Children’s theater is a poor orphan when...

Children’s theater is a poor orphan when it comes to entertainment choices. It shouldn’t be.

This year, more quality children’s theater was available in the Southland than ever, covering an impressive range of subject matter and style, educational and entertaining, produced by talented, responsible and dedicated adults.

As usual, the Mark Taper Forum’s Improvisational Theatre Project (ITP) and South Coast Repertory’s Educational Touring Program came up with winners.

ITP’s was “The Newcomer,” a moving account of the terrible alienness of everything from fast food to the intimidating cacophony of a foreign language, seen through the eyes of a Cambodian refugee in an American junior high school.

South Coast Repertory’s fine “Imagine That!” cleverly explored the creative process with a snappy musical quest into the mind.

The annual Theatre Festival for Young Audiences (held at Cal State San Bernardino in April) and TAFFY, the Theatre Arts Festival for Youth now permanently established at the Peter Strauss Ranch in Agoura, offered chances to see several quality works in one day.

In San Bernardino, Rita Grauer’s unusual, delicate “Primal Myths” explored man’s origins in ancient tales of creation.

To ignite kids’ interest in reading, Carl Weintraub’s fine-tuned troupe “We Tell Stories” acted out humorous and moving selections from works by Carl Sandburg and others, using plenty of audience participation.

“We Tell Stories” went to Agoura as well, along with Paul Tracey, gentle-voiced singer and evocative storyteller of African tales and Peter Alsop and Dan Crow, two singer/musicians skilled at presenting young children with messages of self-esteem and communication.

Russian emigres Olga Serova and Eugene Kozhevnikov’s Chaplinesque clown show for young children, “Max and Frossie--Stage Players,” is still running at Santa Monica’s Powerhouse Theatre.

For older children and adults, “Bother!,” Peter Dennis’ tour de force performance of A.A. Milne readings can be found at Stage Lee Strasberg.

Other creative, spirited groups to look for are J.P. Nightingale (producers of TAFFY), the L.A. Moving Van and Puppet Company, the Los Angeles Children’s Museum’s new Bumberchute Players, the Magic Carpet Band, Weavers of Enchantment, mimes Schwartz and Chung and San Francisco’s touring “Make-A-Circus.”

Most shows run only a weekend and advertising budgets rarely extend to more than free newspaper mentions and flyers, but make the effort to find them. Live theater can be an involving and stimulating entertainment choice for children unlike any other.