2008 Woodie Awards
Children's theater line-up begins
Lindsay Stuart
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: A&E
This Saturday, a considerably younger audience than the typical college crowd will fill the seats of Dunham Hall Theater.
The Piwacket Theater Company for Children will present "Wisdom of Fools" for families and children of all ages 7 p.m. Saturday night.
"Wisdom of Fools" is part of a children's theatrical series called Season For The Child, which was started in 1985 by Friends of Theater and Dance at SIUE and The Bank Of Edwardsville to fulfill the need for a kid-friendly theater in the Edwardsville area.
"We set this up because we would hear parents say 'Why isn't there theater for the children in this area?'" Greg Conroy, director of Public Affairs at SIUE, said. "So we looked into it, and we decided to start a program where we would bring in three, four theater groups from the St. Louis area that would specialize in children's theater or family theater."
Season For The Child brings in professional children's theater companies to perform shows that specialize in music, costumes and witty lines.
"A lot of what these companies do is they take fairy tales, and they add them to the stage with music and colorful costumes, and the kids just eat it up," Conroy said. "They love it."
According to their Web site, "Piwacket uses theatre to highlight character education, delivering messages of respect, cooperation, kindness and tolerance to hundreds of thousands of children and their families throughout the U.S."
"Wisdom of Fools" is a Three Stooges-esque parody on common sense," Scott Sears of Piwacket Theater for Children, said. "We've done quite a bit of our repertoire at SIUE, and this was a piece we had running through the summer. It is very farcical. We were looking forward to doing it because it usually gets a very big reaction."
Scott Sears said the play is based on classic Hebrew stories called Wisemen of Chelm stories.
Piwacket, who was named the best children's theater company in St. Louis Magazine, is just one of the four theater companies working with Season For The Child.
Money raised by Season For The Child helps to fund scholarships for SIUE theater and dance students.
"We decided to do this to serve a need in our community and we've been doing it ever since," Conroy said. "It's a great way to raise money for the scholarship fund."
Season For The Child is committed to making sure children have the chance to experience the magic of theater.
"It is a theater where parents could bring their kids," Conroy said. "They can come and enjoy live theater. Some of these kids have never seen live theater before. They've been to movies, and they've watched television before, of course, but they've never seen live theater. It's a totally different experience for them. That's what I enjoy most about it."
Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the SIUE Box Office at 650-2774.
The Piwacket Theater Company for Children will present "Wisdom of Fools" for families and children of all ages 7 p.m. Saturday night.
"Wisdom of Fools" is part of a children's theatrical series called Season For The Child, which was started in 1985 by Friends of Theater and Dance at SIUE and The Bank Of Edwardsville to fulfill the need for a kid-friendly theater in the Edwardsville area.
"We set this up because we would hear parents say 'Why isn't there theater for the children in this area?'" Greg Conroy, director of Public Affairs at SIUE, said. "So we looked into it, and we decided to start a program where we would bring in three, four theater groups from the St. Louis area that would specialize in children's theater or family theater."
Season For The Child brings in professional children's theater companies to perform shows that specialize in music, costumes and witty lines.
"A lot of what these companies do is they take fairy tales, and they add them to the stage with music and colorful costumes, and the kids just eat it up," Conroy said. "They love it."
According to their Web site, "Piwacket uses theatre to highlight character education, delivering messages of respect, cooperation, kindness and tolerance to hundreds of thousands of children and their families throughout the U.S."
"Wisdom of Fools" is a Three Stooges-esque parody on common sense," Scott Sears of Piwacket Theater for Children, said. "We've done quite a bit of our repertoire at SIUE, and this was a piece we had running through the summer. It is very farcical. We were looking forward to doing it because it usually gets a very big reaction."
Scott Sears said the play is based on classic Hebrew stories called Wisemen of Chelm stories.
Piwacket, who was named the best children's theater company in St. Louis Magazine, is just one of the four theater companies working with Season For The Child.
Money raised by Season For The Child helps to fund scholarships for SIUE theater and dance students.
"We decided to do this to serve a need in our community and we've been doing it ever since," Conroy said. "It's a great way to raise money for the scholarship fund."
Season For The Child is committed to making sure children have the chance to experience the magic of theater.
"It is a theater where parents could bring their kids," Conroy said. "They can come and enjoy live theater. Some of these kids have never seen live theater before. They've been to movies, and they've watched television before, of course, but they've never seen live theater. It's a totally different experience for them. That's what I enjoy most about it."
Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the SIUE Box Office at 650-2774.
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