools and organizations
Albert Holland Technical Academy
Boston Adult Technical Academy
Boston Children’s Museum
Breed Middle School
City Arts and Sciences Academy (CASA)
Dearborn Academy
Fenway High School
Granite Academy
Lynn Public School District
Mel King Institute
New Mission High School
The Park School
Philbrick Elementary
Pickering Middle School
Roosevelt Academy
Ruth Baston Academy
South Boston Boys and Girls Club
Tech Boston
Thurgood Marshall Middle School
TEEN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
In partnership with Boston Arts Internship Program, C1’s Teen Internships provide 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!
Photo by Benjamin Rose
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ACTORS
Calling all actors! C1’s Professional Development for Actors (PDA) courses provide 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.
FLAGSHIP ACTING COURSE
Professional Development for Actors
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.
Stay tuned for more details about auditions for our next Professional Development for Actors course, which will be coming up in the fall.
NEW ACTING COURSE
Advanced Professional Development for Actors
Are you an actor looking to deepen your theatrical practice, expand your perspective, and build a community of local actors?
Thanks to participant demand, we’re excited to offer an advanced level Professional Development for Actors (PDA) course, which will primarily focus on scene study, collaboration, and connection. This session will be co-taught by Josh Glenn-Kayden and Patrice Jean-Baptiste.
PRODUCTION-RELATED EVENTS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EDUCATORS
C1’s Professional Development for Educators program offers workshops to coincide with each of our Season 27 productions. Rooted in our belief that theatre exists to serve and engage our community, these workshops invite educators to participate not just as spectators, but as co-learners and co-conspirators in the artistic and social questions our productions explore. By equipping educators with tools and frameworks to bring back to their students, we deepen the impact of the work beyond the stage and into the classroom.
This series is open to all educators—teaching artists, educational organizers, and cultural workers—who are eager to explore how theatre can spark dialogue, learning, and collective action. Each workshop engages at the intersections of the script, Stage One’s Changemaker Framework, radical pedagogy, and tangible tools to bring into the lives of young people.
Photo by Lauren Miller
TEEN NIGHT OUT
Teen Night Out events are made by teens, for teens! Led by C1’s Boston Arts Interns, Teen Night Out offers Boston youth an invitation to interact with our theatrical productions on their own terms, with pre-show activities to inspire creativity and post-show discussions to explore themes of each play in conversation with C1 staff and artists.
UPCOMING EVENT
Teen Night Out: You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!
Friday, March 27 from 5:30pm – 7pm
>> RSVP Today!
WEEKDAY MATINEES
We offer 10am matinees that are perfect for school groups looking for an affordable outing. We provide a curriculum guide to support deeper learning about the themes and context of the play.
These weekday morning performances are also open to the public, and like all of our events, all tickets are Pay-What-You-Want.
Friday, January 16 – The Great Privation
Friday, March 20 – You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!
Friday, July 31 – A New Era
UPCOMING EVENT
Weekday Matinee: You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!
Friday, March 20 at 10am
Do you know a student group who might be interested in attending? Email Raqael Duarte Hunt at rdhunt@companyone.org.
If you’d like to reserve individual tickets for this 10am performance, you can do so by selecting this performance on the production’s ticketing page.
Header photo by Annielly Camargo
STAGE ONE SEASON 27 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.
Brandi Artez
In-School Teaching Artist
Maegan Clearwood-Bergeron
In-School Teaching Artist
Cara Clough
In-School Teaching Artist
Anjaliyah Echemendia
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
Amanda Shea
In-School Teaching Artist
Josh Glenn-Kayden
PDA Teaching Artist
Patrice Jean-Baptiste
PDA Teaching Artist
SEASON 27 TEACHING ARTIST BIOS
Brandi Artez she/her
Brandi Artez, professionally known as Brandie Blaze, is a multidisciplinary teaching artist and youth development professional with over 20 years of experience serving young people across Massachusetts. Her career includes work with the Department of Youth Services, Boys & Girls Club, MissionSAFE, and Wayside Youth & Families, where she supported youth through arts-based programming, mentorship, and social-emotional development initiatives. In late 2024, Brandi became a teaching artist with Company One, delivering theater, music, and poetry instruction to students ages 5–17 in schools and community-based settings throughout Massachusetts. Her teaching practice emphasizes culturally responsive pedagogy, trauma-informed approaches, and youth-centered creative expression, using the arts to build confidence, communication skills, and emotional literacy. Brandi’s professional work as a rapper, composer, writer, and actress informs her classroom practice and provides students with authentic exposure to career pathways in the arts. She is well known in her home state of Massachusetts and has performed at major public events and venues including Boston Calling, Boston Pride, and a Boston Celtics halftime show. By integrating professional artistic practice with youth development frameworks, Brandi creates high-impact, inclusive learning environments that empower young people to tell their stories, develop leadership skills, and engage meaningfully with their communities.
