Roving Peregrine Theater Company Artistic Director Heather Wallen tells an audience about her company’s new partnership with Black Box Youth Playhouse. Tom Markland

SHEPHERDSTOWN – Three local theater groups are partnering together, in hopes of growing Shepherdstown’s local theater scene.

Black Box Youth Playhouse, Roving Peregrine Theatre Company and Red Hill Theatre Group will all be calling Shepherdstown home for the near future, bringing together actors and artists alike to share in ideas and events, all under one roof.

Established in 2007, Black Box Youth Playhouse helps introduce young people to theater through classes, programs and summer camps that let them learn every aspect of theater — from acting to backstage tech.

Black Box is also home to the Princess Street Players, a subsidiary group that puts on family-friendly shows and not-so-family-friendly murder mysteries in Shepherdstown.

Located on Princess Street, their “black box” stage is one of a kind in the area, allowing audiences to see shows up close, while giving innovative set designers an interesting challenge. Both Roving Peregrine and Red Hill will be joining them on that stage in the near future.

Roving Peregrine Theatre Company is a traveling theater group that performs shows throughout parts of West Virginia and Maryland. It performs all kinds of shows — from classics to new works.

“We like to say we’re artists first,” said Heather Wallen, the group’s artistic director. “That means when we’re considering plays and different works, we consider what will serve our actor base and the people we know around us and what they want to do.”

Previously, Roving Peregrine has performed out of the Apollo Civic Theatre in Martinsburg but has decided to move its home base to Black Box in Shepherdstown.

On Saturday, Roving Peregrine hosted two workshops at Black Box, bringing in an expert instructor to teach participants about voice acting and building character. On Thursday, it will be hosting a third workshop, titled “Intro to Intimacy Choreography and Advocacy for Theatre Artists,” focused on teaching actors and artists to advocate for themselves in situations that may be uncomfortable in an artistic field.

According to Wallen, workshops are a big part of what Roving Peregrine brings to the partnership, helping local actors access their low-cost workshops.

“Our biggest thing is continuing education,” Wallen said. “We try to keep them affordable.”

Moving to the Black Box Theater poses an interesting challenge for Roving Peregrine, as the theater’s unique stage is different from any other it’s performed at. Wallen said that she sees the new stage as an opportunity for further artistic expression, being able to put together interesting set design that you wouldn’t see anywhere else.

Red Hill Theatre Group is an ensemble-based theater group that focuses on new plays, underperformed plays and new versions of old works. It tends to feature local playwrights and put on shows with more adult themes than other groups.

Red Hill Theatre Group’s artistic director, Cody James, said the group is excited about the new partnership.

“We just met up one day and talked, and we were like, ‘We could turn this into something special,”’ James said. “We could all help make this scene in Shepherdstown flourish.”

According to James, the new partnership will help the groups share ideas, events and potentially even actors for future projects.

“Collaboration and being able to help each other is the biggest thing for me,” James said. “Just that basic idea of having other people here is awesome.”

More information about Black Box Youth Playhouse and the upcoming shows there is available on its Facebook page at facebook.com/blackboxartscenter.