About
Building Artists from the Ground Up
WHO WE ARE
Groundworks Theatre is dedicated to intensive and foundational theatre arts training.
OUR MISSION
Groundworks Theatre trains artists for a solid foundation in theatre by developing core skills, enriching drama education, and encouraging exploration of stories.
OUR VISION
We believe fervently that stories connect people and promote understanding. It is our goal for our students to use these skills to find their own voice so they may impact their communities in whatever medium they pursue.
OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY, DIVERSITY, & INCLUSION
Groundworks Theatre is committed to being an anti-racist organization that promotes equity and justice while denouncing racism, intolerance, and exclusion. We work to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of our programming and operations. We aim to amplify and uplift BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and historically excluded voices in our communities. We understand that theatre arts should be used to educate and empower and we work to connect current social issues impacting our communities to the work we utilize in the classroom space.
HOW WE ACCOMPLISH THIS
We are learning and unlearning daily. Our leadership is committed to staying accountable, intentional, engaged, and open to change. We commit to equitable and diverse hiring and enrollment practices, diversity in programming and productions, exploring the works of historically excluded creators and artists, and encouraging our students to be creative lifelong learners.
“Groundworks Theatre educates students on current social issues surrounding diversity and inclusion and selects plays to promote awareness. At Groundworks I learned that theatre is a safe space for all people- safe for the performers to lose themselves in a role, safe to explore new ideas, safe to challenge cultural norms, and a safe space for the audience to find a voice. ”
Our Programming
Groundworks Theatre offers theatre workshops & intensives; core skill classes in acting, singing, and audition prep so our artists are prepared to go out into the rich San Diego arts community.
When leaving the studio due to Covid19 and pivoting to Zoom, we took the opportunity to do readings of plays with our students and encourage them to dig deep via text analysis and exploratory thinking. We continue this work now that we are back in the studio space, as we train our artists to engage with the text in a meaningful manner.
Art is a great teacher, so we choose plays that stretch our students’ sensibilities and get them thinking outside of what they know. We believe stories connect us all.
OUR HISTORY
Dr. LaForge directing rehearsal
Having partnered artistically since 2012 producing and directing several musical theatre performances and collaborating in an education environment, Katrina DeRoche and Heather LaForge longed to spend more time than just a production period with artists. They wanted the time and space needed to truly explore the connections with these artists, develop their core skills, and explore the rich history of theatre and storytelling.
Together they established Groundworks Theatre in 2019 to do just that. Heather and Katrina have created a space where young artists can explore theatre on a deeper level, allowing the artist to connect with stories and the community that theatre invites into the experience.
In 2022, Groundworks Theatre expanded from the studio to the stage, and in the process became a registered nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, with the goal to make our programming more accessible to students across San Diego County. All donations to Groundworks Theatre are tax-deductible.
Groundworks Theatre offers theatre intensives; core skill classes in acting, directing, and more; full productions; and audition prep so our artists are prepared to go out into the rich San Diego arts community.
Sampling of Works Explored
• The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe
• Copenhagen by Michael Frayn
• Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time adapted by Simon Stephens (based in the novel by Mark Haddon)
• The Diary of Anne Frank dramatized by Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett (based upon the book)
• Freedom of the City by Brian Friel
• Gaslight (Angel Street) by Patrick Hamilton
• The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman & the members of The Tectonic Theater Project
• Little Women Adaptation by Peter Clapham
• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom by August Wilson
• Our Town by Thornton Wilder
• Purlie Victorious by Ossie Davis
• Radium Girls by D. W. Gregory
• School Girls; or the African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh
• Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks
• A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller
• Pride & Prejudice by Kate Hamill
• Various Works by Charles L. Mee
• Various works by William Shakespeare