SCORE! is a mentor-led devised theater intensive held every July for 2 weeks.

Students entering grades 7, 8 or 9 in the fall of 2027 are eligible to enroll.

Thank you to our incredible SCORE! participants, dedicated mentors, and everyone who helped make SCORE! 2026 an unforgettable experience. We are so proud of all that our young artists created and accomplished together.

We're already looking forward to SCORE! 2027! Program details and registration information will be available in the coming months. Please check back soon for updates.

What is the goal of SCORE!?

To provide an intense and rigorous creative experience in which young people will:

• Devise, create and produce an original presentation on the stage of the historic Embassy Theatre through a unique peer driven collaborative approach.
• Generate and harness the energy and discipline needed to create original pieces.
• Give life and voice to a story that has meaning in their own lives – devising is creating on your feet!
• Learn the multidisciplinary elements of the art form including play-writing, composition, movement, drama, music, visual arts and technical arts with the facilitation of industry professionals.
• Meet and collaborate with peers who have common interests.

Questions? education@fwembassytheatre.org.

Brought to you with support from:

Embassy Theatre Educational Programming is brought to you with support from the English Bonter Mitchell Foundation, Foellinger Foundation, Lincoln Financial Foundation, PNC Charitable Trusts and Updike Family Fund .

Check out SCORE 2026

JEFF CASAZZA

Jeff is a director, actor, playwright, and teacher of theatre artists.  He is thrilled to be back with SCORE for his sixth summer after missing last year for an out-of-town devising training and certification program in Margolis Method, which he uses in his productions and performance courses at Purdue Fort Wayne where he is a full professor and head of the BFA Acting Program.   Jeff holds an MFA in Directing from Florida State University and his primary area of research is in devising and contemporary performance methods including Linklater Voice (Designated Linklater Teacher), Margolis Method (Level 6 Certification), Devising methods (SITI Company and Anne Bogart [Viewpoints, Suzuki, and Composition], Tectonic Theatre Project/Moises Kaufman [Moment Work], Pig Iron Theatre Company, Third Rail Immersive Theatre, Punchdrunk Immersive Theatre, and Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed), and a variety of Modern/Contemporary Performance Methods including Rudolph Laban, Jacques Lecoq, Alessandro Fabrizi, Michael Checkhov, Clowning, Circus, and many others.  Jeff has created a devised trilogy of Gothic Horror Novels including Frankenstein: An Act of Creation and Dracula: An Act of Destruction.  The trilogy will be completed in 2026-27 as he devises Jekyll: An Act of Transformation at Purdue University Fort Wayne in the Fall which will be produced there in April of 2027.  He can’t wait to work with so many amazingly artistic middle school students to help them create this year’s devised musical theatre production!

KATIE LAUCK

Katie is thrilled to be back for her sixth year with SCORE. This program has been close to her heart ever since she took part as a young artist back in 2014. Though she grew up down the road in Warsaw, Katie now lives in Denver, CO where she works with the theatre non-profit Mirror Image Arts to bring theatre and social-emotional programming to public school students and youth affected by the juvenile justice system. In her spare time, Katie also writes for the indie music publication Noise Made By. She is extremely grateful for the community that SCORE and the Embassy have given her over the years and can’t wait for you all to see the incredible work that’s been created by these young artists. 

GABRIEL WALBURN

Gabriel (Gabey) Walburn has a BFA in theatre with a directing emphasis from Purdue Fort Wayne and an MFA in devised theatrical performance from Pig Iron Schools in affiliation with the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Gabey has taught at several schools, including Canterbury, and is a director, writer and actor in devised theater productions.