About Us
Mission
The Young Adult Theatre Initiative makes theatregoing an integral part of young adult culture in the United States, fostering real-world community and cultivating the next generation of theatregoers.
Values
Authenticity:
stories and characters that reflect young people’s lives with accuracy, empathy, and respect.
Physical Presence:
in-person experiences as a balance to time spent on screens.
Professionalism:
giving artists, staff, and collaborators the resources and trust they need to do their best work.
Inclusion:
ensuring that all programs are accessible and welcoming for all potential participants.
Overview
The Young Adult Theatre Initiative develops, champions, and implements strategies for theaters to reach new audiences of young adults.
Young people today spend more time on screens than any previous generation, and research shows they are lonelier, more isolated, and more in need of in-person community than ever. At the same time, most professional theaters struggle to connect with audiences under thirty. The Young Adult Theatre Initiative bridges that divide, bringing new energy to theaters while offering young people authentic, in-person experiences.
Through a membership program, YATI will make it easy for young adults to discover and attend relevant productions at professional theaters. Through a new play commissioning program, YATI will develop and eventually coproduce top-quality new plays from nationally-known playwrights that appeal to young adults and traditional theatergoers alike.
While “Young Adult” fiction is thriving, very few theaters have consistent programming for young adults (Steppenwolf For Young Adults is one notable exception). Theaters for “Young Audiences” focus on children, and typical theaters depend on older audiences to subscribe and make donations. YATI’s model appears to be a novel approach to a longstanding problem.
By inspiring and enabling theaters to tell authentic and meaningful stories for young adults, and by inspiring and enabling young adults to discover and attend relevant plays, the Young Adult Theatre Initiative will spark a cultural shift that will benefit young adults, theaters, and our entire community.
Read our Business Plan.
Josh Costello
Executive Artistic Director
Meet the team
Josh Costello is the founder and Executive Artistic Director of the Young Adult Theatre Initiative. His deep roots in the Bay Area theatre community, his extensive experience developing new plays, and his passionate and compassionate leadership form the foundation of this organization.
Throughout his career, Josh has worked to make theatre more accessible for more people, sharing a passion for the visceral experience of live theatre with new audiences and underserved communities.
He was the founding Artistic Director of Impact Theatre, which built a new audience of people in their teens and twenties. As the Artistic Director of Expanded Programs at Marin Theatre, Josh created and administered several programs that built relationships with new audiences.
At Aurora Theatre Company, Josh was the Literary Manager before becoming the Artistic Director in 2019. He initiated Aurora’s student matinee and Community Partner programs and led a revision of Aurora’s mission to emphasize the theatre’s role as storyteller to the community.
Josh has directed three world premieres to win the Glickman Award for Best New Play in the Bay Area: Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day and This Much I Know at Aurora, and Aaron Loeb’s Ideation at SF Playhouse, which transferred to 59E59 in NYC, won the Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Direction, and was named a NY Times Critic’s Pick. At Aurora, Josh also directed the second production of Liz Duffy Adams’ Born with Teeth, The Importance of Being Earnest, Detroit, The Heir Apparent, Exit Strategy, and Wittenberg. Other directing work includes My Children!My Africa!, Lovers & Executioners, and the 2025 production of Eureka Day at Marin Theatre, House of Lucky at Magic Theatre, the world premieres of Lauren Gunderson’s Toil & Trouble and Zayd Dohrn’s Reborning, and his adaptations of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, Aphra Behn’s The Rover, and Rostand’s Cyrano.
Josh has been the Education Director at Marin Shakespeare Company, and a faculty member at Cal Shakes, ACT, SF Shakes, UC Riverside, Cal State Long Beach, South Coast Rep, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Josh holds a BFA in Theatre from Boston University, and an MFA in Directing from the University of Washington, Seattle.
Advisory Council
Nan Barnett
Executive Director, National New Play Network
Debbie Chinn
Author, Producer, Film Maker, CEO
Karina Gutierrez
Professor, UC Berkeley
Gwen Loeb, Advisory Council Chair
C.E.O. and Co-Founder, World Builders Incubator
Shafer Mazow
Executive Director, Z Space
Nikki Meñez
Director of New Work, Awesome Theatre | Curatorial Director, Z Space
Katie McCleary
CEO: LQ™ Listening Intelligence | Co-Author: Bridge the Gap | TEDx: 4M+ views | Founder: 916 Ink
Andrea Nellis
Principal, Arts Financial Management Services
Deborah Dashow Ruth
Playwright and Poet
Photos: Alexandra Creighton and Lance Gardner in Lovers & Executioners by John Strand at Marin Theatre. Photo by Ed Smith. | Josh Costello. Photo by David Allen.