THEATER : Youth Theatre Strives to Achieve Grown-Up Quality

Mother Goose it’s not. Nor the Brothers Grimm.

So says Scott Davidson, who is quick to cite them as cliches of the “kiddie” mentality that the Laguna Playhouse Youth Theatre has taken pains to avoid.

“Why,” he asks, “should children’s theater have less depth than adult theater?”

Ironically, the Youth Theatre’s production of “Troubled Waters”--which opens at the Moulton Theatre on Saturday under Davidson’s direction--deals with probing issues that rarely, if ever, have been addressed by the Playhouse’s adult offerings.

The play focuses on ambiguous moral choices raised by environmental issues. According to a program note, playwright Brian Kral got his idea for “Troubled Waters,” which unfolds in and around the Florida Everglades, from a series of newspaper articles with headlines such as “Hunters Converge in ‘Mercy Kill’ of Deer.”

Davidson points out, moreover, that the production incorporates much of the cast’s own research on the Seminole Indians, from ceremonial dances to ritual chants to religious beliefs such as spirit transformation.

It’s not the first time serious children’s fare has been offered at the Youth Theatre. Two seasons ago, the troupe staged “Mother Hicks,” a play about prejudice during the Depression. Last season, it presented “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” which is set in a concentration camp and deals with the Holocaust.

“A lot of times children’s theater tends to be terribly condescending,” the 27-year-old director says, “either in the script or the performance or the direction. Sometimes it’s all three. But young people recognize when they’re being talked down to, and eventually that alienates them from the theater.”

The Playhouse youth productions apparently have had the opposite effect. Attendance has grown phenomenally since Davidson became its director in 1986. The five-play current season has attracted 1,500 subscribers. That contrasts with 300 subscribers for three plays during his first year--and that was a vast improvement over no subscribers and an annual show before he arrived.

“Basically, we just took what had been a recreational program and changed it into something more ambitious and--we hope--more rewarding for everyone,” Davidson says. “The actors get more out of it and so does the audience.”

The change has not gone unnoticed.

The Youth Theatre was named outstanding new children’s theater in the United States last summer by the American Alliance of Theater and Education, a national organization for amateur children’s troupes.

In mid-April, Davidson and nine members of the ensemble hope to make a splash with “Troubled Waters” at the First International Children’s Theater Festival in Lingen, West Germany. By last week, they had raised $9,000 of the $10,000 needed to pay for the trip.

At least 18 troupes from Eastern and Western Europe, the Soviet Union and the Middle East are also expected to be at the festival, which runs from April 13 to 21. The Youth Theatre was invited as the sole U.S. representative.

“We’re very excited about all the recognition we’ve received,” says Davidson, who credits the Las Vegas-based Rainbow Company--founded in 1973 by Jody Johnston, who became his wife in 1985--with teaching him most of what he knows about children’s theater. “I’m a product of that company,” he emphasizes.

The couple came to Southern California in 1984. Jody Johnston-Davidson was hired in 1986 as the Playhouse’s business manager. She had taught at Cal State Fullerton and had worked as a theater-marketing specialist at USC. At the beginning of March she was named Playhouse producing director.

“The big debate, ever since I was involved in children’s theater, has been whether children can produce quality performances,” Johnston-Davidson says. “The growing movement around the country is to do age-appropriate casting. Children play children and adults play adults. That’s what we do here.”

As recently as 1984--when “Troubled Waters” had its world premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington--Kral’s play was performed by an all-adult cast, although the central character is 13 years old.

Progressive children’s theater “is actually defined by the audience and not by the actors,” she adds. “It’s the opposite of recreational kiddie theater, which is really done for parents who come to watch their kids and believe everything is--well--wonderful.”

The Rainbow Company, which Johnston-Davidson headed for a decade, had an annual budget of about $250,000 (four times the Youth Theatre’s budget) and helped lead the move away from kiddie-style theater. “We started to create a group of very competent actors who by the age of 16 were working at a very advanced level,” she says.

Young actors in the United States rarely begin intensive training before they reach high school. In England, by contrast, she says, drama has for 50 years been part of the educational curriculum for kindergarten on up. “They treat theater just like math and science. It’s a real school subject.”

Not surprisingly, the Youth Theatre has made training classes a major component of its program. Scott Davidson and associate director Joe Lauderdale teach “creative dramatics” and “scene study” to students ranging from 7 to 17 years old. They also provide instruction for handicapped youngsters who want to become professional actors.

And what of the dramatists who write for children?

“Until about 15 years ago, I could have counted the good ones on both hands,” Johnston-Davidson says. “Two were Moses Goldberg and Aurand Harris. But others have come along since then, like Susan Zaeder and Brian. I’d say the quality and the number is rising.”

The Youth Theatre productions now run two weekends for an average of six performances, double what they used to. “We’d like to see about 2,500 subscribers,” says Johnston-Davidson, who believes the market for children’s offerings hasn’t been tapped.

“I think we had a backlash in theater following the ‘60s.” she says. “After all the weaving, people decided to go to business school. But now they’ve had children, and they’re back. The situation is the opposite of what it was 10 years ago. You don’t have to prove to them that the arts are worthwhile.”

Performances of “Troubled Waters” at the Moulton Theatre are Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m.; Sunday at 6 p.m.; April 7 at 1 and 4 p.m., and April 8 at 6 p.m. The theater is at 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tickets: $6 adults, $3 children. Information: (714) 494-0743 or 494-8021.