Formed in 2005 in Central New Jersey, New Mystics Arts began as New Mystics Theatre Company, Inc. with the idea that the best way to engage young people about socially relevant issues (drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, violence, bullying, etc.) was to create peer-to-peer presentations, both interactive workshops as well as plays, that were honest, well-written, and that refrained from saying “Because we say so” or in any way discounting the intelligence or feelings of their target audience.

In order to fulfill this mission, we knew we had to create a true Ensemble of the best young actors we could find, teaching them not only the essentials of socially relevant theatre but training them to meet the high demands required of the scripts and interactive workshops we were creating. Having formed an acting school, Actor’s Playground, at the same time, we incorporated our techniques and applied new ones to reach our goal.

Five years later, the New Jersey company, now with over thirty members (ranging in age from 9-40), has toured dozens of schools, reaching over 12,000 young people from elementary, middle, and high schools. We have created a highly specialized training program that emphasizes not only the best theatre techniques but also helps to train good citizens and artists who not only perform but teach, direct, judge competitions, and act as mentors.

In 2009 we formed a second theatre company in West Virginia using these same principles. We are in the process of forming these talented young people into an Ensemble that will tour four shows and conduct workshops on bullying and violence prevention to school and other organizations starting in the fall of 2010. We will also be opening the New Mystics Center for Arts and Education in Fairmont, WV in July 2010.