A Germantown performing arts troupe says “Yes! And…” to kids’ creativity

This collaborative improv tenet inspired the name of Yes! And…Collaborative Arts (YACA), a youth-centered performing arts organization in Germantown. But, according to Chris Herrman, executive director of YACA, the name has taken on a whole other meaning.

“We want to say ‘yes’ to kids’ imaginations,” Herrman said. “Then we are providing support and adults and a caring community that is going to bring that imagination to life, whether it’s a character in a play, or it’s the backdrop, or it’s a prop.

“Also,” she continued, “when a kid comes to us and says, ‘This is who I am and this is what I bring to the table,’ we’re saying ‘Yes, we value that and we’re here to support you in your journey as you continue to grow and learn.’”

Founded on community care

YACA was founded in 1998 by a professor and a group of students from Eastern University. In the earliest days of the program, performing arts camps were held on Eastern’s campus in St. Davids. By 2012, YACA expanded enough to move to a rented location in the Germantown Mennonite Church on Washington Lane.

The organization offers summer camps, studio classes, and its Shadow Company, a performing arts group of high school students. YACA also runs two seasonal programs—Summer Sort of Thing (sixth through 10th grade) and Winter Sort of Thing (fifth through 12th grade). The programs allow kids to bring a musical to life from pre-production to live performance.

“We’re trying to get families to understand mutual aid and community care, and that we’re collectively contributing to this thing,” Herrman said. “So, on the surface that looks a lot of the time like a performing arts organization, but under the surface what we’re really trying to do is create awesome kids who see the humanity in each other. And we feel like the arts are a great vehicle for doing something where we can see each other’s humanity and value.”

All original creations

About 300 students participate annually and the organization strives to make programming accessible to as many children as possible by offering a sliding scale of tuition fees. Herrman, who started with YACA as an instructor in 2007, was named executive director in 2020. She works with three full-time staff members and about 50 artists across various disciplines who are hired part-time throughout the year.

“Because we’re about collaboration and storytelling, everything we do here is never before seen,” Herrman said. “Every performance or musical is an original creation created in collaboration between kids and the teaching artists we work with. We don’t really do ‘Annie.’”

According to Herrman, YACA specifically caters to young people to fill a need for more youth-based performing arts programming.

“A lot of times we talk about kids as the next generation of artmakers or the next generation of audience members, but they are here now with a really awesome, wild imagination and so much creativity,” Herrman said. “So we want to uplift who they are at this moment in time. There is not a lot of theater out there made by young people for other young people.”

“My voice matters”

Herrman said she has seen multiple instances of kids joining YACA hesitantly, but leaving not only with positive experiences, but new friendships as well.

Melissa Berkey-Gerard, a parent whose teenage children have participated in YACA since they were 5 years old, believes the organization has contributed to their growth.

“[My children] have both been invited into their most courageous and creative selves by the staff and the philosophy of Yes! And…,” Berkey-Gerard said. “My daughter has grown into a stage manager and assistant camp director, getting her first paid work experience within a supportive and empowering place. My son has learned to trust himself and to be confident on stage and in the rest of his life. Yes! And… is like their second home, where they can relax and be themselves, and be encouraged to grow.”

However, it’s not just kids who benefit from the programming at YACA. Staff members such as Olivia Taylor also learn valuable life lessons.

“Yes! And… has taught me that my voice matters, and everyone else’s does too,” Taylor said. “[The organization] continues to remind me that what connects us is more powerful than what divides us. Imagination isn’t just for kids; it’s a skill vital for people of all ages. Yes! And… empowers us to take up space especially when it is scary to stand out.”

YACA’s Shadow Company will premiere its new show, Keep the Alien Fed, in this year’s Fringe Festival. It’s “Truman Show meets Squid Games in this haunting youth-led look at otherness, the unknown and the price of devotion.” Registration is also opening soon for YACA’s fall programs. For more information, visit yesandcamp.org.

Editor’s note: This piece was developed and published thanks to a partnership with The Chestnut Hill Local.