TribLIVE: This season offers plenty of activities for families, including plays, museum exhibits and activities.
The hot thing in town for young kids looks to be the opening of the 44th season of the Pittsburgh International Children's Theater, which will bring five productions to several regional venues from October through April 2014. The plays, designed for age 3 and older, are productions of out-of-town theater companies — domestic and international.
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The topic in Director’s colloquium today was “What is the experience or reason that you found yourself in theatre?” It was wonderful to hear each director explain what brought them to this communal passion, how was it each of us came to this common place? Probably the most familiar common thread was an early exposure to theatre, arts, and culture, whether through participation or even just going to theatre. I often find myself buying into the ideology that there is a ranking order or order of worth when it comes to theatrical productions. Ultimately, Children’s theatre falls towards the bottom of the list. Further reflection reveals that this couldn’t be further from the truth. While it may not be seeking to innovate and break new ground in storytelling, it serves the beginning of the next storytellers. It serves to insight wonder, laughter, and learning in a way that is unique to the medium. Upon these impressionable minds it invokes creativity, openness, an enrichment that is simply beyond words. In this sense, it serves a vital role in the survivorship of our craft.
A wise man once said that the greatest investment you could ever make was buying an encyclopedia set for a young child. In order to secure a bright future for this country/industry/world/whathaveyou, it is critical to entice the curiosity of the coming generation. Encouraging children to explore and discover new things and hobbies will make for a more intellectually developed and goal driven person later in life.
This goes double for theater. This industry has long hours, stressful conditions, and sometimes weak pay. But the people who are in it are doing it because they love it. Instilling that love for the arts is much easier as a child than as an adult. It is comforting to know that several companies around Pittsburgh have come to this same conclusion and are acting upon it with what looks like great success.
I'm impressed that Pittsburgh has so many opportunities for children to engage with the arts. Forget helping students growing up to be artists or that this is is ensuring the survivorship of our craft. Having this much exposure to art and mediums that engage with a child's imaginations is more valuable to helping them grow up with not only a larger understanding of the world, but also a better way to create.
When I was little, my mom would take me to a lot of plays like Rumpelstiltskin, Peter Pan, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Jungle Book... After we'd see the play, my mom would buy the original book and read it to me.
I remember a lot of the plays and most of my generation in Israel remembers them. We can reminisce on them just like you can reminisce on old tv-shows.
I believe that theater for children is so important. It lets their imaginations run wild and sometimes gets them interested in the arts.The way I see it, the best way to culture a kid is to expose him to art from an early age and theater is by far one of the best art forms for that.
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