With support from the California Arts Council, the Ensemble Theatre Company will present the Student Matinee Program, which allows nearly 1,200 junior high and high school students to experience the power of live theater—often for the first time in their lives. Full-length plays take place at ETC’s fully renovated New Vic theater and feature professional actors. The program includes free transportation and extensive play-specific curriculum materials to be used in classrooms pre- and post-show.
At the core of ETC’s programming is a season of five productions that span a wide array of theatrical genres, from classic drama to musicals, to Shakespeare, to contemporary new works. With each production, ETC seeks to bring innovative interpretations in casting, design, and music, encouraging audiences to engage in a play’s themes with a fresh perspective, supported by top actors, directors, and designers both local and national. ETC’s producing home, The New Vic, is a newly renovated state-of-the-art theater that seats 294 audience members. ETC’s season offerings draw nearly 20,000 patrons annually in Santa Barbara and the south/central California coast region.
In addition to presenting professional theatrical productions, ETC also utilizes its artistic resources and matchless venue to engage our youth and community through its newly expanded Theater Education Outreach initiative. This initiative includes Student and Teacher Theater Workshops, a Student Matinee Program, master classes, the Young Playwrights Festival and summer youth performance camps and intensives.

