Registration under way for free Astoria theater classes

Registration under way for free Astoria theater classes

Published 8:51 am Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Ten Fifteen Productions will begin offering free theater education classes, beginning January.

Danyelle Tinker, executive artistic director said the idea has been a year in the making.

“Over the past few years, we have noticed a sharp increase in enrollment on the occasions we’ve been able to offer a class for free, while we often struggle to fill classes where any tuition is charged,” she said.

“This has indicated to us that many people are interested in learning theater arts, but cost is a barrier to those in our community. I’m thrilled to have found a path toward making the arts more accessible to those in the Astoria area.

The new program will be led by Sam Dinkowitz, whose background includes teaching theater to adults and children. A director and designer at the Ten Fifteen, Dinkowitz’s goal is to offer courses in performance and technical facets of theater.

“By striving to ritualize creativity, we will foster the spark of artistic expression in our community,” he said. “The goal is to have participants think of these classes in the same way one considers their regular yoga class – they’re training a muscle, it becomes part of who they are.”

The program is sponsored, in part, by a gift from the Kinsman Foundation. Classes will take place at the theater’s newly acquired space located at 322 10th St., in Astoria. This is in the Odd Fellows building where the theater is located.

The first quarter classes are all geared toward adults, and include acting fundamentals, improv, and sketch comedy writing. Classes begin the second week of January. Registration is open at www.thetenfifteentheater.com/classes.