IN AN EPIC PLAY
produced by
a young stay-at-home actor, the protagonist finds himself trapped inside a
hollow cavern, surrounded by ghastly witches and creepy creatures.

He begins to run towards a dimly lit escape, realizing he’ll need a rope
to help him scale the rock walls. A knotted jump rope that sits idly in a
hidden corner of the garage quickly becomes his climbing rope; he swings
it up and successfully pulls himself to safety. The witches and creatures
remain trapped inside the abyss of darkness while our young hero walks
away unscathed and into the light.

With local theater companies moving their educational programming
online, young theater enthusiasts are now exploring their love for the
performing arts at home while logged online. Kitchens, living rooms and
bedrooms are makeshift theater stages, and household items and toys—jump
ropes included—are being used as props.

But theater is also an art form that’s both collaborative and interactive; it relies
on physicality and closeness to meaningfully tell a story. Do online classes take away
the authenticity of the art and allow kids to fully express themselves creatively? And
how are kids staying engaged and enthusiastic for hours behind a screen?
“I think one of the things that’s very exciting about the online platform is [that children
are] in a home environment,” says Margo Brenner Collins, education director at Adventure
Theatre and ATMTC Academy in Rockville. “They’re being encouraged to see things in a
different way instead of being in a class and that translates to the way they engage with
their environment,” she adds.

Kindergarteners and first graders taking ATMTC Academy’s Beyond the Page class
this fall, for example, will listen to a story and then act it out as a group. This
weekly class will also introduce the basics of musical theater, incorporating
song and dance to help bring different scenes to life.

As kids continue to explore their performing arts passions, Collins
advises parents to also join in on the fun and help fuel their children’s
creativity. Whether it’s painting or compiling a fun playlist for
a mini dance party, the options for creative exploration are
endless. By engaging in small, daily family art activities,
parents help establish a creative safe-space for
their kids, according to Collins.

THE SHOW
MUST GO ON!
12 Washington FAMILY SEPTEMBER 2020
by Joy Saha