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 90mins, plus optional 15-minute post-show discussion
We travel to schools across Vermont, including rural and Title I schools
We serve 2,500 students annually across our education programs
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
This Year’s Production
Gracie vs The People
Based on Henrik Ibsen’s classic An Enemy of The People
Adapted and reimagined for teen audiences by Anne Lucey
Will Wilder Photography.
Gracie's 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 run the story, 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.
Themes of civic courage, truth in journalism, peer pressure, and community justice. Touring through December 2026.
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 Gracie vs. The People, our Q&As are led by Vermont journalists and civic leaders including reporters from Seven Days and Vermont Public, a Vermont podcaster, a State Senator, and UVM faculty with the Center for Community News.
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
Rabbis · Museum Directors · Migrant Justice Activists · Union Leaders · Journalists · Environmental Scientists · Civil Rights Attorneys · Labor Historians
Past Productions
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.
Cast
Brittney Abdel-Malik as Cam
Brayden Crickenberger as Jamie
Safiya Jamali as Gracie
Andrew Ritter as Mr. B
Laura Roald as Principal Mayor
Finn Yarborough as Tegu
Production
Director: Cristina Alicea
Stage Managers: Jamien Forrest, Catherine Grace, & John Hughes
Costume Designer: Suzanne Kneller
Sound Designer: Sadie Kraus
Bringing Us to your School
Fees range from $1,250 to $1,650 based on your school's distance from Burlington, and everything is included.
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 70 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 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.
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
