Children’s Theater Isn’t Child’s Play : Troupes at Agoura Festival Struggle for Quality, Relevance

Children’s theater is a catchall term. Whether it refers to adult or child actors doing classics or new works, or to singers, dancers, mimes and puppets, the consensus among performers in the San Fernando Valley area is that there isn’t enough quality stuff.

To remedy this, Canoga Park singers and songwriters John and Pam Wood have arranged the fourth annual Theatre Arts Festival for Youth to be held this weekend at the Peter Strauss Ranch in Agoura.

The festival brings together a variety of children’s performers, including musical storytellers Dan Crow, Peter Alsop and Paul Tracey; the Imagination Company and We Tell Stories theater companies; mimes Judi Garratt, Tina Lenart and Schwartz & Chung, and the Aman Folk Ensemble.

The Woods, who as J.P. Nightingale have given more than 6,000 theatrical or musical performances in 16 years, will also perform.

Producers of theater for youth believe that the responsibility to their audiences goes beyond simple entertainment.

Mike Arndt, chairman of the theater department at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, said the arts in public education have been slighted in California, leaving a greater burden on private organizations.

“I think children’s theater is one way of really reaching kids, and not only of developing future audiences, but developing an appreciation for the theatrical arts and the possibilities of theater,” he said.

Lynne Berger, co-partner with her daughter, Michele Samit, in the Enchanted Forest in Woodland Hills, believes that “children learn best through fantasy and that children have inherent creativity that has to be opened up, stimulated by the creative fantasy environment.”

Directors of children’s companies that tour schools provide study guides for teachers so that the shows can enhance studies in literature, history or the social sciences.

“In some instances, we do workshops at schools before we perform the plays,” Arndt said. “Last year, we did workshops when we did a production of ‘The Arkansas Bear,’ which deals with death, a controversial but important topic to take to the schools.”

But it’s not easy to lug sets from school to school. The companies have to adapt to the differences at each site and the varying amounts of space. Sometimes there’s a stage; sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes the kitchen is preparing lunch, and actors have to make sure that the children aren’t distracted.

And finding scripts that hold the attention of young children is an art in itself. Many companies in the Valley have opted for tried-and-true material because it is safer.

Said Jill Shawn Adereth, co-producer of Little Broadway Productions, which mostly puts on musical fairy tales: ‘We do these kinds of plays because if you don’t do a known title, the tickets won’t sell. We’ve tried. We had to do telemarketing to sell enough tickets to the schools for a show on folk tales we did. But when I get on the phone and say we’re doing ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ the reaction is usually, ‘Ooooh, how much is it?’ ”

Good original material is also hard to find, said Arndt, whose company develops original scripts through an improvisation workshop.

According to Naomi Monroe of Actors for Children in Thousand Oaks, most of the plays she reads are written for children to perform for other children, so “there’s a little of that necessary sophistication missing.” Therefore, her company also does some original plays.

Jeff Levy, theater manager at Cal State Northridge, said: “Children’s theater for many years--it’s still true now--is substantially bad theater. Susie Smith can dash off this insipid script and think the kids won’t mind. That, in fact, is not true. Children appreciate interesting themes, good production values and care taken with performances as much or perhaps more than adults do.”

Since keeping youngsters involved is a crucial requirement, much children’s theater is interactive. In some plays, children are invited on stage, are themselves made characters, and are often allowed to meet and talk with the actors afterward.

According to Monroe of Actors for Children, after a performance, children typically ask such questions as “Have you been in any movies or commercials?,” “How do you change costumes so fast?” and “How do you remember all those lines?”

Children’s theater is also often very physical. In the current Storybook Theatre production of “Yippy Ayo,” actors ride in on hobby horses, said producer Barbara Mallory Schwartz. A couple of children bang coconut shells on stage to imitate the sound of horses. There’s square dancing on the stage, and audience members are asked to shake hands with their neighbors.

Audience participation is also an integral part of the productions of Tom Provenzano’s Imagination Company. “Actors first come to children’s theater thinking, ‘Oh, this is going to be a breeze; you can just do anything for kids,’ ” Provenzano said. “It’s exactly the opposite. When you act for kids, you have to fill every single moment; you have to use every bit of acting technique you’ve ever learned.

“The way my partner, Teresa, describes children is not that they’re just stupid little things, it’s just that they’re very smart individuals who have not had the experience. They’re like aliens coming down to your planet. You have to explain things a little more to them. But once you do, they’re right there with you.”

Youngsters, unlike adults, sometimes want to repeat a theatrical experience. Said Schwartz of Storybook Theatre: “When we did ‘Little Red Riding Hood,’ we became like the Rocky Horror Show for kids. They’d come back again and again. They’d come dressed in red.”

“No matter what you hear about how drugs are starting to be used by children in K through sixth grade, most of the time when we tour, we see kids who are innocent and who want to accept people who want to give them something,” Provenzano said.

