PAYT's Intergenerational Spring Project

Our Story

Park Avenue Youth Theatre (PAYT) originally began as a one-week summer program in 2013 for young people 10-14 years old. Besieged by requests for a weekly program, Liz Sweeney (Founder and Artistic Director) decided to transition PAYT into a year-round company. Since then, the community has grown to include 3 weekly sessions for students 4-18 years old, culminating in 7 devised shows every year in addition to 3 weeks of summer intensives. 

What does "devised theatre" mean? What does a typical session look like?

Devised theatre is all about collective creation. We do not start from a script. Instead, directors use improvisational games and ensemble-building activities to learn about who is in the room. 

At the end of each session, participants break into groups to collaboratively make and share a piece of theatre.

We then ask ourselves:

What themes keep coming up?

What skills do the students already possess?

Which perspectives are the group excited to explore further? 

What topics does this community want to address through the means of theatre?

Next, directors help shape these stories into an original performance. Past shows have addressed issues such as bullying, suicide, racism, mythology, school shootings, gender inequality, war, divorce, technology, and poverty.

Introducing BRIDGES - Our First Intergenerational Theatre Project!

In March of 2020, PAYT moved our weekly sessions to Zoom. Navigating what theatre can look like in a virtual world (on top of a pandemic and intense social discord) has been both challenging and promising. At the end of the year, we asked members of our community how we could use virtual theatre to meet this period of immense change in our country. Their feedback - combined with requests we began receiving from adults looking to join a theatre program - made us rethink PAYT’s mission. We decided it was time to try something new. 

This spring, we are launching BRIDGES, our first Devised Intergenerational Digital Performance Project. We are opening our virtual doors to participants of any age: if you are between 7 to 97 years old, we want to work with you! 

Why do this project now?

In a time of great division, we hope to create a virtual space that bridges communities, relationships, and experiences across generations to tell the story of this exceptional moment in time. Living in isolation has impacted us all. What are the bridges that connect us to our humanity? What bridges have you crossed to get through this past year? What bridges in our world are about to crumble beneath our feet?

This month-long April/May intensive is for anyone interested in making art and exploring this new form of Zoom theater with a diverse group of people and ideas. We are committed to exploring all roles in the theatrical process and are welcoming any creative types into the process. No auditions required and no previous theater experience necessary. You don't have to be an actor to join us!

Interested in joining us?

For more info, check out our website: https://www.payt.nyc/

Or sign up now! Link to Registration Form 

Who are the Directors?

While we are surrounded by a large community of artists that help us craft each show, two women are consistently working behind the scenes to make it all happen. Meet Liz and Nicole!

Liz Sweeney (Founder/Artistic Director): 

Liz is a director, actor, and mother. Born and raised in the Bronx, she studied Performance at Marymount Manhattan College, and received her Master’s Degree in Applied Theatre at The City University of New York (CUNY). Liz has dedicated her professional career to running theater programs for New York City youth, as well as senior citizens. “The work of each company is so varied from year to year but is consistently daring. I am blown away by our participant’s willingness to be vulnerable with each other and their audience. Our goal as a program has been to develop skills that go beyond the stage. When you ask participants to put themselves out there, discuss hard topics and to perform those perspectives back to their community, they develop strength that they can carry with them throughout their lives.” 

Nicole Serra (Associate Director):

Nicole is a theatre artist and educator. Originally from Las Vegas, she spent the past 17 years in NYC gaining experience as an actor, director, playwright, producer, stage manager, and all-things administrator. Nicole has developed curriculum and facilitated theatre programs in all five boroughs, Long Island, and upstate New York. She has worked in non-traditional spaces such as public and private school classrooms, prisons, homeless shelters, and churches. She received her BA in Theatre and English Literature from University of Miami, FL and also graduated from CUNY School of Professional Studies with a Master's Degree in Applied Theatre (that's where she met Liz!) Nicole joined PAYT as a guest director for a 2016 spring show and loved the community so much she never left. "I have seen first-hand how theatre can deepen communication and critical thinking skills, help brainstorm ways of addressing conflict, and offer a platform for people to express their truth. The possibilities are endless! Working with PAYT has offered me many opportunities to grow as an educator and take bold steps as an artist. I am so excited to continue learning from and building this community!”

How Will Donations Be Used?

In order to provide equitable participation, enrollment is FREE for all participants!

All donations will serve to support:

1) Liz and Nicole’s efforts around curriculum building, facilitating, administration, outreach, and publicity.

2) Hiring David Michael Friend to edit project videos and design our website and promotional materials.  

3) Building and developing BRIDGES program materials such as props, costumes, and online subscriptions.

4) Necessary technical support and production staffing. (If you know Liz and Nicole, you know that we are great with people, but not so skilled with technology!)

5) The future of PAYT. In our current economy, arts and after-school activities are facing major budget cuts. Your donation will allow PAYT to address a void in accessibility to these underserved communities, including student scholarships for our upcoming programming. 

What Your Support Means to our Participants

“My kids are loving theater – thanks for all your hard work. I have been thinking a lot about what you said about kids needing a non-school place where they don’t have to assume their usual identity and place in the school caste system. I think they both feel like they are freer in theater than anywhere else.”
– Parent of two PAYT participants

 “Youth Theatre is important to me because I learn so much and can be myself, knowing for a fact that I won’t be judged by others. Theater has given me a new sense of purpose, and being in the company of such an amazing array of successful actors makes me proud to be a member of PAYT.”
– PAYT participant (13 years old)
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"I've been a member of PAYT for almost 7 years and I've loved every minute of it. I've made amazing friends, been in some incredible and fun performances, and had some of the best experiences of my life. The directors, especially Liz and Nicole, have been so inspirational. Their care and devotion towards the youth theater groups makes them what they are: safe places for young people to learn, practice theater, and most importantly have fun. I'm so thankful for them and the work they do. I've discovered so much about myself through PAYT. It's been an incredible, fun experience that I wouldn't trade for any other. The PAYT community is one of the best I've ever been a part of, and these years of theater have meant so, so much to me."
– PAYT participant (16 years old)

​"I enrolled my daughter in PAYT two years ago only because a friend had joined previously. Little did I know this activity, together with the student group and the instructors, was going to become her favorite extracurricular venture. She took out a lot from these sessions; made many friends and acquaintances who remained in contact even after the classes ended, learned many theatrical techniques that helped her in and outside the performing world, and gained confidence thanks to the frequent staging and the warmth received by peers and instructors. I give this place five stars for other reasons as well: they are extremely organized, the teachers are the most caring team I have ever met (and I am myself a teacher), and the classes are imparted in a charming venue in the UES. It is without doubt my best find in NYC!"
– Parent of PAYT participant

​"PAYT has played a huge role in my life for the past few years, and it has become something I look forward to every week. The program has built my confidence and means a lot to me!"
– PAYT participant (13 years old)