Doing It for the Children

Here's what I've noticed lately in Philadelphia theater, and you can tell me if you've seen the same thing in your town: children's theater rocks. I'm working on a feature on the subject, and can't really get too far into it without tipping my hand, but damn. 

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I remember the days when taking your kids to see a show meant some slapped together summary of a fairytale that usually ended in a bunch of people skipping through the aisles in plushie suits, singing something inane about love and friendship. I'm sure there are companies around Philly still milking that same cash cow, but in the past few years the bar for family theater has been raised so high that the shows are often worth seeing without going to the trouble of bearing/bringing a kid.

Today's review of Cinderella, this year's incarnation of People's Light and Theatre's annual holiday panto, takes notice of this new trend. Because not only wasn't the panto all that panto-like (it was structured more like a vaudeville show), it also engaged the talents of some of the area's most creative theater minds and brought in an unapologetic Fringe sensibility while simultaneously tipping a bowler to other successful and cutting-edge Philadelphia artists. 

And what better audience for the avant-garde, for surrealism, for the marriage of drama and technology than children? Kids are completely non-linear thinkers (at least until their innate absurdism gets instructed out of them), and willing to swallow whatever they're given as long as it provides an interesting flavor--otherwise, they'll spit it right back out at you, and never taste what you're offering again. They're the roughest critics and the most loyal customers, and if you win them over, you're not only helping yourself, you're shaping the future of the arts.

The long-term result of companies throwing major resources behind family programming is a generation that grows up with a lifelong appreciation for challenging theater. The short term result is, of course, money in the bank during rough economic times, since--aside from the packed school, birthday and scout audiences--most parents will justify taking their kids to a play, if not themselves. But it's pretty sweet that in this genre at least, making money and making substantial, worthwhile art aren't at odds.



November 25, 2008 12:48 PM | | Comments (3)

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3 Comments

By Darren Farrington on November 30, 2008 11:48 PM

Thanks for noticing that children's theater rocks. Most of us involved in children's theater aren't in it just push the fairy tales, we're in to keep kids coming to the theater all life long.

By Dan Lombardo on November 26, 2008 12:15 PM

Thanks for your inspiring words about an often-neglected part of theater. There is wonderful work being done -- here at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater we have Stephen Russell, leader of W4k (WHAT for Kids), and resident playwright/director/songwriter/actor. Each year he writes a new,wild, smart,challenging play that draws crowds of kids and their parents. Last season's FOOL OF THE WORLD AND THE FLYING SHIP, based on an old Russian folktale, included original music, a multi-leveled stage, and a flying ship (an appropriate image for our Cape Cod audience). Last year's DAISY CROCKETT, FRONTIERSPERSON told the story of Davy Crockett's smarter (and funnier) sister. With the aging of our theater audiences, it's critical that we pay full attention to brilliant work that is being done for kids.

By t. on November 26, 2008 10:01 AM

Wow. Rainpan and Michael Ogborn all in one blog entry.

My day is made.

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