Free Theatre Program for LGBTQIA+ Wellbeing
Since 2017, the arts in medicine programs at UF have offered free improv workshops in north-central Florida for the LGBTQIA+ Community. Theatre Connect provides a safe, supportive, and affirming environment for people to explore theatre and make new connections.
Teens (13-18)
The program that started it all, our teen program runs three seasons a year, on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 - 8:15 PM. Learn more about our program and register for free here.
Young Adults (UF, SF, Young Professionals)
The Florida Division of Arts & Culture has funded Theater Connect to run a pilot program for the 2022-2023 academic year to provide a safe, affirming, and supportive space to make theatre for LGBTQIA+ young adults. This program is lovingly titled Theatre Connect: Yasss! and seeks to co-create a volunteer theatre troupe with the queer community across UF, Santa Fe, City College, and local LGBTQIA+ individuals in the general age range of 18 - 25. Learn more and register here.
All Adults
Our pilot program for LGBTQIA+ adults ran for four weeks during Spring 22'. Based on our initial pilot, we received funding to provide a more targeted program for young adults (see above). While our all-adults offering is on hiatus while we pilot our young adult work, we aim to build capacity and look forward to offering an all-ages (18+) troupe in the future!
All program staff members undergo level-2 background screening through the University of Florida and are considered Florida mandated reporters.