The Play’s The Thing!

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” 
― Oscar Wilde

No doubt most of you have encountered those annoying, cloying memes that urge you to “share” if your daughter is the most wonderful daughter in the world. I never do. Mostly because I really don’t think Facebook is the appropriate medium for sharing my deepest feelings. And partly because—well—there are lots of wonderful daughters in the world, and while mine is undoubtedly one of them, I try to avoid hyperbole, and somewhere there might be one even more wonderful. I note she doesn’t share the ones about the most wonderful mother either, so I think we’re on the same wavelength there.

Today, though, I’m feeling that she deserves some recognition for being oneof the most wonderful daughters—and mothers—out there. 

Out of the Box Productionsis a not-for-profit theatre group for children of all ages and abilities. Personal growth and empowerment of every one of our members is at the heart of what we do, and as important as the final performance. As success is defined differently for each of us, our focus is to provide the environment and guidance for each child to achieve their personal best. 

We got home last week from our annual spring visit to Kitchener, where Erica directs and produces a Shakespeare play for young people every spring. Now, I know she’s reading this and saying “but it’s not all about me,” and of course it’s not. The annual event is the result of a community of parents and children in the local homeschooling community who put time and energy into making it a success. But it was her vision, and while a number of youth theatre groups produce Shakespeare for kids, it’s that vision that makes this one special.

In the jargon of the educational theatre world, this is called “process theatre”. In this case, what it means is that children are not chosen or turned away based on auditions. They do not have to have innate talent. They do not have to look like Portia. They can have a stammer or a speech impediment. They can be behaviourally or intellectually challenged. They have to come to rehearsals, learn their lines, and do their best. I have watched a young woman with Down’s syndrome progress, year by year, until she was able to manage a substantial supporting role. I have seen a child whose speech was incomprehensible given a small speaking role one year, and earning a larger role the following year by promising to take speech therapy seriously. I have watched children who were too shy to speak at all become comfortable on stage. And I have watched a few discover a real talent—including Erica’s oldest, who went on to study musical theatre.

They started with Hamlet—adapted for young actors. Now, in year twelve, what began as a one-off has become a rite of spring. This year’s production of Merry Wives of Windsor was one of the most ambitious yet with a cast of twenty children, aged four to sixteen, some naturals on the stage, some awkward, some struggling to be heard. Sixteen-year-old wives towering over their nine-year-old husbands. 

Are these productions worth watching? Absolutely. Are they the best youth theatre you’ll ever see? Probably not. Because, as the statement above makes clear, the final performance is only part of the story, and not the biggest part. 

The story actually began more than a dozen years ago with Erica’s own two boys—one clearly on the Autism spectrum, the other hovering somewhere on the edge of it. By the time they were midway through elementary school, it had become clear that the school system was creating more anxiety than the family could tolerate. That’s when she pulled them out of school. Did I support that decision? Not at first, I’m afraid. I am sometimes a slow learner. (This is really one chapter in a larger story about humility and learning to recognize the wisdom of your children.)

It wasn’t an easy road for any of them, but it gave her boys a chance to grow, learn, and socialize in a way and at a rate that suited them and confirmed their mother’s instincts—one of which was that they would be just fine. Which they are. Another of which was that theatre could be a stage for growth and self-discovery.

What began as a tentative endeavour to offer theatre as a growth experience for her own boys’ cohort of homeschoolers has grown into a highlight of the year for homeschoolers—and a few school children—in the Kitchener area. It starts in the late summer with the selection of a play from the upcoming Stratford Festival schedule. While Erica conducts a weekly study group of the original Shakespeare play throughout the fall for the older cast members, her younger son—a computer geek with a passion for Shakespeare—works on adapting the script for a young cast. It ends after the spring production with a group trip to Stratford to see what the professionals do with the same story. 

But it doesn’t really end there. Most of the young actors return year after year until they move on to the next stage in their education—high school for some, college or university for others. And they take with them a most important lesson: that if you can be Hamlet, you can be anyone. Including yourself.