Each year, the senior class of the Theatre Strand ventures off to various elementary schools to create, produce, and perform plays for the children who helped create them. This year’s productions are almost completely designed by the third graders of Rosemont Forest Elementary School. The plays include:
The Adventures of Blorbin Corbin – Aliens and Superheroes and Robots- oh my! This play follows the tale of an alien barista named Blorbin Corbin who teams up with a Superhero from Planet Justice to combat a four-armed supervillain named Evil Man Guy and his army of robots. They travel from “Earf” to Planet Justice to Planet Fairyvale, learning when to and when not to take accountability, while utilizing the magic power of math to stop the evil mastermind and save the universe!
Farmville Friends – An emo chicken, an old hip-with-the-kids horse, two catty cows, and more in this bunch of mismatched animals, working together to repair their farm after a storm, as well as repairing their relationships with each other. They learn what an apology is, when to take accountability, and how to practice teamwork to fix up their home before Farmer Dan gets back from vacation.
The process of getting ideas from elementary school students, writing, directing, casting, wardrobing, and performing the plays is often taxing for seniors.
“There would be tension, but no communication [between production members] so no real way to break it. The timing was also really difficult because we were doing fringe at the same time,” said 2023 ACTC alumni Mylo Bostick.
“This year, however, was pretty much smooth sailing, with the teams expressing a rather positive experience,” said Caroline Orr, who played Baahbby the Sheep in Farmville Friends. However, there were still some challenges. “It was really hard at first, the very beginning stages, trying to figure out what we wanted [to do]. We knew what we wanted the kids to feel but it was hard to write it down.”
The process starts with the groups coming up with a concept for a play and sitting down to write it. Children’s theater is a lot different process than adult theater, so new tactics for inspiration were required for success.
“Our inspiration for our play was the kids over at Rosemont Elementary. [A student] mentioned aliens and the robots and having them help us draw [set pieces and costumes] when they were with our group,” said Tatijana Copeland, who played Wizzie in The Adventures of Blorbin Corbin.
The next step of the process involves creating the props, costumes, and backdrop to fill out the world the children helped visualize.
“It had a rocky start, but it ended up being a fulfilling experience. We all took liberty with assigned roles [to design and create all of the props, costumes, and set pieces] and just went with it. Even though it made me a bit nervous, everyone’s ability to take initiative worked very well and we were able to get everything done,” said Jasper Covington, who played Blorbin Corbin in The Adventures of Blorbin Corbin.
The next step of the process involves creating the props, costumes, and backdrop to fill out the world the children helped visualize.
“It had a rocky start, but it ended up being a fulfilling experience. We all took liberty with assigned roles [to design and create all of the props, costumes, and set pieces] and just went with it. Even though it made me a bit nervous, everyone’s ability to take initiative worked very well and we were able to get everything done,” said Jasper Covington, who played Blorbin Corbin in The Adventures of Blorbin Corbin.
Now that all of the necessary aspects were created, a new challenge arose: space.
“First, we had to figure out how we were going to transport all of this stuff, we had so many visual needs, so it was going to be challenging transporting everything,” said Caleigh Howell, who played Wally the Orange in The Adventures of Blorbin Corbin. “But it was also exciting because these characters we made forever ago were brought on stage. We got to see how the kids, especially the students at Rosemont Elementary, were going to interact with the characters they helped create.”
Overall, the productions were a huge success. The final production was completed on March 25th at Thalia Elementary School. Each group was able to teach the lessons they wanted in a new, fun, and interactive way, and the baton is now passed on to the theater class of 2025 to keep the Academy Children’s Theater Company going.
