PictureBook Plays

If you’re just stepping into this blog, you should start by reading Parts I and II.

4. So then I thought, “What if I combine improvisation with an actual storyline?” This idea was appealing because it cut out the “rehearsal” step but still created a play with a beginning, middle, and end. I again used The Mitten. I chose it because I am very familiar with the story, children can choose any animal they like, and everyone participates at the same time. It was a resounding success.

5. The many times I have done this story have all blurred together into one happy mess, but it went something like this:

• Read the story together.
• Identify the characters. We skipped location and revisiting beginning, middle and end.
• Choose a character you would like to play. It is okay to have more than one of any character, or none of another character.
• Put on costumes.
• Decide where the actors should begin: on-stage or off-stage.
• Introduce the play to your eager audience….”Ladies and Gentlemen, the Kid’s Museum Players present…”
• Begin the story by reading from the book, but extend out in to improv whenever and whereever it’s needed.
• When each child enters, audibly prompt him or her and offer choices for acting moments.
• At the end, remember to bow.

6. And so was born, StoryBook Theatre. Yes, it had a different title. It was changed to PictureBook Plays after we determined that StoryBook Theatre was too broad. It could be anything. And is, indeed, used by many theatre companies and schools to mean various things. But, PictureBook Plays only means one thing: Creating Plays from Picture Books.

If you’re just stepping into this blog, you may want to start by reading Where did PictureBook Plays come from? Part I.
Every week at Chicago Children’s Museum, I had a willing group of children ready to play pretend, act out a story, and just have fun.  They ranged in age from pre-language toddlers through 12 year olds.  So, every week, I faced new challenges, tried new answers, and perfected PictureBook Plays.  Here’s how it went:

1. I tackled the picture book The Mitten by Jan Brett.  We read it together, we identified the places, the characters, and the beginning middle and end.  Each child chose his or her role (with creative rights of course!).  We rehearsed the play by working our way through the story from start to finish.  I guided the children through choosing how to set the stage, acting out their roles, and speaking lines.  Then, we performed it again from start to finish.  The challenge: The rehearsal was very different from the performance.  Children under six did not understand the difference between practicing and performing.  The children wanted to do it again and again, but I hadn’t brought more book choices with me.
2. I tried the same “rehearse” then “perform” sequence a few more times.  With children over six, it was brilliant. It gave them extra time to be creative and make choices.  They made more discoveries about the place, time, and characters.  But it continued to be a challenge for children under six.
3. Around this time, I was also doing my own acting with an improv troupe.  So, one day after doing a picture book first, I asked the children if they’d like to make up their own story instead.   We wrote down several characters, place, and the beginning, middle and end.  Plus I asked them to name our play.  They put on costumes, went off-stage, and I introduced and narrated.  It was so much fun.  I had a great time inventing the story based on what the children gave me, and they had a great time acting out what I was saying without knowing what was going to come next.  Eventually I started shouting out, “What happened next?” and they would prompt me.  I think we could have performed a full two-hour play if we’d had the time and parents who would sit through it.  The Challenge:  It was extra hard to contain the most energetic of children.  It was also extra hard to make sure the shyest of children didn’t get worried by the energy level and drop out to become part of the audience.  Parents seemed to think their children were having fun, but not actually learning anything.  They were more likely to tire of the activity and make their child leave right in the middle of the story.

Stay-tuned for Part III…

My first step towards creating PictureBook Plays began right out of college. As your typical starving artist working part-time at Starbucks, I also got hired to work as an actor at The Children’s Museum, Boston (now known as The Boston Children’s Museum). They have a fantastic theatre exhibit where children watch and participate in live performances. The shows are designed specifically for young children: 15-20 minute long, nothing scary, lovable characters, good stories, and actors who are 100% child-friendly. Children from the audience actually go up on stage and participate in the structured storytelling with actors prompting them and the audience helping as well. It’s lots of fun for big and little.

Eventually, I ended up at Chicago Children’s Museum working not as an actor, but as an educator. When asked to step in and teach a theatre workshop, I jumped at the opportunity. Unlike a structured class, museum activities have children of many ages who come in and out as they please. In order to accommodate the ebb and flow of children and families, I started out with movement games to draw a crowd and get everyone involved. And then we launched into a structured performance of Caps for Sale based on my experiences at The Boston Children’s Museum.

We read it together first, but when it came time to perform, I told the children where to stand, what to say, and how to perform. They, of course, loved it as much as their parents. But I felt there was something missing. There had to be a way to combine the process of play-making with the product of the performance. In this way, children and parents get what they really want (which is to be in the spotlight!) while I secretly teach them theatre skills including making choices, showing your actions, telling a story, sequencing, and collaboration.

So, I started to experiment…

Few people realize that theatre is full of rhythmic moments: the action can be fast or slow, characters speak at different moments, sound effects like clocks and birds create shifts within the scene. You can see it in the picture books you read: compare the rhythm of Caps For Sale with Good Night Moon. Which one is slower? Which one has repetition, i.e. a chorus?

This means that you can share rhythm with your students not just through music, but through theatre. They will eventually apply the lessons they learn (whether you identify them or not) to the relationships in their life. They will identify what it feels like to work in time (in collaboration) with others. They will recognize when someone steps out of a rhythmic pattern to create something new (and this action may feel less scary for them).