Discover Your Next
Theatre Experience

Step behind the curtain and discover the magic of Actors Theatre of Louisville, a National Historical landmark. Explore our three distinct performance spaces, learn fascinating theatrical history, and glimpse the creative process that brings productions to life. Our guided tours offer an exclusive backstage experience you don't want to miss.

Scene Study: Presence, Connection, and Creative Play

Step into a supportive space to build confidence, explore characters, and develop emotional versatility as an actor. This four-week class is designed for anyone interested in acting, whether you’re preparing for auditions, looking to sharpen your skills, or simply curious about exploring performance.

Each week, you’ll work with scene partners, experiment with text, and engage in Meisner-inspired exercises to strengthen presence, emotional openness, and authentic connection. Together, we’ll break down scenes, explore character motivations, and play with different approaches to acting; all in a fun, safe, and welcoming environment that encourages you to show up as you are.

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What You’ll Get:

·  In-the-room scene work guided by experienced teaching artists

·  Practical tools for text and character development

·  Exercises to build emotional versatility and presence

·  Encouraging feedback in a supportive, collaborative environment

·  Skills that transfer to everyday life; communication, collaboration, and creative confidence

No prior experience required—just curiosity, openness, and a willingness to play.

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Teaching Artists:

• Julia Estrada (she/her): Broadway performer (Hamilton), organizational psychology consultant, and co-founder of AlloImpact
• Devin McCarthy (she/her): TV/film actor and founder of The Oracle’s Daughters, a creative studio focused on storytelling and ritual

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Class Details:

• When: Weekly on Tuesday Evenings
• Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
• Location: Actors Theatre of Louisville
• Who: Adults, 18+

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Current and Upcoming Sessions:

‍Session 1

• Class 1: August 26
• Class 2: September 2
• Class 3: September 9
• Class 4: September 16
  **NO class on Sept. 23

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Session 2

• Class 1: September 30
• Class 2: October 7
• Class 3: October 14
• Class 4: October 21
  **NO class on Oct. 28

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Session 3

• Class 1: November 4
• Class 2: November 11
• Class 3: November 18
• Class 4: November 25
  **NO class on Dec. 2

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Session 4

• Class 1: December 9
• Class 2: December 16
  **BREAK FOR HOLIDAY
• Class 3: January 6
• Class 4: January 13
  

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Tuition:

• $200 for students (Tuition covers the full four-week series)

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Space is limited. This is an intimate, actor-centered experience designed for trust, focus, and growth. Join us and keep the scene alive.

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For more information, please email lace@actorstheatre.org.

Take a journey through the underworld, a dark realm filled with glittering light and mystery where the dead are very much alive. In this fantastical adventure infused with astonishing puppetry, humor, music, and magical visual effects, two skeleton friends, a dodo and a boy, are drawn into the epic battle between existence and extinction as they fight to stay together. Experience this mesmerizing odyssey from the Obie Award-winning company Wakka Wakka, international leaders in stretching the boundaries of theatrical imagination.

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A hit from the 2025 Under the Radar Festival that’s been called “dazzling” (Theatermania) and “ceaselessly inventive” (The New York Times), Dead as a Dodo will amaze grown-ups and kids alike. The Actors Theatre of Louisville presentation is generously supported by Alex Alvarez and Gill Holland.

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“From a formal perspective, it is among the most ceaselessly inventive theatre pieces I have seen in the past year….It immerses the audience in a fantastical universe—at one point, plunging underneath the fiery river Styx—thanks to outlandishly inventive puppetry, projections, lighting, and audio….The bigger story here is concerned with new beginnings, and it is told gorgeously.”

                    —The New York Times

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“A beautifully imagined, sweet-natured, kid-friendly show…by the extraordinary Wakka Wakka puppetry collective.”

                    —The New Yorker

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“Spectacular….Wakka Wakka, based in New York and Oslo, has been astounding audiences for years with innovative stories and mind-blowing puppetry. Dead as a Dodo will blow your mind too….[the show is] about exploring theatre magic and seeing what kinds of stories are possible to tell onstage….One eye-popping scene follows another, and the show’s 80 minutes fly by.”

                    —Theatermania

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This production contains sensory elements that may be intense for some audience members.

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Light related sensory moments:

• ‍‍This production uses darkness to highlight the puppets with lighting and projections.
• Flashing lights.
• Theatrical lighting that occasionally dances out into the seating area during playful moments.
• Haze.
• Sparkling elements reflect stage lights.

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Sound related sensory moments:

• Many loud boom sounds throughout the production.
• Rock Guitar.
• Group singing.

