Children’s Theater Review : Irvine’s Theatrefaire for Children Brings Artistry to the Realm of Fantasy

Charlene Gould has reason to smile when she states that more than 6,000 tickets were sold last year for the Irvine Theatrefaire for Children’s three-show season.

“Our first year we had an audience with four people in it. We called it our ‘quality audience,’ ” said Gould, executive director of the Theatrefaire.

This season looks just as bright as the last one. It began in July with “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” includes the current “Snow White” and will be rounded out by “The Three Musketeers” in the fall.

In 1982, Theatrefaire was a modest part of Irvine Valley College’s arts and language department. It was founded by youthful husband-and-wife theater arts instructors Blake and Charlene Gould, to serve as a high-school outreach program.

Today, Theatrefaire is sponsored by the college, the city of Irvine and the Irvine Unified School District and has become a popular community source of children’s theater that uses professional and non-professional talent from throughout Orange County.

The Goulds believe that the company’s high-visibility move from a tiny theater on campus to the outdoor quad area in 1986 has been a significant factor in its growth.

“It energized the entire campus,” Gould said. “Word got out that theater for kids was nearby and suddenly we were turning hundreds of people away.”

Not all of those were children, either. Artistic director Blake Gould happily estimates 50% of Theatrefaire’s audiences are adults. “We don’t want parents to feel they have to wait in the car with the motor running, listening to the Dodger game,” he said.

What is it about the unpretentious Theatrefaire that elicits such response? The Goulds readily admit that the amateur status of cast members and that limited funds in the past have sometimes meant impoverished production values.

Both co-founders praise the creative spirits of set designer Wally Huntoon and makeup and puppetry artists Kim and Debbie Hayes, who joined the company three years ago, for “really opening up the realm of fantasy.”

The Goulds continually try to refine the company’s artistic vision, and spurred on by enthusiastic audiences, both feel confident of the future--which they hope will lead eventually to status as a professional resident company.

“We have approached young people’s theater as main-stage theater, not as a traveling ‘Let’s Pretend’ show, and it’s working for us,” Blake Gould said. “Better things are starting to happen--people are taking notice.”

Added Charlene Gould: “We try to do our best and not think in terms of restrictions. We will always try to do it big and do it right, with what we have available.”

As the company grows, Charlene Gould said, they hope to produce “works of intelligence” for an older, 8-to-15-year-old audience; sponsor a playwright contest; and persuade Irvine Valley College officials of the need for a theater facility--something the campus lacks.

“That’s a lot of dreaming,” said Blake Gould, “but I’m a practical dreamer, and I’ve got the patience to build little by little.”