The Children’s Theatre class at Wayne State College will be going on a tour to three different preschools in Wayne, and will finish the semester with a performance of their two shows Saturday, Apr. 25 in the Black Box Theatre, located in the basement of the Peterson Fine Arts building.
The Children’s Theatre class, taught by WSC adjunct professor Mollie Young, has been creating their own mini plays, each about 15 minutes long, based off children’s books.
“The Children’s Theater course is a class that develops short theatrical productions from the bottom up,” Young said. “So, we don’t start with the script. We create our own script and, in order to prepare for that, we spend the first few weeks of the class really deeply immersed in children’s literature, and then we see the abundance of themes, stories and ideas. Then the class is divided into two groups, and the groups make decisions of what they want their story to be about.”
“The Question” is about an ostrich named Opal who thinks everyone is mad at her but comes to find out that no one is. “A Very Good Egg” is about an egg that feels responsible for things they are not responsible for, such as the feelings of others, and they go on a journey of self-discovery and end up hatching. Both shows are written with some audience participation in mind, and teach things like new vocabulary, and the kids can feel like they are part of the show.
The first stop on their tour was New Beginnings preschool on April 2. Before the shows close on campus, they will be visiting St. Mary’s School in Wayne, as well as the Wayne Public Library.
“Everything with these two shows is student-led,” Young said. “So, the poster designs, the costuming, students are the tour managers and front of house, like making contact with the teachers to get everything set up and whatever.”
Sophomore Maddie Fairman plays Opal the Ostrich in “The Question.”
“It’s kind of a different experience,” Fairman said. “Because I’m mainly tech, so I don’t really get a chance to act that much. So, coming into it, I was not really expecting much, and then now being cast as a lead for our children’s show, I kind of went into the deep end.”
“The Question” and “A Very Good Egg” will be performed in the Black Box Theatre, on the lower level of the Peterson Fine Arts building on April 25 at 1 pm. The shows are free and open to the public, with limited seating available in the theater.