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Spooky/emotional moments:

• Some of the puppeteers use spooky voices to portray the show’s villains.
• Several skeleton puppets, some are visually spooky.
• Dodo and the Boy both go on an adventure and there are sad and scary moments, but they are safe in the end.  

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We encourage audience members with light or sound sensitivities to reach out to Radical Hospitality Staff if you'd like support navigating these experiences or would benefit from sensory accommodations.

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A Life-Long Learning Series Applying Arts-Based Tools For Sustainability, Survival, and Joy

Second Sundays of each month!

Actors Theatre of Louisville and Louisville Tool Library are partnering to offer a monthly series of hands-on community workshops teaching a variety of skills learned from adventures onstage, backstage, and balancing life in the arts that can come in handy in the apocalypse!!

UPCOMING SESSIONS

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Trash Puppets: Creature Creation for Low-Resource Worlds

Sunday, November 9

12-1:30 p.m.

The Victor Jory Theatre at Actors Theatre of Louisville (316 West Main Street)

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Join Actors Theatre of Louisville in partnership with the Louisville Tool Library for a hands-on workshop in our Stagecraft Tools for the Apocalypse series. 

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This session, Trash Puppets: Creature Creation for Low-Resource Worlds, explores the art of puppetry as a tool for creativity, sustainability, and survival. Because when the world gets strange, at least you can build a friend.

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Using scavenged and low-resource materials like straws, rubber bands, sticks, cans, bottles, buttons, and yarn, participants will construct imaginative puppet companions from everyday debris. The workshop will include simple techniques for movement and expression, focusing on creativity and play rather than precision.

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By the end of the session, each participant will have built a one-of-a-kind friend from the remnants of the world: a reminder that art and imagination can thrive anywhere, even in uncertain times.

Scrooge is back in all of his humbug glory! His disdain for Christmas is no match for visits from enchanting ghosts, a lively ensemble of characters, and the music of the season. Honoring Dickens’ classic tale, this acclaimed adaptation embraces generosity, community, and second chances. Bring your friends and family to Actors Theatre of Louisville for a new production celebrating this beloved tradition.

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“Jadhwani’s well-crafted adaptation combines the famous dialogue that audiences have become accustomed to and has weaved more intricate and lyrical phrases from the novel into the piece. Thus elevating the experience that the audience is given…there is no doubt that it will bring joy, merriment, and entertainment to all who experience it.”

                           —Broadway World

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“This new adaptation by Lavina Jadhwani stays true to the original story, telling it succinctly and effectively, emphasizing Scrooge’s willing participation in his transformation.”

                           —Cherry and Spoon

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Post-Show Conversation: Disability Representation

‍Following the December 10th performance of A Christmas Carol,  join us for a post-show conversation exploring disability representation in Dickens’ works, including this holiday classic.

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And you can continue to feel the Christmas spirit by supporting our friends at Lights Under Louisville, presented by the Louisville Mega Cavern and 5/3rd Bank, returning on November 14! This beloved holiday tradition is truly unique, transforming the cavern into an underground wonderland with over 7 million points of light. Drive through and explore dazzling themed displays, encounter favorite characters, enjoy holiday music, lasers, and so much more. Get ready to create lasting holiday memories for the whole family!

Emma Woodhouse is clever, educated, and energetic…and in imminent danger of going mad with idleness. In a time when respectable ladies are expected to sit quietly at home, she desperately needs projects—and prides herself on matchmaking, much to the chagrin of her friend Mr. Knightley. But where Emma’s considerable energies focus, screwball comedy follows… A fresh feminist take on a treasured classic, this Emma breaks down convention, expectation, and even the fourth wall with vibrant comic flair—leading audiences “forward, onward, and upward!"

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Tickets on sale to the public 11/1/25

Actors Theatre of Louisville welcomes back New York-based company Fiasco Theater as they combine their joyful, actor-driven approach to Shakespeare with the ingenuity of The Saunders Collective—a family of multi-talented performers, singers, composers and producers. Featuring original music, this collaboration breathes magical new life into the classic madcap farce about two pairs of identical twins, separated in a shipwreck, whose day roaming the same city leads to mistaken identities, cascading misadventures, and gloriously silly comic confusion.
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“Fiasco is doing justice to Shakespeare in a wholly and excitingly contemporary way…Among its tools are careful compression, deep investigation of character, a pleasure in the gestalt of ensemble work, and a firm believe the that plays are meant to be, well, accessible fun.”

                     —The Washington Post

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“The Saunders family taps a compelling vein within the genre of musical theater.”

                     —Theatermania

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