About | Philly Children's Th

*rehearsal photos taken by Yong Kim | Staff Photographer, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philly Sensory Theatre was created to provide inclusive, sensory-friendly, and immersive live theatre experiences for audiences of all abilities. Our adult performers bring multi-sensory original performances to neighborhoods and organizations throughout Greater Philadelphia. increasing access to the arts.

About Us

Our Values

Accessibility

Philly Sensory Theatre was established with the goal of making live theatre accessible, inclusive, and engaging for people of all abilities. By touring our sensory-friendly, immersive performances to neighborhoods and organizations throughout Philadelphia, we strive to bring the magic of theatre directly to our community.

All performances are offered at a pay-what-you-can rate so that everyone has the opportunity to experience live theatre.

To support comfort and preparedness, Social Stories will be shared for each performance location, helping audiences know what to expect and fully enjoy the experience.

Pay

Although we are in the very early stages of the company, our first performance paid actors a $150 stipend.

We have increased our stipend to $725 total for a show. This is, of course, not nearly enough or what creatives are worth. Paying those involved in our productions uses over 70% of our budget and is the most important thing to us at this time. We hope to continue to increase these stipends.

We will always be upfront about what we pay and the rehearsal schedule. We will have rehearsal processes that reflect this payment by scheduling rehearsals around a full-time day job.

Diverse Voices

We are committed to building a space that is celebrated as inclusive, diverse, and equitable. We endeavor to greet all aspects of our theatre practice with DEIJ at the forefront of our decisions, processes, and productions. Philly Sensory Theatre is committed to accessibility in all of our performances and works to provide spaces and shows where all children are invited and welcome.

We also strive to create a brave space in rehearsal where everyone involved in the show on the creative side is encouraged to give their opinions throughout the process of working with Philly Sensory Theatre.

Support & Bravery

We will strive to create supportive and brave spaces, where every person is valued and has a voice to speak up.

We are open to feedback on how to best create these inclusive spaces and acknowledge that we will make mistakes and will then learn from them.

Philly Artists

As a theatre, we are committed to championing Philadelphia-based Artists and Playwrights.

When there is a chance to use a Philly musical or Philly artist or puppeteer for a project, we will go that route.

All Are Welcome

Everyone is welcome at Philly Sensory Theatre, and we aim to create an environment that is inclusive and accessible for all.

Land Acknowledgment

Philly Sensory Theatre recognizes that we practice, gather, and perform on land that belongs to the Lenape people. We acknowledge that this land is not ours and strive to honor the original owners of this land through our inclusive community theatre practice. Philly Sensory Theatre often performs outside directly on the land and strives to honor this land through land acknowledgements before shows and in the playbill and by treating the land with respect.

Officer of the Board: Erin Gaydos

Ann Marie-Aves

Jennifer Spencer

Austin Ginsburg

Sarah Gordin

Artistic Director and Founder

Sarah Gordin is a director and choreographer as well as a theatre and dance teaching artist based in Philadelphia, PA. Sarah received her BA in Theatre from Muhlenberg College and has received her Executive MBA in Innovation and the Arts from the Global Leaders Institute. She also studied at the National Theatre Institute Advanced Directing Program at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center and The Theatre Academy of London. Sarah fell in love with storytelling through reading and now focuses on telling stories in creative and imaginative ways for and with young people. Sarah is currently the early childhood / lower school theatre movement arts teacher at Germantown Friends School. Sarah has taught all over the world, and loves combining her passion of theatre and education to create pathways for children of all backgrounds to experience the arts.