POLITICALLY CORRECTED CLASSICS : For the National Theater for Children, It’s the Positive Role Model--Not the Play--That’s the Thing

If you don’t count the coffee thermos and Triple-A maps, perhaps the greatest common denominator among touring youth theater groups is the adaptation of a classic children’s book. From drafty cafeterias to state-of-the-art urban theaters, these old friends are trotted out as frequently as the favorite mount at a pony ride.

The San Diego-based National Theater for Children keeps a stable of classics, but of a somewhat different color. Whatever the story’s pedigree, if members of NTC’s creative team feels it contains elements seriously out of sync with the ‘90s, they say it’s time for a change.

This month, Mark Twain gets the troupe’s red pencil on “Tom Sawyer,” a musical compilation of two of Twain’s most popular tales, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The show, suitable for ages 3 to 13, will be performed today at the Irvine Barclay Theatre and Nov. 17 at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim. Both performances have been booked primarily by school groups, but there are some tickets available.

Andrea Christian, president and founder of the 8-year-old NTC, says that by taking a few well-placed liberties she and her staff can “cut out the negativity” of the stories and offer children a theater experience “more up to date.”

In “Tom Sawyer,” for example, the character of Jim, the runaway black slave, has been replaced by a white man. The women are no shrinking Southern violets. And Injun Joe? Forget it.

By sacrificing a measure of literary purity, audiences may gain a timely lesson in current issues such as racial equality, women’s rights and nonviolent problem solving, Christian says.

“We are an educational organization, and that’s why we do the classics,” she notes, “but part of education is giving children positive role models. The characters we’re altering are considered so negative nowadays (that) they would very much offend young people and teachers.

“Besides, there’s more to education than just doing everything to form.”

NTC is an offshoot of the American Theater Arts for Youth, a children’s touring company on the East Coast that is headed by Christian’s mother. Last year, NTC productions played to 230,000 schoolchildren across the West and Midwest. In addition to “Tom Sawyer,” the repertoire includes variations on “The Wizard of Oz,” “Babes in Toyland” and “Robin Hood” as well as “Pinocchio,” which comes to the Celebrity in December.

NTC shows feature professional adult casts, bright visuals, lively music and plenty of audience interaction, plus one-on-one time with the cast after each performance, Christian says. School groups attending a show receive a study guide describing the various elements that go into producing live theater.

Given the shrinking budgets of many school arts programs, Christian sees NTC as an important adjunct to the classroom.

Education of children “should be more holistic than what it has become,” says Christian, the mother of children ages 2 and 8. “We think this will spark an interest in theater so that children won’t only be consumers, but creators as well.”