We will be announcing our 2023-2024 Education Performances in August. Be sure to sign up for Education & Community emails to be the first to know.
Education Performances are 60 minutes long and are purposefully chosen to correlate with the South Carolina Department of Education Standards. Each performance highlights the curriculum through the arts and is accompanied by a lesson plan crafted by the Gaillard Center’s education team. Lesson plans to come!
Please contact Stephanie Lancaster at slancaster@gaillardcenter.org with any questions.
SENSORY-FRIENDLY PERFORMANCES
Sensory-friendly performance:
- The house lights will remain dimmed during the performance, not completely off
- Smaller audience size
- Social stories provided before performance
- Intense lighting and loud sound effects reduced
- Adjustments will be made to the script and acting to maximize comprehension of the story
- A quiet area is available for patrons who need to take a break
- The performance hall is relaxed and inclusive, where patrons feel comfortable during the performance, freely enter or exit the theater during the performance, and speak openly.
- Ushers/house managers will be on hand to assist with patron needs
- Tablets/phones are permitted to assist non-verbal patrons
- Headphones are welcome and available upon request
- Assisted Listening Devices (ALD's) available
- American Sign Language is available and must be pre-arranged by contacting slancaster@gaillardcenter.org no less than two weeks before the performance.
- KultureCity sensory-inclusive bags available upon request
All educational performances:
- A quiet area is available for patrons who need to take a break
- The performance hall is relaxed and inclusive, where patrons feel comfortable during the performance, freely enter or exit the theater during the performance, and speak openly.
- Ushers/house managers will be on hand to assist with patron needs
- Tablets/phones are permitted to assist non-verbal patrons
- American Sign Language is available and must be pre-arranged by contacting slancaster@gaillardcenter.org no less than two weeks before the performance
- Headphones are welcome and also available upon request
- Assisted Listening Devices (ALD's) available upon request
- KultureCity sensory-inclusive bags available upon request
EDUCATION PERFORMANCE FAQS
Tickets are $5 per child and chaperone. Teachers will receive (1) free ticket for every (15) student tickets purchased.
If you are a Title 1 School, your students qualify for free tickets and transportation for one performance. Learn more about transportation in the dropdown below.
Tickets are $5 and can be purchased individually for Education performances. All Education performances are open to home-school teachers and students, and to families with children.
Once you complete and submit the Education Program Ticket Order Form, you will receive a email receipt. A Ticket Office representative will contact you to confirm your seat reservation and payment instructions at least 60 days prior to the show.
Paper tickets will not be issued for schools. Ushers are provided a list of reservations and names/numbers will be checked at the door.
Please consider your confirmation email as notice that your seats are reserved. We will contact you and list shows as sold out if your ticket order cannot be processed.
If you are a Title 1 School, your students qualify for free tickets and transportation. For Title I Schools, the Charleston Gaillard Center Education and Community Program fully funds bus transportation to the Gaillard Center and back for one performance.
Transportation arrangements can be made with your school’s preferred bus carrier. We will reimburse the school directly for the transportation cost. Please send the final invoice directly to the Gaillard Center at sdevries@gaillardcenter.org.
Transportation arrangements can also be made with Coastal Bus Line. Visit coastalbusline.com and click Book Now. Indicate in your destination box you are a Title One School.
*Please note that there will be no lunch stops.
If the Charleston Gaillard Center is funding your transportation and you decide to cancel the buses, the Gaillard Center and your preferred bus carrier must receive an email cancellation thirty (30) days prior to the performance with a confirmed response from the Gaillard Center. If you do not send a cancellation notice within the guidelines your school will be sent the $500 invoice and payment for those buses will be the responsibility of the school.
Buses drop off schools at the Charleston Gaillard Center entrance on George Street. A Gaillard Center representative will be present to greet schools as they arrive and instruct buses where to park. At the end of the performance, students are dismissed by school and file out to George Street to board their bus.
For GPS directions, the address is: 2 George Street, Charleston, SC 29401
Both of the primary entrances on the George St. and Calhoun St. sides are handicap accessible and lead into the shared lobby space between the Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall.
There are handicap accessible elevators located in close proximity to either entrance. In the Performance Hall lobby, elevators are located to the north and south. Ushers will be present to assist anyone with accessibility needs.
Handicap accessible restrooms can be found on every floor and centrally adjacent to each of the facilities’ patron areas.
If you have an attendee in need of ADA accommodations such as wheelchair seating, American Sign Language, service animal seating or a sensory-free space, please email sdevries@gaillardcenter.org or call (843) 579-6458.
We have partnered with KultureCity to make all events within the Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall sensory inclusive. KultureCity is a leading non-profit recognized nationwide for using their resources to revolutionize and effect change in the community for those with sensory needs; not just those with Autism. Sensory bags, equipped with noise canceling headphones, fidget tools, verbal cue cards and weighted lap pads will also be available to all guests who may feel overwhelmed by the environment.
Sensory-friendly performance:
- The house lights will remain dimmed during the performance, not completely off
- Smaller audience size
- Social stories provided prior to performance
- Intense lighting and loud sound effects reduced
- Adjustments will be made to the script and acting to maximize comprehension of the story
- A quiet area is available for patrons who need to take a break
- The performance hall is relaxed and inclusive, where patrons feel comfortable during the performance, freely enter or exit the theater during the performance, and speak openly
- Ushers/house managers will be on hand to assist with patron needs
- Tablets/phones are permitted to assist non-verbal patrons
- Headphones are welcome and available upon request
- Assisted Listening Devices (ALD’s) available
- American Sign Language available and must be pre-arranged by contacting slancaster@gaillardcenter.org no less than two weeks prior to the performance
- KultureCity sensory inclusive bags available upon request
- A quiet area is available for patrons who need to take a break
- The performance hall is relaxed and inclusive, where patrons feel comfortable during the performance, freely enter or exit the theater during the performance, and speak openly
- Ushers/house managers will be on hand to assist with patron needs
- Tablets/phones are permitted to assist non-verbal patrons
- American Sign Language available and must be pre-arranged by contacting slancaster@gaillardcenter.org no less than two weeks prior to the performance
- Headphones are welcome and also available upon request
- Assisted Listening Devices (ALD’s) available upon request
- KultureCity sensory inclusive bags available upon request
Gaillard On Tour Presents
PURE THEATRE'S SHAKESPEARE'S TRUTH TO POWER
Gaillard on Tour will bring this production to your school to accommodate your classroom schedule.
Available February 1, 2023 to June 1, 2023
The Charleston Gaillard Education and Community Program in partnership with PURE Theatre is thrilled to offer a sixty-minute live play exploring the theme of power and the lengths people go to get it, keep it, and stand up to it.
Told through the staging of multiple scenes and sonnets by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s Truth to Power is a dynamic, exciting, and provocative exploration of the ways in which we all use and often abuse our power. A sampling of plays included: Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III, and The Tempest.
Gaillard on Tour will bring this production to your school to accommodate your classroom schedule. We know scheduling field trips that work with the class schedule of a high school and college can be challenging, so we are bringing the field trip to you. Give your students the opportunity to see Shakespeare as it was intended, as a play, not a story in a book. Through live performance, your students will gain a better understanding of the power of Shakespeare's words.
Email sdevries@gaillardcenter.org to reserve a slot for PURE Theatre to come to your school. We strive to make the arts accessible for all, we ask for a $5 per student field trip fee or we can work with you if your school qualifies as Title I.
Image by Daniel from Pixabay
About our education and community program
