“For Young People, By Young People.” That’s the motto of New Works SA, a non-profit that provides economically accessible theater education for San Antonio middle and high school students. Wren Ramos, class of ‘22, founded the organization in 2021 when she was a student. She now serves as the organization’s executive director and Trinity’s assistant director of annual giving.
Ramos founded New Works SA in 2021 through Trinity’s Louis H. Stumberg New Venture Competition, an annual event where student start-ups compete for access to funding and expert mentorship. Ramos initially set out with the goal to build a space for a young and original theater in San Antonio, but through the process of the competition, Ramos said they found a more specific mission.
“We discovered a deeper need, and that deeper need was the accessibility of theater,” Ramos said. “In San Antonio, as a greater whole, the reason why that young space didn’t exist is … there was a huge barrier to entry. And that barrier to entry was money.”
The New Works SA team launched their educational pilot program in 2022, and their operations have only continued to expand since. They offer both summer and year-round programs and are committed above all to affordability, with nearly three-fourths of the students in their summer production of “The Addams Family” being on scholarships funded by community donors.
Ramos said the non-profit is also committed to furthering accessibility and diversity through their choice of shows, aiming to provide their students with the opportunity to put on shows they might not otherwise be able to at their public schools. New Works SA is currently in rehearsals for their upcoming production of “Cabaret,” which will help the students grow creatively, according to education officer Jo Jones.
“I think that this show will stretch our kids a lot. The subject matter, of course, is a little bit more on the advanced side, which our kids are no stranger to,” Jones said. “But this is also a very big dance show. Our kids haven’t really done a lot of heavy movement. So this will stretch them in that way. A lot of our actor-first kids will get a really big opportunity to shine in this piece as well.”
One of those actors is Logan Fiksman, a high school junior who plays “Herr Schultz” in the production. “Cabaret” will be Fikman’s fourth show with New Works SA.
“Their entire motto with the organization is ‘by young people, for young people,’ and you can definitely see that because they are a lot more down to earth. They are a lot more understanding of a lot of the basic struggles we have outside of the room, and they are a lot more gentle,” Fiksman said. “They allow people to make strong choices and really make things their own.”
New Works SA helps provide this education — not only for their students — but for Trinity students who can work with the organization through Trinity’s Arts, Letters and Enterprise program to gain real-world experience in the theater education field. Ultimately, Ramos said she hopes New Works SA can grow into something that will spread its message even farther.
“We think that that’s very important to create theater in San Antonio,” Ramos said. “Where all of the things that we’ve incorporated into our education program around accessibility, growth, diversity — all of those things can then be translated to all of our community and not just high schools, but to San Antonio as a greater whole.”
New Works SA’s production of “Cabaret” will run Nov. 20-22 at the Josephine Theatre.
