Kids, parents invited to free Children’s Theatre event

Young residents have the chance to learn life skills while embodying a range of colorful characters.

The Children’s Theatre of Charlotte is hosting an open house at Kids “R” Kids Learning Academy in Fort Mill Saturday. The theater company will be showcasing the theater education classes it offers and treating audiences to a performance by their Junior Performance Company, said Michelle Long, director of education and playwright.

“It’s a great way to get to know Children’s Theatre of Charlotte,” Long said. “It’s going to be a really fun day.”

The Junior Performance Company, an audition-only group, is comprised of student actors currently enrolled in the level two and level three theater training classes, Long said. The group has 15 members.

The open house runs from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and will culminate in the production, which is based on the play “Diary of a Goose Girl,” Long said.

While loosely based on the story of a girl in the 1900s who runs away from her suitor, finds a home on a poultry farm and forms friendships with the animals, Long saw a chance to address an important issue with her rendition of the play.

Long said she realized that the girl’s diary entries from the story were a commentary on foster care and adoption. Having adopted three children from the Mecklenburg County foster system herself, Long said she wanted to write the play from that angle.

“It’s a topic that’s near and dear to my heart,” she said. “It’s tough what these kids go through, the trauma they’ve faced, the uncertainty and disruption.”

The theater’s performance will tell the story of a young girl who is headed to yet another foster home and invents the fantasy world of “Goose Girl” as a way to cope, Long said. The character finds solace in the girl’s diary entries of life on the farm and the relationships she has with the birds and fowl.

The “Goose Girl” stories are a way for the main character to better understand her dysfunctional relationships as they guide her through her journey to find a permanent home, Long said. As her fantasy begins to take shape and become more real, the cast takes on the voices and characters of the girl’s past and present and decisions about her future, bringing them to life on the stage.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to learn about physicalization and working with one another,” Long said. “It’s a great ensemble piece.”

The show is also a chance for students to learn how to work beyond a script, Long said.

“We’re empowering students to create new work,” she said.

A professional touring company, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte emphasizes education, and the event will showcase the various theater training and creative drama classes the organization offers for students as young as two years old, Long said.

“It’s important to educate students on how to be part of the creation process and what that looks like,” she said. “Theater is a collaborative art form and we want them to be part of that collaboration.”

Students of the company’s School of Theatre attend fundamental classes on how to work with each other, learn how to use body language and their voices to bring life to characters and how to make choices as actors, Long said. As they reach higher class levels, the students take on new challenges and work to understand the art of theater.

Long said the classes also help students with public speaking and confidence.

“The values and skills they learn in a theater class they will use for the rest of their life,” she said.

While its main home is at ImaginOn in Charlotte, the Children’s Theatre also offers satellite programs throughout the area. Long said the event in Fort Mill is a chance for the staff to reach local students.

“We’re excited to meet families in the area,” she said

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Kids, parents invited to free Children’s Theatre event."