Welcome to an exciting new school year at the Ottawa School of Theatre – École de théâtre d’Ottawa!
Message from our Artistic Director:
New classes, new partnerships, new artistic projects… our plans are ambitious and I’m excited to have you along for the ride.
As always, we are offering foundational performance classes for all ages, along with specialized subjects like musical theatre, theatre history, improv, sketch comedy, and production and design. Nous avons aussi plusieurs cours en français – cliquez ici pour plus d’informations.
Growing from last year’s theme of playwrights and playwriting, we have 2 brand new courses starting September 2025: Playwriting for Teens, which sets students up to submit to our playwriting contest in the spring or simply to express themselves in a new way, and Storytelling for Adults, which will culminate in a public presentation at the Shenkman Arts Centre’s Fête Frissons.
This year’s theme is our community and the earth. In a time when there is much climate anxiety, even and especially for the younger generations, we want to empower our students to explore these emotions, conflicts, and dreams for the future through the art of theatre. Our teachers will incorporate the theme in age-appropriate ways that fit with their specialties.
Along that theme, I’m very excited to announce our All Ages Plays for this year! First up is a brand new play that I am writing with two OST favourites, Bruce Deachman and Joanna Henry. The House Rules is about the fun and frustration of living in a community, about housing politics, about family and duty and freedom, inspired by holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life.
Our Spring 2026 play is a brand new world for OST: Swan River by Kate Smith and Skeleton Key Theatre, an original Ottawa creation for young audiences. This is a beautiful story of children and parents coming to an understanding and appreciation for each other as individuals. And – it will be our first All Ages Play to be presented outdoors, actively promoting environmental appreciation and experience through its partnership with Skeleton Key Theatre.
Drama gives us a lens to explore the world and our place in it. Theatre classes not only shape artists, they shape citizens – people, young and old, learning to give and take in a group setting, being creative and fun and honest and generous with each other. It’s a joy to be a part of it, and I invite you to join us.
Megan Piercey Monafu
Artistic Director
Ottawa School of Theatre
SAVE THE DATE: OST HOMECOMING & OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, September 13, 10am to 2pm
During our first Saturday of classes, drop by to meet our team and check out our studios!
Coffee, juice, and snacks provided.
Announcing our 2025-26 Classes:
2025-26 Class Schedule:
Please note that the updates below indicating if a course is full or almost full are done manually. To confirm course availability please visit the registration page. We have added this feature to assist you in finding classes with openings but it is not updated immediately when a course fills.
Important Dates:
Classes in our Full Year Program run from September/October to early June. We believe in teaching theatre by creating theatre, and so these classes will work towards a performance on stage in the Richcraft Theatre in May during our Student Showcase.
We also offer shorter workshop which vary in length from one day to 12 weeks. These intensives may result in a presentation in one of our black box studios at the end of the workshop.
Our Class Terms are as follows:
September 13 – December 8, 2025
*Teen and Adult classes start October 1
January 5 – March 13, 2026
March 23 – June 6, 2026
March Break Camp: March 16-20, 2026
There will be no classes on the following dates:
Sept 30 – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Oct 11 – 13 – Thanksgiving Weekend
Oct 31 – Halloween
Nov 11 – Remembrance Day
Dec 9 – Jan 4 – Holiday Term Break
Feb 16 – Family Day
Apr 3 – 6 – Easter Weekend
May 18 – Victoria Day
Location:
The majority of our classes are held in the Ottawa School of Theatre studios in the Shenkman Arts Centre:
245 Centrum Boulevard, Orleans, ON K1E 0A1
We also run Saturday classes at the Rideau Community Hub, in partnership with the Rideau-Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre:
815 St. Laurent Blvd, Ottawa, ON K1K 3A7
Important Enrollment Information
We are grateful to use scripts provided by Drama Notebook Script Library.