Home Plays Spotlight Kids’ Creativity
by Lisa McCallister-Grant
When Matsy Stinson of Greenville, Del., was 6 years old, she and her little sister Lydia put on a production of the Nutcracker at home for their parents.
“They taped a plastic container to the ceiling with bits of paper inside. When they needed snow, they pulled a string and all the little pieces came floating down,” recalls their mother, Karen Stinson. Over the years, their love for theater has blossomed. The sisters have written, choreographed, cast and acted in dozens of homemade plays and films. “They do all the planning by themselves. It’s really, really fun for them and their friends,” says Stinson.
Putting on plays at home is a great way to boost your children’s creativity and confidence. Consider it an extension of playing “pretend,” rather than serious preparation for an acting career. “You don’t need to make it a parent-directed thing. Let it be as child-directed as possible. They’ll get the most out of it that way,” says Stinson.
Setting the Stage
“Human beings have a need to tell stories about themselves and others,” says Susan Quinn, Director of Education at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia.
Familiar stories provide a perfect starting point for dramatic play. Ellen Swafford, whose children have participated in the Stinson sisters’ productions, suggests, “Read a story and ask them to act it out. Have them say who they want to be, and if in your version, there are two bad guys or two princesses, that’s okay. Let them go with it. One of the most valuable things is that theater kindles their creativity.”
Dress-up clothes such as old Halloween costumes or funky garments from resale shops can also inspire your kids to explore different roles. “We have a playroom with a closet full of dresses and hats. I don’t feel like I do anything else other than provide the opportunity and the materials. If they need something else, I help them find it,” says Swafford.
Bitten by the Bug
Once they discover the joy of dramatic expression, your children might clamor to work with a real script. “At age six,” says Kathy Buterbaugh, Vice President of Children’s Theater for the Wilmington Drama League, “kids can begin learning lines. Even if they can’t read, if you say the lines and have the kids repeat them, after three times, they will know them.”
Check the library for anthologies of short plays for young performers. Another possible source is Plays magazine, which publishes original scripts suitable for children of various ages and interests. Editor Liz Preston says folk tales, plays with animals as characters, and spoofs work well because roles can be adapted to boys or girls, depending on the children available. “For younger kids (ages 6-10), a skit-length play up to 20 minutes is about the limit. Older kids do well with plays up to 35 minutes,” she says.
Practice, Practice, Practice
It’s a good idea to start each rehearsal with a warm-up, says Shani Johnson, a theater consultant who has worked with hundreds of children at the Walt Whitman Arts Center in Camden, NJ and in the Philadelphia School District. “You can do breathing exercises or some simple physical exercises. If a kid’s had a bad day or something’s bothering him, it helps to put it behind him so he can focus on the rehearsal.”
Although Stinson’s daughters direct their plays and films, she helps keep rehearsals on track. “Kids are eager to participate, but they aren’t necessarily thinking ahead. An adult needs to be there to prompt them to change into their next costume, for instance,” she says.
During rehearsals, kids learn many lessons in cooperation and communication. “They will learn how to work on a team. They will learn to cover for each other and work effectively with someone they don’t like without fighting all the time. They naturally learn to be both a leader and a follower,” says Johnson. Buterbaugh agrees. “Theater is every life lesson, rolled into one,” she says.
Show Time
After hours or maybe weeks of rehearsal, your children will be eager to perform their play for an audience. Holidays provide a wonderful opportunity for kids to perform for relatives.
Swafford says her kids aren’t hung up on perfection. “They have an audience that loves them. When they do a play at home, they don’t have the pressure of a public performance.”
“Senior citizens make a great audience, and something that is fun for the kids also becomes a service project,” says Stinson. “Sometimes there are more kids in the play than people in the audience, but it doesn’t matter to them.”
What does matter is the applause. It can have a profound emotional effect on children. “It builds their self-esteem. The more they are applauded, the more they are going to have the confidence to try new things and develop new skills,” says Johnson.
Curtain Call
Taking part in a play can have a lifelong impact on a child. “People remember the plays they were in. It stands out in their memory,” notes Preston. “The earlier kids are exposed to this part of our culture, the more it becomes part of their lives. When they get turned on early, to whatever art form, they will be more sensitive and more supportive as adults.”
Stinson is convinced her daughters will remain involved in theater over the course of their lives, as spectators and participants. They enjoy applauding other children in plays and seeing Shakespeare’s comedies. “If I tell them the story ahead of time, they laugh their heads off. I think it’s harder to take an adult who’s never been exposed than a child,” she says.
For the Stinson sisters and their friends — whose next production is called Bluebird Three — putting on plays is a ton of fun. “I think it’s that old-fashioned kind of fun that’s missing from a lot of kids’ environments today,” Swafford says. “They have a blast.”
Lisa McCallister-Grant is a freelance writer.