With support from the California Arts Council, B Street Theatre will resume its 30+ year School Tour Program in person. The school tour combines onsite and in-school playwriting workshops, a playwriting competition, and a fully-professional touring production to reach over 130,000 K-12 students directly in their schools.
Since its inception in 1986, B Street Theatre has been recognized as one of California’s top professional theatres. As a resident new works theatre and core member of NNPN, B Street produces an acclaimed adult theatre series featuring new works and contemporary plays enjoyed by over 60,000 patrons each year. B Street is the regions only resident children’s theatre and LORT member, producing a children’s series that serves over 40,000 k-12 students annually. The Family & Student Matinee Series features adaptations classic stories, novels & tales, depictions of historical figures and new plays while the touring production turns student-written plays into professional productions, bringing high quality theatre directly to schools across Northern California and serving about 200,000 students annually. The Sofia offers a presenting series featuring a range of live performances by world-renowned artists including music, dance, comedy, speaking engagements, and more. It also provides performance space to many local artists, nonprofits and performing arts groups. Upstairs at the B patrons enjoy new play readings, improv, story slams and smaller musical acts in an eclectic and flexible space that supports more experimental work and emerging artists. This space also hosts B Street’s annual New Comedies Festival. Central to B Street’s mission is its outreach and education programming. Professional teaching artists provide up to 500 customizable in-school workshops each year, serving over 3,000 k-12 students. B Street offers hundreds of onsite classes at The Sofia, as well as after-school programs and professional development training. Workshops have been adapted to serve everyone from refugee students developing English skills to men and women on probation, and children coping with hospital stays through Sutter Hospital’s Child Life program. Other educational opportunities include an immersive internship for college graduates pursuing careers in theatre and a robust volunteer program with over 300 participants.

