Will Wilder Photography
About Public Square Plays
Public Square Plays tours professional theatre directly to Vermont middle and high school students. Each year we select a play of historic importance with socially relevant themes, featuring young characters who face the same questions students face today.
Every performance is followed by a moderated Q&A with guest speakers, including journalists, civic leaders, academics, and community organizers, who help students connect the play's themes to current events and their own lives. We provide study guides and teacher resources so the conversation continues in the classroom after we leave.
We travel to schools across Vermont and also host field trips at our theatre in Burlington. We prioritize rural schools and schools with limited access to arts programming, and our Education Equity Fund provides scholarships for schools that need financial assistance.
Details
Designed for middle and high school students grades 6-12
Running time 75-mins, plus optional 15-minute post-show discussion
We travel to schools across Vermont, including rural and Title I schools
Last season, this program reached approximately 2,500 students from 17 schools across six Vermont counties.
Bring Us To Your School
We travel to you. Our production sets up quickly in your cafetorium, gym, library, or theater with minimal disruption to your school day. Ideal for full-school assemblies or grade-level performances.
To book or learn more, contact our Education Director: shoshannah@vermontstage.org
Bring Your School To Us
Bring your students to us for a performance at our theatre at Main Street Landing in Burlington. A great option for schools that want to pair the show with a field trip experience in downtown Burlington.
To book or learn more, contact our Education Director: shoshannah@vermontstage.org
2027 Tour
Eden Prairie, 1971
by Mat Smart
As war churns in Vietnam and Apollo 15 lands on the moon, a young draft dodger risks arrest by crossing back into the United States to deliver an important message to a former high school classmate. Set during a moment of national tension that resonates today, this beautifully etched play examines duty, conscience, bravery, and the personal cost of war. Each performance is paired with a moderated post-show Q&A and an Educator’s Supplement that places the play in its broader historical context and helps students connect the characters’ choices to the pressures young people face during times of national conflict.
Themes of duty, conscience, citizenship, dissent, civic responsibility, and the personal cost of war. Touring March through May 2027.
The Post-Show Discussion
Every Public Square Plays performance ends with a moderated Q&A led by a guest speaker with expertise in the play's themes. This is what makes Public Square Plays different. Students don't just watch a story. They talk about it with someone who lives and works inside its questions.
The Year’s Guest Speakers
For Eden Prairie, 1971, our Q&As will be led by Vietnam Veterans, Conscientious objectors, and historians.
Teacher Resources
We provide a standards-aligned study guide for every performance that helps teachers extend the conversation in the classroom before and after our visit. Contact us to receive your copy when you book your school.
Past Q&A guests have included
Local and International Journalists · State Senators · Environmental Scientists · Civil Rights Attorneys · Labor Historians · Rabbis · Museum Directors · Migrant Justice Activists · Union Leaders · University of Vermont Professors
Past Productions
Will Wilder Photography.
Gracie vs. The People adapted by Shoshannah Boray, 2026.
A new teen adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People in which a high school student’s alarming scientific discovery sparks a battle over truth, peer pressure, and the courage to speak up when everyone wants you to stay silent.
Triangle by Laurie Brooks, 2025.
A stylistically thrilling play set against the backdrop of the historic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
And Then They Came for Me by James Still, 2024.
The story of two young Holocaust survivors, interspersed with documentary commentary from them fifty years later.
Bringing Us to your School
Fees range based on your school's distance from Burlington. To learn more about how to bring Public Square Plays to your school, please email our Education Director Shoshannah Boray: shoshannah@vermontstage.org.
We come to you, set up in your gymnasium, cafetorium, or theater, and handle all logistics from start to finish. No buses, no field trip planning, no additional costs. The show runs 75-minutes and is designed for a full school assembly, making it one of the most efficient and affordable ways to bring professional theatre to every student in your building at once. After the performance, we can provide an optional 15-minute moderated talkback, at no additional charge, giving your students a rare chance to connect with people working on the issues raised by the play. We also provide supplemental education materials to extend the experience back in the classroom.
Scholarships Available
Education Equity Fund
For schools that need support, our Education Equity Fund provides partial scholarships for Title I schools. Pending availability of funds. Just ask Shoshannah about it!
Support This Program
Make A gift
Donate to Arts Education
A gift to our Arts Education programs underwrites actor fees, travel expenses, and school scholarships, enabling Public Square Plays to reach more Vermont students and create a forum for civic conversation in schools across the state.
Education Equity Fund
Sponsor a School
Vermont Stage's Education Equity Fund provides scholarships to Title I and rural under-resourced schools that want to participate but can't afford to without extra help. Your gift lets us say yes to more schools.
Our three education programs cost approximately $100,000 annually to produce. School fees cover about half of that. The rest comes from donations and grants. If you'd like to help us reach more Vermont students, we'd be grateful for your support.
Our Education Programs Sponsors
The Flat Rock Fund
George W. Mergens Foundation
Goode Family Foundation
