Building Joy, Empathy, and Resilience Through Creative Play

Posted on September 24, 2025

For nearly a decade, Children’s Theatre Company has been developing Creative Play, a curriculum that uses theatre foundations as a joyful and practical tool for building empathy, resilience, and social-emotional skills in young children. The program—led by Johanna Gorman-Baer and the Education Team at CTC—has grown into a structured, trauma-informed model supporting kids, families, and teachers alike. We recently sat down with Johanna to talk about how the program began, how it has evolved, and the impact it’s having today.