Public Square Plays
Our Public Square Plays program tours theatre that opens the floor to student voices. Formerly called our Teen Tour, these touring productions are created exclusively for Vermont middle and high school students. Each year we highlight a story of historic importance with socially-relevant themes, featuring young characters, and followed by a Q&A led by a guest speaker. Our team travels to schools all over the state to bring our show directly to students, and we also host field trips for student groups at our theatre in Burlington.
This year, our touring play is:
Gracie vs. The People
Based on Henrik Ibsen’s classic An Enemy of The People
Adapted and reimagined for teen audiences
Gracie’s award-winning science fair project has set her high school on edge. Her study of the school’s water system suggests it may be slowly transforming students and staff into strange, unrecognizable, creatures. When the student newspaper plans to feature her project in the next issue, the principal questions the risk to the school’s reputation, her science teacher worries about causing a panic, and her classmates fret over their own futures. Caught between pressure to stay quiet and her own conscience, Gracie has to decide if telling the truth is worth it.
This contemporary adaptation of An Enemy of the People asks the same question as Ibsen's classic: When the crowd says sit down, who stands up? Each performance is paired with a Q&A for students on the play's relevance today, moderated by experts on the play’s themes.
This year, our touring play is:
Gracie vs. The People
Based on Henrik Ibsen’s classic An Enemy of The People
Adapted and reimagined for teen audiences
Gracie’s award-winning science fair project has set her high school on edge. Her study of the school’s water system suggests it may be slowly transforming students and staff into strange, unrecognizable, creatures. When the student newspaper plans to feature her project in the next issue, the principal questions the risk to the school’s reputation, her science teacher worries about causing a panic, and her classmates fret over their own futures. Caught between pressure to stay quiet and her own conscience, Gracie has to decide if telling the truth is worth it.
This contemporary adaptation of An Enemy of the People asks the same question as Ibsen's classic: When the crowd says sit down, who stands up? Each performance is paired with a Q&A for students on the play's relevance today, moderated by experts on the play’s themes.
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SIGN UP
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ABOUT PUBLIC SQUARE PLAYS
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DONATE TO THIS PROGRAM
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CAST & CREW
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We are touring Gracie vs. The People to schools across Vermont and we will also be hosting student groups at our theatre in Burlington. All touring performances will take place between March and May 2026. If you would like to learn more or sign your school up for the tour, please contact Education Coordinator [email protected] or fill out our Registration/Inquiry form below.
Formerly called our Teen Tour, Public Square Plays are touring productions created exclusively for Vermont middle and high school students. Each year we highlight a story of historic importance with socially-relevant themes, featuring young characters, and followed by a Q&A led by a guest speaker. Our team travels to schools all over the state to bring our show directly to students, and we also host field trips for student groups at our theatre in Burlington.
Past tours have included And Then They Came For Me, James Still's play about two young Holocaust Survivors, interspersed with documentary commentary from them 50 years later, and Triangle by Laurie Brooks, a stylistically thrilling play set against the backdrop of the historic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
Our Public Square Plays program tours theatre that opens the floor to student voices. Theatre builds empathy, critical thinking, and civic curiosity. By meeting students where they are—and pairing each performance with guided discussion and teacher resources—we help students connect history to the choices we make today.
Past tours have included And Then They Came For Me, James Still's play about two young Holocaust Survivors, interspersed with documentary commentary from them 50 years later, and Triangle by Laurie Brooks, a stylistically thrilling play set against the backdrop of the historic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
Our Public Square Plays program tours theatre that opens the floor to student voices. Theatre builds empathy, critical thinking, and civic curiosity. By meeting students where they are—and pairing each performance with guided discussion and teacher resources—we help students connect history to the choices we make today.
DONATE TO OUR EDUCATION PROGRAMS
A gift to our Arts Education programs underwrites costs like actor fees, travel expenses, and school scholarships. Donations enable Suitcase Stage to ignite the imaginations of elementary school students, Public Square Plays to create a forum for teen discourse, and Vermont Young Playwrights to support the expression of burgeoning young writers. These programs cost around $100,000 each year and school fees only cover half of these costs.
