Something that I feel weirdly passionate about is the fact that children deserve quality stories. I understand this seems like a weirdly specific hill to die on, but hear me out. For six summers I performed at the New London Barn Playhouse in the Junior Intern Company. The Junior Intern Company performed the Children’s Series at the barn. Because of this, I have a lot of experience with children’s theatre.
Sometimes the shows are just bad. The plot is poorly constructed, the lines are uncomfortable to say, and the story is not funny or engaging. People think if they stick some well-known fairytale characters into a script and have some sort of twist on that story (always inevitably involving a detective and/or police officer) that kids are going to love it. No! Kids can see right through your half-baked, lackluster, rough-draft script. And they are not buying it.
During my last summer at Junior Intern,s I was fortunate enough to be cast as the lead in one of the middle shows which was Puss in Boots. What was different about this show versus some of the other children’s shows that had been done is that this story had depth. The plot was clear, the characters were interesting, and most importantly there were no awkward lines or embarrassing things that anyone was forced to do on stage (I did have to kiss a boy on the cheek and let me tell you it took a lot to make that not awkward.) It was so rewarding to be genuinely acting and feeling as this character and watching as the kids in the audience got invested into the story. In one scene a character named Will is being taken away to a dungeon for lying to the King. As he was being dragged off stage a young boy in the audience let out a tiny “no!” He cared about what was happening to the characters in front of him. That’s what theatre is supposed to do. It's supposed to inspire you and make you feel something and theatre for children is no exception.
