Educational Outreach
The RHCPA Education Program provides opportunites for people of all ages to engage in the performing arts.
Running throughout the school year, educators and students can attend live performances programmed with grade levels and cirriculum connections in mind.
Looking to bring performing arts into the classroom? Teachers can book Intensive Workshops with professional teaching artists to visit your classroom and run one-hour or three-hour workshops in topics such as Improv, Clowning, Musical Theatre, ect.
To add a new experience, teachers can sign up for The C.A.S.T., an opportunity for students to take to the RHCPA main stage and perform a classic Shakespeare play all under the guidance and direction of teaching artists.
Check out this season's Education Series brochure for more details on all that the RHCPA Education Program has to offer.
Click Here to Download the Education Series Brochure
Pricing: $15 per student. All schools receive one complimentary adult ticket for every 10 students booked. Addtional tickets will be at cost. There is a $5 handling fee on all orders.
All prices, policies and program offerings are subject to change without notice.
Booking more than 100 seats? Make sure to read about our In-Class Workshops available at no cost!
Available Shows
Walking Through The Fire
Date & Time: Wednesday September 25th, 2024 10:00AM
Award-winning First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists performing with JUNO Award nominees Sultans of String, Walking Through the Fire is a musical multimedi event unlike any other!
From Métis fiddling to an East Coast Kitchen Party, Rumba tot Rock, to the drumming of the Pacific Northwest, experience the beauty and diversity of music from Turtle Island/Canada with Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk of the Métis Fiddler Quartet, Ojibwe/Finnish Singer-Songwriter, Marc Merliäinen (Nadjiwan), and Coast Tsm'syen Elder and Singer-Songwriter, Shannon Thunderbird performing on stage, as well as virtual guests on the big screen, including Dr. Duke Redbird, the Northern Cree Pow Wow group, and more!
The songs beautifully reveal the depths of contemporary Indigenous experience and music, expressed in the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Comission's 94 Calls to Action, and Final Report that asks that Indigenous and non-Indigenous people work together as an opportunity to show a path forward.
"The very fact that you're doing this tells me that you believe in the validity of our language, you believe in the validity of our art and our music, and that you want to help to bring it out. And that's really what's important, is for people to have faith that we can do this... That's really good"
- Honourable Murray Sinclair - Ojibwe Elder - former chair of the TRC
"We are opening doors for each other, as Indigenous peoples, as settler peoples. It's just about further creating more openings and more connections through being a conduit... and through creating more spaces." - Alyssa Deibaere-Sawchuk - violist - Métis Fiddler Quartet
Pop! Pop!
Date & Time: Tuesday October 8th, 2024 10:00AM
Two characters who are very different from each other are exploring a strange new world and finding surprises in this colourul sensory experience. One instinctively hides, the other instinctively seeks. Together they find lots of surprises that pop up everywhere!
Pop! Pop! Is a performance piece for children ages 2 to Kindergarten. There are sensory experiences, like live music, adorable puppets - lots of fun for children and adults alike.
This show will take place in the RHCPA's seconary space, the Plaza Suite, in order to make it as interactive as possible. Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Simone Half and Half
Date & Time: Wednesday November 13th, 2024 10:00AM
Fourteen-year-old Simone is caught between cultures: Canadian, Québécois and Trinidadian. She's also torn between friends and the projects they want her to take part in. Her best friend Sarah wants them to compete in the talent show with a dance routine, but her new friend, Jay has introduced her to the Black History and Culture Committee's activism and its organizer, tenth-grader Vanessa. Though Sarah represents the comfort of what she knew growing up, Jay and Vanessa offer Simone an opportunity to get to know part of herself that she hasn't explored yet. As pressure mounts on seeing both projects through, her friendships start to feel the strain and her loyalties are tested. Can Simone find the courage to stand up for what she believes in? Will her friends acount the choices she makes? And will she finally learn to be more comfortable with herself? Simone, Half and Half is a touching story about finding one's place between identities and communities.
A Midummer Night's Dream with the C.A.S.T.
Date & Time: Monday November 25th, 2024 12:30p.m.
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare weaves together the intersecting stories of four young lovers, a group of amateur actors, and a mischievous group of fairies. Set in an enchanted forest near Athens, the play explores the themes of love, illusion, and the unpredictable nature of desire.
This performance will be performed by the students of The C.A.S.T.
Goodnight Moon & The Runaway Bunny
Date & Time: Thursday November 28th, 2024 10:00AM & 12:30PM
Few writers have been as attuned to the concerns and emotions of childhood as Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952). Brown, a former teacher, believed that very young children could be fascinated by the simple pleasures of the world around them. Few had previously attempted to write specifically for children aged two to five, and Brown created some of the most enduring and beloved children’s books of all time as well as developed the concept of the first durable board book. Clement Hurd (1908–1988) graduated from Yale University and studied painting in Paris in the 1930s with Fernand Léger and others. His engaging semi-abstract style became world-famous with the publication in 1942 of The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon in 1947 - collaborations with Brown that became two of the 20th Century’s best-known children’s books.