The Theater Arts Festival for Youth runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Peter Strauss Ranch, 30000 Mulholland Highway, Agoura. Tickets are $8 at the door, with children 3 and under admitted free. Call (818) 998-8424 for information.

Following is a sampling of theater for youth performed by adult actors in the Valley and nearby areas. Except where noted, they require reservations. All of them have mailing lists to notify theatergoers of upcoming productions.

Storybook Theatre at Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Studio City, (818) 761-9159. This residential company presents familiar stories in a nonviolent fashion for children 2 to 9 years of age. “Yippy Ayo,” an anti-gun musical featuring such characters as Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hiccup and Belle Starr, is being performed at 1 p.m. Saturdays through Nov. 26. Tickets are $5. The play lasts about an hour, with an apple-juice intermission. In December, “Jingle Bell Gang” will be performed and, beginning in February, a musical version of “Hansel and Gretel” is scheduled.

Little Broadway Productions at the Los Angeles Valley College Theatre, 5800 Fulton Ave., Van Nuys, (818) 509-0963. This 4-year-old company offers field trips for schools and weekend, holiday and summer performances for the public. “Beauty and the Beast” can be seen at noon Wednesday and Thursday, and 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Dec. 20, 21 and 22. Tickets are $5.50. The play, performed with lots of slapstick, is recommended for children in kindergarten through high school; older preschoolers may also enjoy it. Beginning in March, “Aesop’s Fabulous Fable Factory” will be performed.

The Imagination Company Traveling Children’s Theater, Encino Community Center, 4935 Balboa Blvd., (818) 995-1690. This 5-year-old touring company plans a series to be held Saturdays at the community center. The first production is “Jabberwocky,” a one-hour musical adventure-fantasy about an 11-year-old boy’s self-esteem. The production, which features talking mirrors and an old book with a magic spell, is aimed at children ages 5 and older. Play dates are 2 p.m. Nov. 5 and 12. Tickets are $5. Adult actors perform with a children’s chorus.

California Lutheran University’s Children’s Theater Program, 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks, (805) 492-2411. The program, sponsored by the American Assn. of University Women, puts on two productions a year at the university and tours local elementary schools for a week.

“Mark Twain and the Ghost of Stagecoach Inn,” an original play combining a local ghost tale and the legend of Twain’s visit to the area, will be performed at 1 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday and Oct. 23 at the university’s Little Theatre. It can also be seen at 1 and 3 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Stagecoach Inn in Newbury Park, and Oct. 24 at 1:15 and 3:15 p.m. at the Thousand Oaks Library. Tickets cost $2, except at the library, where admission is free. The play is recommended for youngsters 3 to 13. No reservations are taken and it is recommended that patrons come at least an hour early as shows usually sell out half an hour before show time.

Cal State Northridge Theater for Youth, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, box office (818) 885- 3093 (9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays). “Great Expectations” will be performed in the Studio Theatre at 8 p.m. Nov. 11 to 13 and 17 to 20, and Dec. 1 to 4 and 8 to 11, with Sunday shows at 5 p.m. This classic is appropriate for those in seventh grade and up. Tickets are $3.50 for students, $7.50 for adults.

“Circus Home,” recommended for children ages 6 to 10, will be performed at the Campus Theatre at 2 p.m. May 6, 7, 13 and 14. Tickets will be $3. A musical version of “Animal Farm” will be performed in April and May. Call for a brochure. Special school-day matinees of the plays are also performed.

Actors for Children, mailing address, 482 Greenmeadow Drive, Thousand Oaks 91361, (805) 499- 3791. This touring company, a division of Xanadu Theatre Company, is offering “African Folk Tales” by Anita Gustafson. Featuring basic African rhythm instruments and African masks created by a local artist, the show is aimed at children in kindergarten through sixth grades. Public performances will be held at 2 p.m. Dec. 3 at Borchard Community Park in Newbury Park and 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at Conejo Community Center in Thousand Oaks. Tickets cost $2.

A free performance will be given at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Thousand Oaks Public Library.

The Enchanted Forest, 20929 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, (818) 716-7202. A marionette show for all ages called “Fall Carnival--Wizard of Oz” is being presented at 11:30 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 11. “Camelot,” with a cast of more than 50 string puppets and featuring music and dance, will be presented at 1 and 7 p.m. Dec. 17 to 30. Ticket prices are $5 for either.

A concert series is presented from 6 to 7:30 p.m. every other Sunday; prices are $7 adults and $6 children. Included will be vocalist Joni Bartels, Sunday; Halloween magic party, Oct. 30; Julie Weissman presents Kids in Motion, a live concert version of the Nickelodeon show, Nov. 13, and singer-songwriter Dan Crow performs a holiday concert, including new Hanukkah songs, Dec. 4.

Synthaxis Theatre Company, mailing address, 6310 Whitsett Ave., North Hollywood 91606. Although this is mainly a touring company, executive director Estelle Busch plans to put on public performances of the current improvisational show, “Collage,” in February. Other plays are in the planning stages, depending on the opening date of a new arts center, scheduled for early 1989. For information, call (213) 877-4726.