About

Mission & Values

Young girls are in a line all wearing a tee shirt that has a lionk king jr. logo on it. They look up in aspiration.
Young boy smiles and claps while sitting on floor.
Teacher makes a funny face while squatting while two students stand beside her laughing.

Who We Are

Bay Area Children’s Theatre is the foremost theatre company for young audiences in California.

Our award-winning productions and educational programs have reached more than 1 million kids and adults over the past 18 years.

Educational Values

Children thrive when they learn to think creatively and have access to experiences that unleash their imaginative power.

We are imaginative thinkers who collaborate to bring shared experiences to children of all backgrounds, inspiring joy, empathy, and creative thinking. You are our community!

Five Pillars of Creative Thinking

Illustration of a head with a sparkly circle hovering atop it.
Imagination
Illustration of a teacher on a computer with a smaller book popping up out on the side.
Storytelling
Illustration of two hands clasping with spark lines coming from the top of the hands.
Collaboration
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Self Expression
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Critical Analysis

Bay Area Children’s Theatre celebrates the power of imagination. We know that the next generation has the power to change the world, but we must give them the tools to dream big, work together, and envision a brighter future. For this reason, Bay Area Children’s Theatre anchors all of our programming in the process of learning Creative Thinking.

Actors in clown costumes sing while posing on the ground by a glowing door frame.

Production History

Bay Area Children’s Theatre has produced over 58 shows, including:

🎭 44 new works
🚌 6 national tours
🏆 5 Theatre Bay Area Award winning productions​

“I’ve had my eye on this place for years! The workshopping process gave us the luxury of time to develop the best show possible. I loved starting our days with access check-ins!”
- Bri Reads, Actor

Our Commitment to Diversity Equity and Inclusion

Bay Area Children’s Theatre recognizes that our Berkeley theatre occupies land unjustly seized from the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people and that our community reaps benefits from the use of this land. Read more about our Land Acknowledgement and the steps we are taking to build relationships with our Indigenous community.

We recognize that discrimination and oppression are pervasive in our industry and that dismantling them requires authenticity, hard work, diligence, self-reflection, adjustments, and a long-term commitment.

We are building resources to assess aspects of our organization that cause harm or reinforce systems of white supremacy and anti-Blackness.

Steps we have taken to achieve fairness and equity within our company are…

Hiring and holding space for our diverse teams, creators, and casts

🎭  We meet weekly in affinity groups for our staff to support each other internally and learn in cohorts.

🎭 We amplify the voice of the collective through feedback surveys and collaborative rehearsals/workspaces. 

🎭  Click to learn more about our staff!

Prioritizing access for all

Children wearing the same red polo shirt, sit in an audience smiling.

🎭  We recently launched our Community Outreach program.

🎭 We incorporate Pay What You Wish performances into all shows in our season.

🎭 We provide ASL interpreters and audio description services for those that need them.

🎭 We recently relaunched our student matinee program, which gives schools resources to introduce their students to live theatre.

🎭 We provide free housing for out-of-town actors.

Telling stories that give voice and expression to BIPOC lives, experiences and history

Two actors kneeling down. One is dressed like Harriet Tubman, the other is dressed as a young girl .

🎭 We’ve reached 300,000 kids through the production of A Kids Play About Racism.

🎭 We celebrate the role of artists in the fight for social justice, anti-racism, and anti-oppression through our BACT Hub.

🎭 We celebrate marginalized voices across our platforms through ongoing initiatives, including our “Who Inspires You” series. 

🎭 Our Writers Room, a cohort of predominately POC writers, creates original works for our Academy Program.

“My ideas are valued and celebrated. Working in a collaborative environment makes me excited to come to work.”
- D Smith, Employee

A photo of the Bay Area Children's Theatre Staff in 2021, posing in Santa's Sleigh. The sign on the sleigh says "Purple Reindeer Ball 2021".

Young Performers

Grades 3-5

Learn More

Scholarships available!

BACT offers scholarships for youth who would otherwise not be able to join theatre arts classes and camps.

Uplifting Our Community

Bay Area Children’s Theatre has used the resources below to create a culture that is equitable, just, and sparks imaginative play: