Incite / Insight Network Spotlight Summer / Early Fall 2018 11 a familiar place, and her engagement with the story that motivated her to speak to the character and tell him what to do. There is an intimacy about taking live theater into the schools, libraries, and other places where children already feel at home. Particularly with very young children, that sense of familiarity results in the children being more alert and confident.
Touring theater is not an easy road, literally. Designing productions that can travel one, two, three hours or more, be set up in thirty minutes, and performed in any size room or spatial orientation, is restrictive. It’ s been especially challenging to create productions that also meet one essential test: cast, costumes, props, set, and sound must all fit into one fuel efficient vehicle. These challenges continue to force us to be both creative and efficient. A touring production like those we perform doesn’ t have a lot of bells and whistles, but it is often the first experience the young audiences we serve have with live theater. No matter how much fun we have performing, we take that responsibility very seriously. We feel it is our duty to make the shows we bring to these communities inviting, engaging, and as professional as they would experience in any traditional theater.
Pat Haines-Ainsworth is a teaching artist, actor, playwright, and director in the greater Seattle area. For the past twenty years, she and co-producer, Alexandra Clark, have managed Last Leaf Productions. Last Leaf is a small, touring theater in Washington State. Pat has selected several favorites from the thirty plays written for Last Leaf and made them available to other theater companies and schools via her website, winkingkatbooks. com. She also works as a teaching artist in the visual and performing arts in public schools, private schools, and has taught and directed students at professional companies in the Seattle area. She is currently working with composer, John Allman, to create an original musical for young audiences commissioned by Second Story Repertory in Redmond, WA. Pat is married and has two grown children plus two small, furry ones.