About YTU

Major Program Areas:

YTU offers year-round classes and performing arts training programs on-site at the University of Utah for children ages 5 through 18.
YTU has developed partnerships with Salt Lake City School District and Rowland Hall to offer satellite in-school and after-school drama classes and programs.
YTU produces a season of two to three theatre performances each year that target family audiences.
YTU produces new plays that explore issues that young people face today. Our casts are comprised of YTU students, students from the University of Utah’s Department of Theatre, and actors of all ages from the Salt Lake community.
YTU has established a partnership with Kingsbury Hall and their family series. Kingsbury Hall presents two YTU shows each season for the public as well as for student matinees where students from communities all over the Wasatch front can enjoy the magic of live theatre at little or no cost.

Brief Program History:

YTU evolved from the University of Utah’s rich Child Drama heritage. Under the guidance/direction of Maude Adams, the U of U was one of the first universities to offer a course on children’s theatre and produce a season of plays for young people.
In the early 1950’s, Professor Vern Adix continued Adams’ tradition of supporting children’s theatre through the development of a “Young People’s Season of Plays” at Kingsbury Hall and later Pioneer Memorial Theatre.
In 1982, Dr. Xan S. Johnson joined the University of Utah’s Department of Theatre with the charge to develop an MFA/PhD program in Child Drama and to head of the Young People’s Season of Plays at Pioneer Memorial Theatre. In 1983, Dr. Johnson founded the summer Theatre School for Youth with the Division of Continuing Education and founded the Gifted and Talented Program (now called the Youth Theatre Conservatory) that mounted original productions from works developed by the Theatre School for Youth students and MFA/PhD candidates.
In the late 1980’s, the Department of Theatre discontinued the MFA/PhD Child Drama Program and the newly formed professional Pioneer Theatre Company discontinued the Young People’s Season of Plays. Because the Theatre School for Youth and the Youth Theatre Conservatory were run by Continuing Education, these programs were not cut and continued to flourish.
In 1999, the Theatre School for Youth was given joint oversight by the U of U’s Department of Theatre and the Department of Continuing Education. Theatre School for Youth, and its affiliated programs were brought together under the umbrella name—Youth Theatre at the U. Amy Oakeson, was hired as Education Director of YTU programs.
In 2000, Amy Oakeson was appointed Artistic Director of YTU. In 2001, Ms. Oakeson reinstated the Young People’s Season of Plays in the Babcock Theatre with a production of Laurie Brooks’ new play, The Wrestling Season.
In the fall of 2002, YTU ended its affiliation with the Division of Academic Outreach and Continuing Education and became an entity of the Department of Theatre.
In late 2006, Penelope Caywood was appointed Artistic Director of YTU. She had previously served as a Guest Artist and Managing Director of the program since 2003.

Major Accomplishments:

1984: The Wingless Butterfly by Child Drama MFA candidate Yvette Crandall and cast with young people from the Theatre School for Youth program, was showcased at the American Alliance for Theatre in Education (AATE) National Conference in Chicago, IL.
1990: Theatre School for Youth represented IATA—USA and was honored as Best Participating Show at the IATA International Youth Theatre Festival in Moscow, Russia.
February, 2004: YTU presented the regional premiere of Romeo and Juliet: Together (and Alive!) at Last at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center for over 2631 school children from the Wasatch Front. YTU and Laguna Playhouse co-commissioned internationally renowned playwright Sandra Asher to write the script. Dramatic Publishing published Ms. Asher’s script.
May, 2004: YTU represented the United States at the Carrefour International 2004 du Theatre d’Enfants, hosted by the Collectif Theatral du Hainaut—Jeune Theatre International in Valenciennes, France. YTU students spent four months developing an original piece, Eagle Flight, with Dr. Xan S. Johnson, Dr. Jerry Gardner, and Amy Oakeson.
July 2004: YTU commissioned and presented the world premiere of A Heart Divided by playwrights Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld in the Babcock Theatre. This production was directed by Dr. Moses Goldberg, former Producing Director of Stage One in Louisville, KY, and was selected to be the closing production for AATE’s National Conference on July 31, 2004. Dramatic Publishing published this play.
July 2005: YTU presented The Monster Spider at the AATE National Conference in Chicago, IL. In addition, YTU’s Artistic Director, Amy Oakeson, was presented AATE’s prestigious Youth Theatre Director of the Year Award.
October 2006: YTU presented Once on this Island at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus and established a new partnership with their theatre.
January 2007: Youth Theatre at the U has been selected by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, along with the Salt Lake City School District and Kingsbury Hall, to be one of 14 teams of arts organizations and school systems from across the nation to participate in the Partners in Education Institute.
February 2007: , In conjunction with the Deaflympics in Salt Lake City, Youth Theatre at the U performed a stage adaptation of Louis Sachar’s wildly popular children’s book, “Sideways Stories from Wayside School,” at Kingsbury Hall. Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing actors will perform the play, adapted by John Olive and directed by Rachel Briley. Every moment of the production was spoken and signed with two actors, deaf and hearing, working in tandem.
May 2007: YTU is currently presenting the world premiere of Reviving Ophelia in the Babcock Theatre and Kingsbury Hall. It was adapted by popular author Cherie Bennett from the best-selling book of the same title by Dr. Mary Pipher, and is directed by Dr. Moses Goldberg, a nationally recognized force in children’s theatre.