Maegan Clearwood-Bergeron they/she
Maegan is an educator, writer, dramaturg, and artistic facilitator. Alongside Company One, they have taught at various Boston arts institutions, including Wheelock Family Theatre and Boston University Summer Theatre Institute. They love pursuing queer, decentralized, process-driven theatre that not only imagines but enacts utopian visions for a world beyond binaries and borders. Current artistic work includes Gragger and various other writing initiatives with the Boston Workers Circle, as well as an original play with Queer Artists and Players. Maegan is also a regular contributor for New England Theatre Geek and enjoys writing essays about art. Outside of the theater and classroom, they can be found practicing martial arts, playing board games, tackling a new craft project, snuggling with their cat, or thrifting for sweaters. MFA in Dramaturgy, with a graduate certificate in Gender Studies, UMass Amherst (2021).
Cara Clough she/her
Cara is a new Teaching Artist with Company One and is very excited to join this excellent team of kind and caring creatives. She is a local actor in the greater Boston area and has worked on a handful of educational theatrical projects such as the True to Life Training Company. True to Life utilized the dramatic arts to help integrate new college freshmen to campus living by presenting by-stander intervention scenarios and exploring helpful tactics through role play and conversation. She is thrilled to be bringing her passion for storytelling and community building to the C1 teaching artistry team.
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.
Jenny S. Lee she/her
Jenny S. Lee is a Boston-based Korean American actress, director, producer, and teaching artist. She currently serves as Director of Artistic and Community Programming at CHUANG Stage. 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 acting credits include Wait Until Dark (Susan, Greater Boston Stage), Silent Sky (Henrietta Leavitt, Central Square Theatre), Founding F%!#ers (Peggy Shippen & Others, Greater Boston Stage), The Recursion of a Moth (Chrys, Boston Playwrights Theatre), The Hound of the Baskervilles (Watson, Central Square Theatre), Yellowface (Jane Krakowski & Others, Lyric Stage Company of Boston), and Troublemaker (May Yu) and Takeover (Pansy) with Asian American Playwrights Collective. Select directing credits include DOSAN: The Musical (Seasun Theatre Artists Group), Stories on Our Streets: The Boston Chinatown Musical (CHUANG Stage & Company One), Luz & Urduja (CHUANG Stage), and assistant directing credits on The Heart Sellers (Huntington Theatre), Emma (Actor Shakespeare Project), and John Deserves to Die (Fresh Ink Theatre). IG: @jennyslee thejennyslee.com
Alex Leondedis he/him
Alex Leondedis is an actor, director, and teaching artist based in Boston, originally from Kansas. Alex holds a BFA in Contemporary Theatre from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Select acting credits include An Irish Carol, The Play That Goes Wrong (Greater Boston Stage Company),The Antelope Party, Lunch Bunch (Apollinaire Theatre Company); Hamlet, Macbeth, Much Ado, Romeo and Juliet, and Midsummer (Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare); A Wrinkle In Time (Wheelock Family Theatre); Kayfabe (Fresh Ink); Creature Feature (Moonbox); and Hurry Home (Samuel-Lancaster Productions). Select directing work includes Assistant Directing Fairview (Speakeasy Stage) and Everybody (Boston Conservatory), and Directing for MIT Shakespeare Ensemble, Lyric First Page Festival, TC Squared, The Boston Theatre Marathon, and Anne Eats The Beetle (From The Basement). Alex has worked as a Teaching Artist in programs with Wheelock Family Theatre, Company One, Central Square Theatre, The Huntington, Boston University Summer Theatre Institute, The Boch Center, Harvard’s TDM Division, and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. @leondedis. 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.
Amanda Shea she/her
Three-time Boston Music Award–winning Spoken Word Artist Amanda Shea is an interdisciplinary teaching artist who uses poetry as a tool for literacy development, identity exploration, and transformative dialogue. Recognized by The Boston Globe as a “connector of creativity and community,” Shea brings her global stage experience directly into classrooms, empowering students to find and refine their voices through culturally responsive, arts-integrated instruction. With over seven years of experience working in Boston Public Schools and community-based programs, Shea designs curricula that merges creative writing, performance, social-emotional learning, and critical thinking. Her teaching approach emphasizes voice development, narrative ownership, and the power of storytelling as both academic practice and personal liberation. She creates inclusive, discussion-centered learning environments where students are encouraged to explore identity, culture, and lived experience through poetry and multimedia expression. Shea has curated and hosted intergenerational poetry and hip-hop programming on major stages including Boston Calling, BAMSFest, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Series, and the Jos Literary Festival in Nigeria. Her work has been featured by the Museum of Fine Arts, TEDx, Netflix, Prime Video, BBC News, and GBH — experiences she draws upon to mentor students in performance technique, public speaking, and professional artistic Development. As the Arts & Culture Director at 617PEAK and curator/host of GBH’s Outspoken Saturdays, Shea develops youth-centered programming that bridges classroom learning with community engagement. She is the co-founder of Activating ARTivism (now Free Verse Presents), a Boston-based festival amplifying POC voices through art and activism — a framework that informs her commitment to culturally responsive pedagogy. A recipient of The Boston Foundation LAB Grant (2024), Shea continues to expand arts access for young people. She is set to release her debut poetry collection, Pieces of Shea, in 2026. Through curriculum design, mentorship, and performance-based learning, Amanda Shea redefines poetry not just as art — but as an educational practice rooted in agency, voice, and transformative growth.
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
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.
Photos and bios coming soon:
Angelique Dina
Brandon Zang
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
