Hundreds of young performers will arrive at the Texas Woman’s University campus this week, and the highlight is a showcase that brings compact, family-friendly plays to Denton.

“Herbert Holl, the arts coordinator at TWU, was at an arts exchange conference in Austin a few years ago,” said Linda Lee, the executive director of Texas Nonprofit Theatres. “We got to talking about our programs, and it didn’t take long to figure out that we’re committed to similar things.”

The theater organization is dedicated to developing community-based theater companies and programming across the state. The School of Arts trains students to be versatile in their performance specialties, and it encourages students and faculty to donate their time, training and passion to community efforts that promote the arts.

Holl said he attended one of the youth conferences in College Station, and thought TWU was an ideal place for children, teens and teachers to spend a week of intense workshops and performances.

“Before extending the invitation, I thought it would be a good idea to attend a conference to see what it was all about,” Holl said. “Everything I witnessed there made me think this is the kind of organization we want to work with. The students had that just-out-of-school energy. And the other thing that I noticed is just how focused they were. They were so upbeat and having fun, but they were really focused on what they were doing. How it was managed, organized — and the exuberance and good natured-ness of the young people — I knew this was something the university could get behind.”

Denton Community Theatre is the host company for the conference. The company offers theater education to children and teens through Denton Theatre School. The school just formed the Pied Piper Players as a touring company expressly for young performers.

The name pays tribute to the earlier children’s theater outreach.

This week, students who are “as young as they can be and still be onstage” on up through high school seniors and recent graduates will be on the campus. They’ll take performance workshops and technical classes at the new Redbud Performing Arts complex. Starting Thursday, 15 youth companies from all over the state will perform 40-minute plays for affordable prices.

The showcase, which will take place at Margo Jones Auditor­ium, should be ideal for parents looking for suitable entertainment for children and teens, and a good way to introduce children to theater programs in Denton and Gainesville.

Lee said children’s theater boomed in state community theater companies in the 1980s.

“A lot of groups have youth programming — which doesn’t mean they have children’s programs for child performers. In some cases, it’s adults performing for children or leading activities for children,” Lee said. “There has been a huge explosion in children’s  programming in community and professional theaters. I’m thinking it was in the 1980s that the Texas Commission on the Arts had an initiative for education programs especially for youth, and I think it got people thinking about what that meant. It certainly caught on.”

Texas Nonprofit Theatres Inc. serves more than 400 community theaters. About 190 have youth programming of some sort, and 97 offer classes for young people.

“I think the numbers are actually higher, but the theaters don't always fill out the forms completely,” Lee said.

The youth conference builds on what Texas children are learning from their community companies.

“The purpose for it is to provide education, opportunities for networking and strengthening the performers and directors,” she said. “It’s also to bring a future patron into the arts. We want them to love it so much that even if they don’t go into it as a vocation, they will maybe work with a community theater when they are adults.”

Lee pointed out that volunteers don’t just fill the stages across the state. Volunteers pass out programs, make costumes and sets and serve on boards that drive live theater.

Holl said this kind of conference doesn’t often come to TWU.

“There are a lot of conferences on campus, to be sure, not to mention student orientation, but in terms of a statewide conference, certainly in the arts, this is unique for us,” Holl said.

Showcase performances start Thursday night, but afternoon matinees are offered Friday and Saturday.

LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is cbreeding@dentonrc.com.

YOUTH THEATER SHOWCASE

What: 15 youth companies perform during the Texas Nonprofit Theatres Inc. youth conference
Where: Margo Jones Hall, on the first floor of the Music Building on the TWU campus, at Pioneer Circle and Oakland St.
Details: Tickets are 15 for each three-show performance block; children 5 and younger get in for $7.50. A pass to all 15 plays is $50.

Thursday 6:30 p.m.

Totally RED, rated G — The Pied Piper Players, Denton Theatre School
Gooney Bird Greene and Her True Life Adventures, rated G — ENCORE, Fort Bend Theatre in Sugar Land
I Never Saw Another Butterfly, rated PG — Kaleidoscope Company, Permian Playhouse in Odessa

Friday 2 p.m.

A Simple Task, rated G — EASY Theatre Youth, EASY Theatre of Austin
Clowns’ Play, rated G — BLT Teens, Baytown Little Theatre, Baytown
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, rated PG — Harlequin Players, Slightly Off Center Players in Deer Park

Friday 6:30 p.m.

Seussical Jr., rated G — Inner Circle, Circle Arts Theatre in New Braunfels
James and the Giant Peach, rated G — North Central Texas College Drama-rama, North Central Texas College in Gainesville
Ralph Roister Doister, rated G — Not Just One More Time Players, Daniels & Son Theatre Company in Smithville

Saturday 2 p.m.

West Wing Follies, rated G — ELFS Touring Troupe Spotlight Theatre & Arts Group, Etc. Inc. (STAGE Inc.) in Bulverde
In Sam’s Head, rated G — YES! Company, Henderson County Performing Arts Center in Athens
Step on a Crack, rated G — MorningStars Inc. in Mineola

Saturday 6:30 p.m.