Utilize your skills, heart, and commitment to grow and change people’s lives!
The most profound longing of human beings – – their primal drive – – is to integrate their mission and action in life. We want to do what we dream about. Everyone wants to be happy and prosper. Most of all, our greatest longing is to contribute something relevant to our families and the broader community. Through service, learning, and contributing the best of what you have to offer to an individual or situation, you give something of yourself that is lasting, thereby extending your essence in the world.
Thurman E. Scott
Artistic Director and Founder
Who We Serve and How to Get Involved
The Actors Theatre Workshop (ATW) was founded by Thurman E. Scott in 1990 with a mission to help people from all walks of life achieve their potential through drama. All of our programs share Mr. Scott’s belief in creativity as the great equalizer and unifier among human beings, and that theatre must play an active role in a community’s life.
We are committed to helping all individuals reach their full potential through creative training and service. The community we serve is diverse, by race, ethnicity, religion, educational and socio-economic background, reflecting the beautiful mosaic that makes up America.
- Develop Creatively as an Actor, Writer, Director, or More Effective Speaker and Leader
We serve as a place to develop creatively through our Acting Conservatory, our Creative Training Programs for Business Professionals, our Play Reading Series that offers playwrights and acting ensembles the opportunity to develop new and classic plays, and monthly performance opportunities for our community members in our Open Mic Night of Theatre, Song, and Ideas.At ATW, adults have the unique opportunity to study with our Artistic Director and Founder. Mr. Scott teaches the original acting and creative process technique he developed after training with his mentors in the Group Theatre, studies in Europe and Russia, and many years working as an award-winning actor, director, and teacher. These powerful and doable techniques free the instrument, open up the imagination, and liberate talent. - Gain the Skills and Confidence to Become a Successful Adult
Our signature theatre-education program, Builders of the New World (BNW), teaches children experiencing housing instability and youth on the autism spectrum, helping them to unleash their creativity, envision a positive future, develop life skills, and articulate the steps they must take to achieve their dreams. We bring the children together with loving, adult mentors from the corporate community that we train in our original creative process technique. Other community programs have reached veterans, incarcerated men, and low-income seniors. - Become an ATW Volunteer
We operate an extensive volunteer program through which you can get involved and use your talents, expertise, and commitment to truly make a difference! We welcome your professional expertise in all areas – – marketing, management, accounting, IT fundraising, law, design, video editing, electrical and carpentry work. These are some of the areas of expertise that we seek to help advance the mission of our organization. - Become an ATW Intern
Become a part of the leadership team at ATW and learn “hands on” what it takes to run a non-profit arts organization that makes a difference in the community and the world.
We believe that all humans are creative beings, and all are worthy of support. As an example of one community that we serve, approximately 5% of our current interns and staff represent members of the disability community, and on average approximately 20% of the children we serve in our BNW program present with some form of Intellectual or Developmental Disability, with many of the children hailing from an NYC Charter School we’ve partnered with that mainstreams children on the spectrum.
Our theatre facility is warm, welcoming and respectful, and we have been honored to welcome many artists, volunteers, interns, and staff members with physical and developmental disabilities. Because of the individual/personalized nature of our programs, we are able to give personal care to anyone needing assistance even when they don’t identify themselves.
We have many stories to share of the transformative power of our work. One of our members who is on the autism spectrum began volunteering at ATW in 2014. “She needed a place where she can work at her own rhythm. ATW has a sensitive ear towards people who have their own rhythm and they are able to contribute here.” shared Mr. Scott. She is still an active volunteer and not only has ATW benefited from her commitment, attention to detail, and years of experience – – but she has built on the skills she has learned at ATW, which allowed her to get a paying job as a theater usher in New York City.
We are also proud of our longstanding partnerships with organizations such as YAI (formerly Young Adult Institute), and the groups of developmentally disabled young people who have come to ATW once a week since 2013 to help beautify our theatre, have fun, and feel a sense of accomplishment while they are doing it.
Read the heartwarming words of our volunteers and interns as they reflect on their experiences at ATW.