The International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) is a limited company and charity based in the UK. It was founded in 1977 and at present has a membership of over 100 schools worldwide. The Association is run by theatre educators and specialised artists, offering a rich programme of theatre experiences and resources. Over the years the Association has had a major impact on international youth theatre education, providing a strong support network for all its members and access to recent developments in theatre education.

It organises events and festivals worldwide where young people, teachers and artists come together to explore theatre practice through intensive collaboration.  The theatre experiences organised by the association bring together diverse groups of young people internationally.  This international community of youth theatre encourages dialogue, experimentation and offers the best in international theatre education.

ISTA also offers workshops for theatre educators in different aspects of theatre education and curriculum. It provides a consultancy service for schools, offering training and support for all educators working in theatre or keen to develop methods of active learning. Its rich resource of professional artists specialised in a variety of world theatre forms and theatre production can be accessed through the organisation. 

The Association works in collaboration with a number of educational organisations worldwide. ISTA is at present working to develop the charitable remit of the organisation through outreach projects and collaborations between schools and local communities worldwide.

About ISTA Festivals

Festivals are typically, intensive three-day theatre events providing young people with the opportunity to collaborate with other young people from different countries, exchanging ideas and cultural perspectives, and developing new theatre skills.  Each event has a particular theme or focus. Professional ISTA artists from different regions come together led by an Artistic Director to create a unique and meaningful international theatre experience at each event which explores this focus.

As well as working as a whole group, the young people are divided into a number of small theatre companies. Each company works with a particular artist, establishing a sense of ensemble that fosters strong links between the participants and allows for intensive exploration of ideas. The Festival culminates in the presentation of any work or new material that has been produced related to the focus of the event. The emphasis is on sharing what has been theatrically significant for each group of young people at each event. This gives the young people the chance to reflect on their experiences, present their ideas and experience theatre both as performers and audience. The lack of competition allows for the genuine exchange of ideas and the emphasis is always on the depth of the experience and the learning that has occurred.

Students are also offered a choice of 2/3 specialist theatre workshops, focussing on a particular area (stage combat, playwriting, characterisation etc). These allow participants to access new skills and experience aspects of theatre that they are unfamiliar with.

Teachers participate in Teacher Enrichment Workshops that run parallel to the events for the young people.

Festivals are hosted by international schools worldwide. Students are housed with young people from the host school and have the opportunity to develop new friendships and experience different ways of life. Where possible there is an attempt to incorporate the local culture at each event. This may involve using the location of the Festival as the focus (the Great Wall of China in Beijing, ‘Warsaw Stories’ in Poland), using issues pertinent to the local culture or using local artists experienced in a theatre form particular to that culture.

In this respect, theatre, at the Festivals, also acts as a medium for cultural exchange and dialogue. It is about both about meeting and working with young people from different cultures, experiencing first hand the culture of a particular place and having a rich and focussed learning experience.