About the School

Berkeley Rep creates ambitious theatre that entertains and challenges its audiences, provokes civic engagement, and inspires people to experience the world in new and surprising ways. The School of Theatre supports this mission through meaningful connections between audiences and our mainstage work, creative entry points for new audiences, tools for artists and students to harness their imaginative power, and immersive training for future theatre makers.

Having first opened its doors in 2001, the School of Theatre offers programming as eclectic as the productions onstage at Berkeley Rep, reaching some 20,000 people in the Bay Area each year. Driven by an expanding community of inspired, curious, and creative theatre lovers, the School’s programming provides opportunities for engagement on a variety of levels.

Since its inception, the School has

• Served over 321,340 people;
• Collaborated with 565 professional teaching artists;
• Streamed Berkeley Rep productions virtually to over 8,000 students;
• Led workshops in 3,630 classrooms in nine counties in the Bay Area;
• Produced 142 original plays created by youth and teen students;
• Mentored 389 young professionals through our Fellowship program (since 1985).

School policies

Registration/Cancellation

All registrations are processed in the order they are received. Registrations will be accepted until the class is full or until the end of the first week of class, whichever comes first.

Class confirmations: After your order is processed, you will receive an email from customerservice@berkeleyrep.org confirming your registration.

We reserve the right to cancel a class if enrollment is insufficient. In this instance, any tuition paid will be refunded in full.

Returned checks: A $25 service charge will be attached to any check returned by the bank due to insufficient funds.

Class cancellation policy:

• If you cancel 48 hours or more before the first class meeting begins, we will refund tuition less a $50 processing fee per class. If you cancel within 48 hours before the first class meeting begins, we will refund tuition less a $75 processing fee. If you cancel within 24 hours after the first class meeting, we will refund half the tuition amount. And 24 hours or more after the first class meeting, no refund will be given.
• Refunds will not be given for the following classes: Actor's Retreat; Playwriting; On-Camera Acting; On-Camera Audition Workshops; Improv Performance Lab; Advanced Improv Performance Lab; Releasing Your Authentic Voice; Speak Spontaneously and Deliver with a Powerful Presence; Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop; A Taste of Meisner Workshop; Meisner Tune Up Workshop.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre is not responsible for any lost, damaged, or stolen personal belongings.

Disruptive or disrespectful behavior is not tolerated and will result in immediate expulsion from the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre with no refund.

Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes and scene partner rehearsals on time and ready to work. Repeated non-compliance without notification may result in dismissal from class without refund.

All dates, times, and programming subject to change.

Vaccination policy

Berkeley Rep School of Theatre’s youth and teen programming is limited to children who are up-to-date with those vaccinations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and required by California Education Code Section 48980.5, unless a medical exception applies. For children with medical exemptions, the School must be notified and a physician’s written statement supporting the medical exemption must be submitted prior to participation.

View Berkeley Rep's health and safety guidelines

View a schedule of the CDC’s vaccine recommendations

View the vaccines required by California law