Goodnight Moon is a celebration of familiar nighttime rituals, while The Runaway Bunny’s pretend tale of leaving home evokes reassuring responses from his loving mum. Both tales feature endearing rabbit characters, and the soothing rhythms of bunny banter and dream-like imagery never fail to infuse young readers with a reassuring sense of security. Mermaid’s staged adaptation will bring a new sense of appreciation to stories that have delighted several generations.
The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System
Date & Time: Tuesday January 28th, 2025 10:00AM & 12:30PM
When the class gets lost on the way to the planetarium, Ms. Frizzle saves the day by blasting into outer space for an epic interplanetary field trip! But when rivalries both old and new threaten to tear the students apart, our young heroes must learn to pull together or risk getting forever lost in the solar system.
Hop on the Magic School Bus for a ride in this new musical adaptation based on the original book series published by Scholastic.
The Flight
Date & Time: Tuesday February 4th, 2024 10:00AM
The Flight, a new work by acclaimed theatre artist Beryl Bain, explores the ground-breaking life of aviation pioneer Bessie Colman – the first African-American woman and the first Native-American to hold an international pilot’s license. Rising above economic obstacles and social barriers in the Roaring ’20s, she earned the nickname “Brave Bessie” and even her dreams were quite literally sky high. From flight school in Paris to spectacular barnstorming shows, Bessie dazzled audiences with her bravery, beauty, and technological mastery.
“This play is an homage to Coleman’s courage, creativity and optimism,” said Bain. “My intention for this work is to ensure that ‘Brave Bessie’ is respected and honoured. As I was working with her story it felt like we were dancing together as active partners. This story of an iconic Black and Indigenous woman who died in flight, tragically, at the tender age of 34 years old greatly inspired me.” Bain’s writing also found inspiration in the style of Harlem Renaissance era poems such as Claude McKay’s If We Must Die (1919). The Flight evokes Bessie’s unshakable optimism, her determination, her vision, and the indomitable self confidence that led her to soar above the clouds, reaching ever closer to the sun.
The Gruffalo's Child
Date & Time: Thursday February 13th, 2025 10:00AM
Follow the Gruffalo’s Child on her adventurous mission in Tall Stories’ enchanting adaptation of the much-loved picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
One wild and windy night the Gruffalo’s Child ignores her father’s warnings about the Big Bad Mouse and tiptoes out into the deep dark wood. She follows snowy tracks and encounters mysterious creatures – but the Big Bad Mouse doesn’t really exist… does he?
Let your imagination run wild with songs, laughs and scary fun for everyone aged 3 to 103.
Yes, Yes, Yes
Date & Time: Monday March 3rd, 2025 10:00AM
Jamie and Ari like each other. Karin and Tom do too. They might be at two separate parties, but their stories are identical. Until they really aren’t.
Part confession, part documentary, part open conversation, YES, YES, YES is a theatre show created for young people that explores the knotty and necessary topics of healthy relationships, desire and consent.
This latest work from award-winning duo, Karin McCracken and Eleanor Bishop blends audience interaction with a captivating solo performance, and features in-depth interviews with teenagers from around Aotearoa - New Zealand.
Afrique En Cirque
Date & Time: Wednesday April 9th, 2025 10:00AM & 12:30PM
Afrique En Cirque symbolizes the srength, agility and joy of life found in African youth. A handful of daring acrobats, accompanied by their musicians, perform to the pulsating rythm of the djembes of Guinea with their authentic and original choreography and acrobatics. With the melodious sound of the Kora, Yamoussa Bangoura transports us to a place where the diversity of traditional African arts are ilumintated, and combined with the virtuosity of a modern North American Circus performance.
To Book:
Visit our ONLINE BOOKING FORM to request tickets.
Our form is for requesting your tickets only.
Your form submission does not confirm your ticket booking.
Your tickets are confirmed once you have received your ticket booking invoice.
Once your form has been received, you will be contacted in five to seven business days. An invoice and contract will follow.
RHCPA Summer Camps
The ever popular theatre camps are back for another summer of theatre magic. The RHCPA runs several camps for ages 4 to 15. We also offer P.A. Day camps!
More information can be found in the RH Camps Guide or at RichmondHill.ca/SummerCamp.
2024 Summer Camps coordinated specifically by the RHCPA include:
- Glee Club Camp
- Musical Theatre 101
- Kinder Musical Theatre
- Broadway Bound Jr.: Junie B. Jones and The Phantom Tollbooth
- Broadway Bound Sr.: Elf and Guys and Dolls
After School Program
The RHCPA provides captivating afterschool and weekend theatre programs for ages 4 to 13.
24.25 School Year Programs include:
- Kinder Musical Theatre (4-5 year olds)
- Musical Theatre Junior (6-9 year olds)
- Broadway Bound (8-13 year olds)
Look for more information on classes in the Richmond Hill Community Recreation Guide or at RichmondHill.ca/RecGuide
For more information on the RHCPA Education Programs, contact:
Ashley Van Eysinga
Education Coordinator
905-787-6569
ashley.vaneysinga@richmondhill.ca
