An artistic home dedicated to humanity, authenticity, and creative freedom. We bring together actors, directors, writers, and audiences around a shared belief: well-told stories can transform lives.
"The Barrow Group was really the institution that taught me how to act. I worked with the best teachers, who taught me why less is really more.”
Anne Hathaway
Academy Award Winner
“TBG is where I unlearned how to act and learned how to be me, to be more comfortable in my own skin... more able to transition seamlessly between life and the demands of film. That’s why I call The Barrow Group home.”
Poorna Jagannathan
The Night Of...
"So many times, we as actors forget the play of acting. You go into class and everything's like, "Great work": like everything's work. At The Barrow Group, it really came from this other perspective: "This is play." That was a really great time. I would say that was my most significant training."
Tony Hale
Emmy Award Winner
“From the intro classes I took almost 20 years ago to the professional classes I take now, no environment has provided me a better space and the tools to play, to be utterly spontaneous and to be truly myself than The Barrow Group.”
Sakina Jaffrey
House of Cards
"TBG was the first place where I could believe I was actually enough, exactly as I was"
Alison Wright
The Americans
"For the first time I've felt that I can let go and be spontaneous...and that could be enough."
Brett Gray
On My Block
About The Barrow Group
The Barrow Group is an artistic home—an accessible, collaborative, and inclusive community dedicated to humanity and authenticity in the performing arts.
We support people as they explore, create, and connect through storytelling and community.
From our 19,000-square-foot performing arts center in New York City—which includes a 70-seat theater, eight studios, and an artist lounge—we create, train, and produce work that is real, alive, and deeply human.
What We Do
- Serve as a home for spontaneous, relatable storytelling
- Create intimate, award-winning theatrical work
- Train and develop artists at every stage of their journey
- Empower people to experience themselves as creative
- Support the development of new voices and new work
- Build community through shared creative experience
Our Philosophy
Our work is guided by a couple simple beliefs:
- The best technique is invisible
- Unplanned behavior is often more interesting than planned behavior
- There is no single “right” way—only what works
- Relaxation is central to creativity and connection
- Acting is most exciting when it is spontaneous and moment-to-moment
- The best technique leaves us free—to imagine, respond, and feel
Theater Productions & New Work
Each year, we produce intimate Off-Broadway productions and solo shows in our 70-seat theater, alongside robust support for new play development. Our free artist programs—including FAB Women, Artist Residencies, and in-house readings—ensure that new work has the time, space, and community it needs to grow.
Since 1986, The Barrow Group has developed and/or produced more than 150 shows, including award-winning and nationally recognized works by Martin Moran, Jon Marans, Mike Birbiglia, and David Edgar. In 2005, we received the Drama Desk Award for Off-Off-Broadway Excellence.
Training & Education
Training is central to everything we do. Our approach focuses on clear, practical tools that support authenticity, freedom, and ease—outlined in An Actor’s Companion: Tools for the Working Actor by founder and Co-Artistic Director Seth Barrish.
All teaching artists complete a rigorous one-year teacher training program, ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience across all classes.
- Youth Programs (ages 5–18): online and in-person classes in acting, improv, musical theatre, playwriting, and on-camera work
- Adult Programs: classes for beginners through professionals in acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking, screenwriting, voice, dialects, Alexander Technique, clowning, solo show development, auditioning, improv, and the business of acting
- Community & Institutional Programs: workshops for corporations, artist residencies, and partnerships with higher education and K–12 schools
Each year, more than 4,000 students train with The Barrow Group. Time Out New York, Backstage, and CBS New York consistently name TBG one of New York City’s top places to study.
Space for Artists
To support the creation of new work, we offer below-market studio rentals to artists and nonprofit organizations—keeping our space active, accessible, and artist-centered.
Sign Up to Receive Emails from The Barrow Group