Kids Explore Theater, Find Fun in Middleground

Author: Marissa Anschutz

There are those moments in your life when you witness something truly beautiful and you know, for that space in time, you are a part of something magical. These are the times when you look around the room and you see imagination and creativity exploding from every corner; when you watch people doing both what they love and what they do best. The directors of the Middle Ground Theater Program are masters in their own art and their deep devotion to theater and the community children allowed me to share one of these moments with them.

Before I even entered the auditorium, I could hear the high-pitched laughter of the children. The first door I attempted to open was locked, but I stood outside for a while listening to the directors instruct the children for their scenes. After finally finding the open door, I walked into the rehearsal. Six groups of children, spread throughout the auditorium, were practicing lines and dancing around on chairs. The children, ages ranging five to 12 years, have been rehearsing these plays since mid-September for three hours a week. Each of the six groups is studying a different play. These plays, "The Silent Duckboat Captain," "A Monkey's Tail," "The Door in Our Bedroom," "Animal Crackers," "Stan's Spies" and "Just Add Monkey" are all written by the student directors for the Middle Ground Theater. Most children's plays, as explained to me by one of the directors, have one main character with the majority of the lines, and then a massive group of small roles. Thus, by writing their own children's plays, each child has an equal role in the production which fosters their theater experience.

Tim Brownell '02 began the Middle Ground Theater Group two years ago, and, since then, his volunteer organization has put on several children's productions. Imagine the perfect pre-school teacher: he maintains a level of control over the group, yet still allows for each child to express her ideas freely. He encourages creativity and imagination, and hopes to inspire all those children around him. And he does. I was only there for an hour and already hope to become involved in Middle Ground in the future.

"Animal Crackers," is, according to Anicka (seven years old), about a girl who wants to get out of her house and explore the world. Morgan Beck, who is "five and three-quarters years old," explained her role in the same play: "My name is Scoops, and I am a fairy-in-training." Chelsea Prescott, eight years old, is also a fairy, her official title she described as "her-beautiful-princess-step-godmother." Bowen Abby, also eight-years-old, plays the role of Mr. Lobby, and he helps ease the worries of the "beautiful-princess-step-godmother." Other cast members include eight-year-old Bronwyn Worrick, who plays the part of the evil empress ice queen. Bronwyn describes her character as "mean and evil." "The only thing that will make me die is laughter, so when Hope [another actor] dances around me and acts like a silly monkey, I laugh and I die. But that is okay because I am mean and evil." Hope Romagnoli, who is eight years old, plays the llama who, according to her, is "usually happy and very curious." Finally, when I asked Julian, seven-years old, who plays the part of Guenoco, a curious penguin, what he wants Campus readers to know about the play, he said, "I like it." Coming from a curious penguin, that seems like the best compliment a play could receive.

This Thursday was the last rehearsal in the auditorium and next week, the children will rehearse on the state at the Salisbury School in Salisbury, Vt., in the preparation for their opening night. At the end of the rehearsal, Brownell gathered all the kids together and reminded them that this was their last night in the building. "Get really close to the floor," he said, and as he bent down and lay on the floor, all the children in the room scrambled to lie on the wooden basketball court in the gym. "Knock on the floor, knock, knock, knock." I looked around the room in amazement. About 30 children, ages four to nine, were lying down with their ears pressed against the floor. "Can you hear something back?" "Yes, yes!" the kids exclaimed. "Well," said Tim, "I think that thing that you hear is the floor saying goodbye."

Three of the six plays from "More Fun Than" — "The Silent Duck Boat Captain," "A Monkey's Tail" and "The Door In Our Bedroom" debut on the Salisbury stage Thursday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. The other three plays, "Animal Crackers," "Stan's Spies" and "Just Add Monkey," open Friday Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. and Sunday Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. Tickets are free .For reservations, call 443-6478. Anyone who dares to dream the dreams of children shouldn't miss this opportunity for the world.