A gift to our Arts Education programs underwrites costs like actor fees, travel expenses, and school scholarships. Donations enable Suitcase Stage to ignite the imaginations of elementary school students, Public Square Plays to create a forum for teen discourse, and Vermont Young Playwrights to support the expression of burgeoning young writers. These programs cost around $100,000 each year and school fees only cover half of these costs.
SPONSOR A SCHOOL
Vermont Stage's new Education Equity Fund is a scholarship fund that will go directly to subsidize the participation fees for Title 1 Schools and rural under-resourced schools that want to participate in our education programs but cannot afford to do so without extra help. Your tax-deductible donation allows us to say yes to these schools!
Vermont Stage's new Education Equity Fund is a scholarship fund that will go directly to subsidize the participation fees for Title 1 Schools and rural under-resourced schools that want to participate in our education programs but cannot afford to do so without extra help. Your tax-deductible donation allows us to say yes to these schools!
CAST AND PRODUCTION TEAM
Info coming soon.
Info coming soon.
VIDEOS COMING SOON.
Public Square Sponsors:
Funding also provided by:
The Flat Rock Fund
Goode Family Foundation
Physician’s Computer Company
The Flat Rock Fund
Goode Family Foundation
Physician’s Computer Company
Public Square Plays
Our Public Square Plays program tours theatre that opens the floor to student voices. Formerly called our Teen Tour, these touring productions are created exclusively for Vermont middle and high school students. Each year we highlight a story of historic importance with socially-relevant themes, featuring young characters, and followed by a Q&A led by a guest speaker. Our team travels to schools all over the state to bring our show directly to students, and we also host field trips for student groups at our theatre in Burlington.
This year, our touring play is:
Gracie vs. The People
Based on Henrik Ibsen’s classic An Enemy of The People
Adapted and reimagined for teen audiences
Gracie’s award-winning science fair project has set her high school on edge. Her study of the school’s water system suggests it may be slowly transforming students and staff into strange, unrecognizable, creatures. When the student newspaper plans to feature her project in the next issue, the principal questions the risk to the school’s reputation, her science teacher worries about causing a panic, and her classmates fret over their own futures. Caught between pressure to stay quiet and her own conscience, Gracie has to decide if telling the truth is worth it.
This contemporary adaptation of An Enemy of the People asks the same question as Ibsen's classic: When the crowd says sit down, who stands up? Each performance is paired with a Q&A for students on the play's relevance today, moderated by experts on the play’s themes.Gracie’s award-winning science fair project has set her high school on edge. Her study of the school’s water system suggests it may be slowly transforming students and staff into strange, unrecognizable, creatures. When the student newspaper plans to feature her project in the next issue, the principal questions the risk to the school’s reputation, her science teacher worries about causing a panic, and her classmates fret over their own futures. Caught between pressure to stay quiet and her own conscience, Gracie has to decide if telling the truth is worth it.
This contemporary adaptation of An Enemy of the People asks the same question as Ibsen's classic: When the crowd says sit down, who stands up? Each performance is paired with a Q&A for students on the play's relevance today, moderated by experts on the play’s themes.
This year, our touring play is:
Gracie vs. The People
Based on Henrik Ibsen’s classic An Enemy of The People
Adapted and reimagined for teen audiences
Gracie’s award-winning science fair project has set her high school on edge. Her study of the school’s water system suggests it may be slowly transforming students and staff into strange, unrecognizable, creatures. When the student newspaper plans to feature her project in the next issue, the principal questions the risk to the school’s reputation, her science teacher worries about causing a panic, and her classmates fret over their own futures. Caught between pressure to stay quiet and her own conscience, Gracie has to decide if telling the truth is worth it.
This contemporary adaptation of An Enemy of the People asks the same question as Ibsen's classic: When the crowd says sit down, who stands up? Each performance is paired with a Q&A for students on the play's relevance today, moderated by experts on the play’s themes.Gracie’s award-winning science fair project has set her high school on edge. Her study of the school’s water system suggests it may be slowly transforming students and staff into strange, unrecognizable, creatures. When the student newspaper plans to feature her project in the next issue, the principal questions the risk to the school’s reputation, her science teacher worries about causing a panic, and her classmates fret over their own futures. Caught between pressure to stay quiet and her own conscience, Gracie has to decide if telling the truth is worth it.
