Provide an entry point to hands-on, professional experiences for pre-teens, teens, and young adults entering theatre professions and boost our local economy. Participants in MET's Youth Ensembles and Apprenticeship Program seek practical experience/ training to develop their skills and knowledge in the areas of production, acting, technical work, directing, stage management, and more. Without early opportunities available to students of all backgrounds and experiences, students who come from ALICE (Asset Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed) households may not have professionally crucial work experiences that give them a foot in the door to a successful career in the arts & entertainment industry. This in turn, causes further inequity across the sector, which stifles creativity and halts our community’s overall economic sustainability and growth. Maryland's creative sector now accounts for more than $11.7 billion of the state's economy, and contributes almost 80,000 jobs. In order to sustain and grow our economy, we must cultivate and steward the next generation of arts professionals, and that starts right here at Maryland Ensemble Theatre. With your support, we can provide practical hands-on work experience and education that empowers students to become the young professionals they aspire to become. MET is a professional, collaborative theatre ensemble broadly connected to our community by inspiring passion for the arts with courageous, relevant, accessible programs that enable people to feel more, think deeper, and laugh longer. MET strives to create a positive environment where artists and audience share an exciting, emotional, thought provoking theatre experience. MET features an eclectic season of plays that challenge audiences. Through open communication and life long learning, the MET ensemble brings a commitment to excellence that helps shape our region by initiating creative dialogue between artists and audience; providing outreach to under served communities; and training, education, and professional development opportunities to students of theatre that will propagate MET artistic values into the American Theatre. MET is dedicated to creating anti-oppressive artistic spaces and producing work that is representative of, affirming, and accessible to our entire community.