applications are closing soon for the 2026 Voices of Now program.
Voices of Now is an annual collaboration between the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing and our partners at Arena Stage. Each year, a group of high school students come together from around the city to form a teen grief ensemble. In collaboration with professional teaching artists, these young performers create original autobiographical plays that explore the issues shaping their lives today. The result? Urgent, moving, and joyful performances that invite audiences to see the world through a new lens.
Do you know a teen who:
- Has experienced the death of a significant individual in their life?
- Is currently in the 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade?
- Enjoys acting, writing, and being onstage?
- Could benefit from connecting with other grieving teens?
- Is willing to share about their grief experience?
- Has a lot to say and wants others to hear them?
- Lives in the DMV?
- Can commit to a weekly Sunday afternoon program (2-5pm) between the end of January and the end of April 2026?
Program Details
Voices of Now (VON) is Arena Stage’s acclaimed devised theater program that amplifies the voices of high school artists.
- Applicants participate in weekly sessions developing a script about their feelings, thoughts, memories and experiences related to deaths in their lives. Ultimately, they perform their script in April at the Voices of Now Festival.
- This program is free to all youth.
- Applicants must be able to arrange their own transportation to and from Arena Stage, at 1101 6th Street SW.
- Community Service hours are provided to participants who complete the program.
- Teaching artists and a grief therapist are onsite during all rehearsals as a support to ensemble members.
Application Information
- You must complete an online application to join the teen grief ensemble.
- Parent/Guardian permission is required.
- All applicants will be scheduled for a virtual interview prior to participation. Interviews begin mid-December.
- Complete your application as soon as possible – the application is closing soon.
