2024 Recap + Training Application!

Jan. 23, 2025

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Remember 2024? It was a weird year, and a whole lot happened (some good, some bad, and towards the end there, some even worse than that).

If you’re like us, a little refresher is a great way to get energized for all the work that’s to come in 2025! So take a quick trip back in time with us to Brat Summer and beyond, as we look at some of the highlights of your 2024 with TONYC…

Photo by Kade Alpers

Our Spring was spent gearing up for Get Rooted: A Community Showcase. This day-long event at MCC Theater featured three brand new, original plays by two of our Youth Troupes and our Breaking Ground Troupe. In between the performances, actors and audience members gathered for a catered lunch, and played some Theatre of the Oppressed games together!

During our Fall season - which we named Uppercuts to Budget Cuts - we hosted our Fight-Raiser, a community building event that brought together artists, advocacy groups, TONYC actors, and more in creative collaboration focused on getting our communities the resources they need. This event, hosted by Obie winning director Stevie Walker-Webb, included food, performances, opportunities to connect, a live raffle, and a boxing demonstration!

Photo by Lijah Schnei

Following our Fight-Raiser, we closed out the year with two more public performances! Our Housing Works Troupe’s Fight or Flight featured interconnected stories about housing access and public services. ESCUCHA, our Spanish language Troupe, created El Diario: La Voz del Pueblo, which they performed in Los Herederos’ space abutting the 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue subway station.

During 2024, we also entered the next phase of becoming a working self-directed non-profit, by launching our first three leadership circles and onboarding our inaugural group of worker members. We also joined the NY Network of Workers Cooperatives; entering into community with a broad range of values aligned organizations. We are excited to continue expanding the pool of TONYC community members who participate in the steering and leadership of our organization, and to further ensure that all of our decision making is informed by program participants, facilitators, and staff working together.

Photo by Ali Garber

What else happened with TONYC? Check out these stats from the year: 

  • 709 audience members attended TONYC performances! (Were you one of them?) 
  • TONYC Troupes created and performed 9 brand new original plays based on their lived experiences! 
  • 120 actors were paid to participate in our Forum Theatre Troupes! 
  • We offered 31 Workshops across New York State, and in Baltimore, New Jersey, Chicago, and Gettysburg! 818 participants attended these workshops! 
  • We partnered with 11 Arts and Advocacy Organizations, including Transboxing, Broadway Cooks, the New York Civil Liberties Union, The People’s Budget, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Ring of Keys, RISE Theatre Directory, The Circle Keepers, New Yorkers for Culture and Arts, the NY Civic Engagement Commission, and Theater Workers for a Ceasefire!
  • Special shoutout to the 67 volunteers who lent TONYC their time and talent to make all of the above possible! 

We have continued to navigate years of reduced funding and a tumultuous funding landscape, which has led us to reduce our programming and downsize our staff. As we look ahead, it is with great gratitude for the support our community has shown us, and with trepidation for the years to come. We know that the incoming administration will have an overwhelming effect on the communities already impacted by systems of oppression and to the organizations that seek to offer services to those communities. At the same time, this is all the more reason why space to create, build solidarity, and advance change will be even more important. 


2025 Level 1: Introduction to Building Forum Theatre

Our 2025 Level 1 training will introduce participants to TONYC’s process of creating forum theatre performances. We will explore TONYC’s Wildcard Workbook via separate online and in-person sections and demonstrate the activities! This training is for community organizers, artists, and  community members who plan to apply to Forum Theatre to engage groups in action toward social change. Please note: Level 1 as an introduction focuses on facilitators modeling TONYC’s best practices for participants.  Look out for our Level Up Series (previously Level 2) for deeper practice doing your own facilitation.

Part 1 - Online

April 7, 14, 21 (Monday evenings from 5:30p-8:30p)

Part 2 - In-Person

April 26-27 (Saturday &  Sunday from 12-5:30p + an optional Saturday Social for unfacilitated questions, networking and fun!)

Rates for the full training are on a sliding scale between $300-$700. You can apply to pay based on your financial means, the value you wish to receive, or your desire to support. 

Applications are due February 21. Confirmation of your application status will be sent by February 28.