Every summer for over 30 years, Raleigh Little Theatre holds a theatre intensive for high school age students to participate in classes and apply their learning to a fully realized production. Teens on Stage classes may focus on movement, voice and speech, text analysis, devising and advanced acting. Teens Backstage participants are engaged in all areas of technical theatre including set construction, costume construction, prop building, lighting, sound and scenic painting. Teens Backstage also builds the set and many costumes under the supervision of the Technical Director and design team.
The Teens on Stage / Teens Backstage program is designed to further students’ theatrical training by connecting theatre classes to production work and to develop students as theatre artists by connecting theatre to the world and society. The program is a good fit for a variety of theatre experience levels and the RLT education team believes this variety makes the program even stronger. Our goal is that this intensive theatre-making experience serves students’ goals in theatre and the arts and also in developing their communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills that can be used in a variety of ways in their lives.
Admission to Teens on Stage is by audition only and Teens Backstage is by interview.
2026 Teens on Stage/Teens Backstage
Directed by Joel Soren
About the Program
Together, TOS and TBS form RLT’s teen intensive on-campus summer program that provides theatrical training and mentoring to teens. The program team’s approach prioritizes the agency of the youth participants and is grounded in the belief that young people are valuable creative collaborators. This approach supports the development of youth theatre artists as it engages them in critical thinking, creative problem solving, and a community-centered environment that recognizes what each person brings to the collaboration.
RLT seeks participants for the Teens on Stage program. All who are cast in the production divide their time between daily classes and rehearsals. Class content is designed to support students’ artistic skill development in areas that apply directly to the production, while helping them grow into well rounded theatre artists.
RLT seeks 6-8 participants in the Teens Backstage program. Participants will gain experience in all areas of technical theatre (set construction, costuming, lighting, sound and prop making) through rotating master classes and mentorship from the design team in creating all technical elements of the production. Teens Backstage participants then move into a focus area as technical rehearsals begin and then serve as the run crew with a specific role for all performances
The program is open to students grades rising 10th – 2026 high school graduates.
Auditions for Teens on Stage (TOS)
General Auditions: February 16, 2026 (Monday) and February 17, 2026 (Tuesday) 7pm-10pm
Callback List: posted on RLT website by February 18, 2026 (Wednesday) 12pm
Callbacks: February 21, 2026 (Saturday) 2pm – 5pm
To sign up for an audition day, please click here
Auditioners should prepare a comedic monologue 1-2 minutes in length as well as be prepared for cold reading from the script.
Please fill out the following paperwork to bring with you to the auditions:
In addition to the paperwork, please email cari@nullraleighlittletheatre.org with a recent picture of yourself by 4pm Monday, February 16. The purpose of the picture is to help the director remember your amazing performance during auditions, so an informal picture is ideal, as long as it shows who you are and is recent.
A callback list will be posted by 12pm on February 18, 2026.
Questions about auditions? Contact info@nullraleighlittletheatre.org
If you need any specific accommodations to audition, please contact info@nullraleighlittletheatre.org to make your request. Examples of accommodations made in the past are: wheelchair accessible audition space, large print materials, prompters in the audition room, volunteers to help fill out forms, and auditions by appointment.
Interviews for Teens Backstage (TBS)
Wednesday, February 25, 2026 from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
To sign up for an interview, please click here
Teens Backstage interviews will consist of learning about your interest and experience in technical theatre. Students will interview in a group setting that will also include activities along with touring RLT’s space. Students are required to attend the entire interview session.
Please fill out the following paperwork to bring with you to the interview:
Program Dates for Teens on Stage and Teens Backstage
The first day of the program is Saturday, June 27. Performances run July 24 – August 9, with strike (deconstruction of the production elements, followed by a final group reflection) after the show on August 9. Performances are on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm.
Teens on Stage and Teens Backstage meet Monday-Friday from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm until opening night.
Sample daily program schedule:
9:00 – 9:20 am Check In/Announcements
9:20 – 10:55 am TOS Class #1 & TBS Build Time
10:55 – 11:10 am Break
11:10 – 12:45 pm TOS Class #2 & TBS Build Time
12:45 – 1:15 pm Lunch
1:15 – 2:50 pm TOS Rehearsal & TBS Classes/Build Time
2:50 – 3:05 pm Break
3:05 – 4:40 pm TOS Rehearsal & TBS Classes/Build Time
4:40 – 5:00 pm End of Day Reinforcement
Tuition
The tuition cost for the program is $750. Once you have been accepted into the program, RLT will provide information about registration and scholarships. Raleigh Little Theatre has never turned away a student due to inability to pay.
Virtual Info Session
Want to learn more about this year’s program and get your questions answered? RLT’s Director of Education, Terra Hodge, and the show’s director, will host a virtual informational session on Monday, February 9, 2026 from 7:00 pm – 8:00pm. The session will include a program overview, Q&A, and guidance on how to prepare for your audition or interview. Parents/Guardians are also welcome to attend with their students.
About the Show
Based on the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture based on the Hasbro board game CLUE.
It’s a dark and stormy night, and our character‘s been invited to a very unusual dinner party. Each of the guests has an alias, the butler offers a variety of weapons, and the host is, well, dead. So whodunit? Join the iconic oddballs known as Scarlet, Plum, White, Green, Peacock, and Mustard as they race to find the murderer in Boddy Manor before the body count stacks up. Based on the cult classic film and the popular board game, Clue is a madcap comedy that will keep the audience guessing until the final twist.
CLUE (High School Edition) is presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service
www.concordtheatricals.com
About the Characters
WADSWORTH – A traditional British butler in every sense: uptight, formal, and “by the book.” He is the driving force in the play.
YVETTE – A loyal and flirty French maid.
MISS SCARLET – A dry, sardonic D.C. socialite.
MRS. PEACOCK – The wealthy wife of a senator. A bit batty, neurotic, and quick to hysteria.
MRS. WHITE – A pale, morbid, and tragic woman. Mrs. White may or may not be the murderer of her five ex-husbands.
COLONEL MUSTARD – A puffy, pompous, dense blowhard of a military man.
PROFESSOR PLUM – An arrogant academic, easily impressed by himself.
MR. GREEN – A timid, yet officious, rule follower. He’s awfully anxious.
THE COOK – A gruff woman with a threatening presence.
SINGING TELEGRAM GIRL – A tap dancer with a heart of gold.
MR. BODDY – A slick, Frank Sinatra, film noir-esque type fella.
THE MOTORIST – A professional driver.
CHIEF OF POLICE – A cop who helps to save the day.
*Other ensemble Roles
Recent Teens on Stage / Teens Backstage productions include:
- Hadestown: Teen Edition (2025)
- Our Town (Multilingual) (2024)
- Puffs (2023)
- Xanadu (2022)
- As You Like It (2021)
- She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms (2020)
- Antigone (2019)
- Into the Woods (2018)
- Public Works’ The Tempest (2017)
- Bat Boy: the musical (2016)
- Runaways (2015)
- Fiddler on the Roof (2014)
- Animal Farm (2013)
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon (2012)
2025 TOS/TBS production of “Hadestown: Teen Edition
Any questions about the program can be directed to Education@nullRaleighLittleTheatre.org.