This contemporary adaptation of An Enemy of the People asks the same question as Ibsen's classic: When the crowd says sit down, who stands up? Each performance is paired with a Q&A for students on the play's relevance today, moderated by experts on the play’s themes.
SIGN UP
We are touring Gracie vs. The People to schools across Vermont and we will also be hosting student groups at our theatre in Burlington. All touring performances will take place between March and May 2026. If you would like to learn more or sign your school up for the tour, please contact Education Coordinator Shoshannah at [email protected] or fill out our Registration/Inquiry form below.
ABOUT PUBLIC SQUARE PLAYS
ABOUT PUBLIC SQUARE PLAYS
Formerly called our Teen Tour, Public Square Plays are touring productions created exclusively for Vermont middle and high school students. Each year we highlight a story of historic importance with socially-relevant themes, featuring young characters, and followed by a Q&A led by a guest speaker. Our team travels to schools all over the state to bring our show directly to students, and we also host field trips for student groups at our theatre in Burlington.
Past tours have included And Then They Came For Me, James Still's play about two young Holocaust Survivors, interspersed with documentary commentary from them 50 years later, and Triangle by Laurie Brooks, a stylistically thrilling play set against the backdrop of the historic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
Our Public Square Plays program tours theatre that opens the floor to student voices. Theatre builds empathy, critical thinking, and civic curiosity. By meeting students where they are—and pairing each performance with guided discussion and teacher resources—we help students connect history to the choices we make today.
Formerly called our Teen Tour, Public Square Plays are touring productions created exclusively for Vermont middle and high school students. Each year we highlight a story of historic importance with socially-relevant themes, featuring young characters, and followed by a Q&A led by a guest speaker. Our team travels to schools all over the state to bring our show directly to students, and we also host field trips for student groups at our theatre in Burlington.
Past tours have included And Then They Came For Me, James Still's play about two young Holocaust Survivors, interspersed with documentary commentary from them 50 years later, and Triangle by Laurie Brooks, a stylistically thrilling play set against the backdrop of the historic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
Our Public Square Plays program tours theatre that opens the floor to student voices. Theatre builds empathy, critical thinking, and civic curiosity. By meeting students where they are—and pairing each performance with guided discussion and teacher resources—we help students connect history to the choices we make today.
CAST & CREW
CAST AND PRODUCTION TEAM
Info coming soon.
Info coming soon.
VIDEOS COMING SOON.
DONATE
DONATE TO OUR EDUCATION PROGRAMS
A gift to our Arts Education programs underwrites costs like actor fees, travel expenses, and school scholarships. Donations enable Suitcase Stage to ignite the imaginations of elementary school students, Public Square Plays to create a forum for teen discourse, and Vermont Young Playwrights to support the expression of burgeoning young writers. These programs cost around $100,000 each year and school fees only cover half of these costs.
A gift to our Arts Education programs underwrites costs like actor fees, travel expenses, and school scholarships. Donations enable Suitcase Stage to ignite the imaginations of elementary school students, Public Square Plays to create a forum for teen discourse, and Vermont Young Playwrights to support the expression of burgeoning young writers. These programs cost around $100,000 each year and school fees only cover half of these costs.
SPONSOR A SCHOOL
Vermont Stage's new Education Equity Fund is a scholarship fund that will go directly to subsidize the participation fees for Title 1 Schools and rural under-resourced schools that want to participate in our education programs but cannot afford to do so without extra help. Your tax-deductible donation allows us to say yes to these schools!
Vermont Stage's new Education Equity Fund is a scholarship fund that will go directly to subsidize the participation fees for Title 1 Schools and rural under-resourced schools that want to participate in our education programs but cannot afford to do so without extra help. Your tax-deductible donation allows us to say yes to these schools!
Public Square Sponsors
Funding also provided by:
The Flat Rock Fund
Goode Family Foundation
Physician’s Computer Company
The Flat Rock Fund
Goode Family Foundation
Physician’s Computer Company
