Welcome to the Hilltown Youth Performing Arts Programs!

...is an innovative year round after school and summer performing arts program. Our mission is to build supportive, creative communities and to put on great shows! It is part of an effort to use theater to create a larger sense of community that transcends buildings and school campuses and instills in young people a sense of place and appreciation of rural hilltown life. Through our work with Double Edge Theatre, Chrysalis Theatre, Knighthorse Theatre, Homunculas Mask Theatre and other luminaries in the social justice and performing arts fields we try to introduce young artists to opportunities that stretch them beyond the boundaries of Western Massachusetts. Experiences that help them see the world outside our home in Charlemont, Massachusetts while still being rooted here.

In 2015, in response to, a statewide opioid crisis, we launched our newest initiative, the RECOVERY THEATRE, a performing arts experience for young people overcoming trauma, addiction, anxiety, depression and other behavioral health challenges. It is a space where teens struggling with mental health issues are valued as artists not patients. Put simply, it is a home for anyone living with circumstances that present barriers to them becoming their fullest selves.