PLAYING UP : World of Tales Troupe Believes Good Theater Doesn’t Talk Down to Young Audiences

In theater, says Muniera Kadrie, there is at least one big difference between performing for adults and performing for children.

“Young children aren’t polite like adults are. They really let you know how they feel,” Kadrie said. “When you’re not good, they’re going to fidget. You’re not going to capture them.”

As founders of the World of Tales theater ensemble, Kadrie and her husband, Jim Griffiths, strive to present theater that engages children without condescending to them.

Their troupe ventures outside the Bay Area for the first time in its eight-year history when it comes to Orange Coast College on Sunday.

Veteran actors (both were members of repertory companies formed in the ‘60s), Kadrie and Griffiths entered the children’s theater scene after they brought their own son to a play.

“We were appalled at what we saw,” Kadrie said. “It was talking down to them and cutesy.”

World of Tales puts a multicultural spin on children’s theater by selecting stories from around the world. The current production, “Mother Scorpion Country,” is adapted from a folk tale of the Miskito Indians in Nicaragua.

Performances by the six-member troupe (all adults) incorporate live music, masks, colorful costumes and movable sets. World of Tales, based in West Marin, travels to schools throughout the Bay Area and performs for children from age 2 through eighth grade.

The troupe is able to play to such a wide range of ages because the plays “work on different levels,” Kadrie says.

Younger children get caught up in the music and the drama of the plays; “older kids get the deeper meaning,” she said.

In its story of a man who tries to follow his young wife into the afterlife, “Mother Scorpion Country” deals with topics that are normally outside the realm of children’s theater, topics such as death and grieving.

Some parents and school officials in the Bay Area were skeptical about the subject matter when the play was described to them but were won over by the performance, Kadrie said.

The kids, meanwhile, have been “riveted” by the play, and it has helped lead to some in-class discussions on everything from the loss of a relative to the death of a beloved pet.

“We have shown that young people can deal with some very serious subjects,” Kadrie said. “They can handle it.”

What: World of Tales children’s theater ensemble.

When: Sunday, Oct. 25, at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

Where: Orange Coast College Fine Arts Recital Hall, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

Whereabouts: From the San Diego (405) Freeway, take Fairview Road south several blocks. The college will be on the right.

Wherewithal: Advance tickets are $8.50 for adults and $5.50 for children ($11 and $7 at the door).

Where to call: (714) 432-5880.