10 Incite / Insight Network Spotlight Summer / Early Fall 2018
new words or concepts so the children can absorb them better . With increasing frequency , these ECEAP centers are located at either low-income housing apartment complexes or incorporated into elementary schools which enable us to reach the parents and older siblings as well . Larger touring companies often ignore this type of facility because audiences aren ’ t very big , but because of our microscopic overhead and some targeted grants , we can perform there without taking a painful hit on our budget .
We intentionally add interactive elements to each of our scripts . The children love to feel as if they have some effect on the outcome or action in the play . At the end of each of our performances , we make sure that the actors have a positive interaction with the audience . When we perform to audiences of over one hundred , we normally do a question and answer session . When we perform for audiences under one hundred children , we encourage them to come up and meet the actors personally . Our intent is to have the children connect with the actors one-onone , allowing them to also see our cast members as real people , and theater as an attainable goal . Often , they want to know what it is like to be on stage and perform . It ’ s especially fun meeting kids who express a desire to act , sing , and dance professionally someday . they feel safe to respond . Our audiences are usually more alert and eager to participate . One of our favorite experiences that supports this assertion happened several years ago during a performance of our adaptation of Puss ‘ n Boots . We were performing at a Head Start Center for an audience of about forty children . At the end of the play , the hero begins to propose to the princess . Our actor feigned nervousness and hesitated . One little girl in the front shouted out , “ Just say ‘ marry me ’ already !” The actor reacted beautifully and replied , “ Oh , yes ,” and proceeded to finish the proposal . After the show , the teacher approached me and seemed excited . She related to me that the same little girl had not spoken one word in the three months she had been coming to school . They were contemplating recommending that she be tested for autism because of her inability to connect with others . Apparently , there was something about the freedom of this imaginary setting , the comfort of being in
Creating a touring theater , and the tight restrictions it requires , forced us to be resourceful and creative . By using our imaginations to come up with unusual ways to represent settings and telling stories , we ’ ve found we helped our audiences use their imaginations along with us . In addition to giving these audiences more access to live theater , there is another real benefit to a touring theater company : by bringing theater to a child ’ s familiar environment instead of having to transport the child to a strange and sometimes intimidating space ,