After-School Programming
For more than half a century, the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre has been a prime ambassador of arts education, exploring the Jewish experience through theatre and preserving Yiddish language and culture while promoting intercultural dialogue.
The YAYA course provides musical theatre training through theatre-based exercises and games from the perspective of Jewish heritage and Yiddish culture. The course focuses on storytelling, building trust within the ensemble, tactic and objective work, and status and character development. The students are introduced to the Yiddish language through song. Based on core Jewish values, the award-winning Young Actors for Young Audiences (YAYA) program forms the foundation of youth arts education at the Segal Centre. Founded in the 1950s and inspired by the vision of Dora and Bryna Wasserman, YAYA is the cornerstone of the renowned Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre.
Past successful productions still resonate through the community, such as No More Raisins, No More Almonds by Batia Bettman and The Children of Terezin featuring the opera Brundibar by Edit Kuper, Nor a Mame based on a short story by Geltman Litman, adapted by Edit Kuper and Raizel Candib, and Chelm by Abraham Shulman.
In the last few years, the YAYA program has been partnering with PJ Library to adapt their books for the stage. Recent adaptions include Bagels from Benny, Something from Nothing and Bone Button Borscht.
YAYA (Young Actors for Young Audiences)
The YAYA course provides musical theatre training through theatre-based exercises and games from the perspective of Jewish heritage and Yiddish culture. The first session focuses on storytelling, building trust within the ensemble, tactic and objective work and character development. The students are introduced to the Yiddish language through song. The second session will focus on the production as they work through the script, putting all the elements of the show together. Based on core Jewish values and inspired by the vision of Dora and Bryna Wasserman, the award-winning Young Actors for Young Audiences (YAYA) program forms the cornerstone of youth arts education at the Segal Centre.
Grades 2-7
October 2017 – May 2018
$330/session (2 sessions) + $50 one time costume fee
Starts October 18
Wednesdays, 5:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.