NEXT ACTORS: THE INTERVIEW PROJECT
Summer 2027
This program is completely free for participants. We are proud to offer it that way.
You can devise.
You can perform.
Or you can do both.
A four-week documentary-style ensemble theatre experience for advanced high school artists, creating a play from stories across Milwaukee.
This program asks something else:
What do I use my artist’s voice for?
THE EXPERIENCE
Next Actors is built around two connected parts. Participants may take part in one or both.
Interviewing & Writing
The cohort conducts interviews with community members, which are recorded, transcribed and crafted into theatrically engaging monologues.
Embodiment & Performance
The cohort brings interview-based text to life through performance, with coaching from professional theatre artists. Elyse Edelman, Jake Penner and Ken Miller directed the 2026 ensemble. Using voice, body and imagination, participants embody real people with specificity, then work together to weave individual monologues into an ensemble piece.
WHO IT’S FOR
This program is for advanced high school and recently-graduated theatre artists ready to use their craft in service of real-world storytelling.
Next Actors: The Interview Project is designed for advanced high school artists who:
- have a strong foundation in acting and/or writing
- are ready for a focused, rigorous ensemble process
- are curious about the lives and stories of others
- want to use theatre as a tool for listening, dialogue, and connection
This is not a beginner program.
It is a next step.
PERFORMANCE & TOUR
The four-week process culminates in a public performance at Next Act Theatre on Saturday, July 31, 2027 at 2:00 p.m.
Then the cohort continues into a fifth-week community tour, sharing the work with audiences across Milwaukee. In 2026, the tour included nine stops at libraries, senior living facilities, summer camps and other community spaces.
PROGRAM DETAILS
2027 Dates
Core Program: July 6 – July 30
Public “Kickoff” Performance: Saturday, July 31 @ 2 p.m.
Tour Week: August 2 – 6
Schedule
Monday–Friday, 10:00am–3:30pm
Participation Options
Interviewing & Writing (Weeks 1–2)
Embodiment & Performance (Weeks 3–4)
Full Five-Week Experience
Cost
This program is completely free for participants.
BECOMING A NEXT ACTOR
We build the 15-member cohort through a competitive interview and audition process, recruiting artists through direct outreach and relationships with schools and educators across Milwaukee. Interested artists should contact us to begin the process.
THE JOURNEYMAN TRACK
Next Actors also includes Journeyman opportunities for current college-aged theater artists. Journeymen participate in the core program while taking on additional artistic, leadership and writing responsibilities.
INTERESTED IN NEXT ACTORS?
Are you a student? Interested in taking the next step?
Are you an educator? Know a young theater artist who should be on our radar?
Interested in hosting a performance during our community tour? Bring theater to your community, free for host sites and audiences alike!