About Us

What We Do

Theater plays an important role in helping students gain confidence, express creativity, learn teamwork, and build community.  Jefferson Theatre Company (JTC) performs four to five shows per year, ranging from musicals to holiday shows, from children’s shows to theatre classics.

  • We reach audiences of as many as 2,000 who are family, students, friends, and members of the community.
  • JTC has over 45 years of tradition of high school performances!
  • 250+ student performers, musicians, stage and technical crew and parent volunteers participate annually.
  • Every production features a special performance for older citizens
  • More than 3,000 elementary school students attend our annual children’s performances.

The Importance of Theater in Public Schools

When a student participates in theater, they benefit significantly. It helps creativity to flourish, academics improve and helps develop a healthy means of self-expression.

Theater can be influential in all aspects of life

Participating in theatre can stimulate a student’s creativity and thought process. Developing a creative mind can lead to a more tolerant attitude because “The creative process of theater leads students to be more open-minded and acceptable because of the diverse roles they portray.”¹

Theater can teach valuable skills that can be used in the professional world

Staging and performing in a show can promote teamwork through the actors and the crew. Learning lines for a play may seem tedious and can be tough but even the smallest of lines encourages the student to use public speaking. Speaking in front of audiences develops confidence and improved communication skills. The more confident a child becomes, the more their self-esteem will grow. Children and youth with high self-esteem have a tendency to perform better scholastically and have a better outlook on life. The students will then feel more inclined to contribute positively to society.

Theater can be beneficial in other areas of life, such as academics

Creative thought process can be developed through theatre and used in Math and Science for problem solving and experimentation. A developed mind can potentially use abstract thinking to “think out of the box” and offer many ideas and solutions and ways of testing them.

Children are our future; it is imperative that we develop well-rounded individuals that can contribute to society, and theater helps attain this goal.

¹Adapted from:  Rabinovitz, Rachel. “How Theatre Programs Help Children” Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA