Learning is a process; it never ends …

Such is the approach for Venice Theatre’s education programs. We offer a fun, yet high-quality, “no shortcuts” theatre training program with top-notch, caring instructors.

Graduates of our program are currently working in the theatre field as professional actors and technicians. And they’re studying across the U.S. in prestigious theatre programs. Our graduates are also teachers, medical students, and emerging writers.  All of them one will tell you that their theatre training–the problem-solving, the collaboration, the public presence–helped them grow in their careers. And they’ll tell you that Venice Theatre classes and camps afforded them some of the most fun they’ve ever had.

Whatever career young people pursue as adults, they will be more successful as a result of our arts education programs. They will be more creative, more disciplined, more conscientious…and more fun to be around.

We are also so proud of our adult students who keep pursuing new opportunities. They truly understand that learning never ends.

So, whether you’re in kindergarten or in your retirement years, Venice Theatre is ready to make a dramatic impact on your life!

Sandy Davisson

Sandy Davisson

Director of Education & Community Engagement

Sandy received an M.A. in Theatre History and Criticism from State University of New York and an MFA in Directing at FAU. She finds great joy in watching the students – both children and adults – grow in confidence and communication as they move through the classes at VT.

Benny Sato Ambush

Benny Sato Ambush ‡

Artistic Director

Benny Sato Ambush is a veteran professional director, institutional theatre leader, educator, published commentator, and consultant. He has been Artistic Director of TheatreVirginia (Richmond, VA), Oakland Ensemble Theatre (Oakland, CA), and Rites and Reason Theatre Company (Providence, RI). Previously, he was Associate Artistic Director of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater; Co-Artistic Director of San Francisco Bay Area Playwrights Festival; PEW Charitable Trust/TCG Director-In-Residence for Manalapan, Florida’s Florida Stage; and Associate Artistic Director of Anna Deavere Smith’s Institute on the Arts & Civic Dialogue at Harvard University.

He has directed at numerous professional regional theatres and has taught and directed at many university training programs (partial list): Old Globe Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival-Portland, South Coast Rep, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, American Conservatory Theater, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, Geva Theatre, Playwrights Horizon, Ford’s Theatre, Triad Stage, American Repertory Theater Institute, Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays, Lincoln Center Theater Institute, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Actors Guild of Lexington, KY, Alaska Theatre of Youth, International Theatre Festival of Chicago, Sacramento Theatre Company, National Black Theatre Festival, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Gloucester Stage Company, New Repertory Theatre, TheatreSquared, The Lost Colony, Underground Railway Theater, Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival, Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, Circle in the Square Theatre School, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Brooklyn College.

Ambush has a BA in Theatre Arts and Dramatic Literature from Brown University and an MFA in Directing from the University of California, San Diego. In 2020, he was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre.

* indicates member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)
‡ indicates member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC)