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On the Road with Taproot Theatre

A travel journal of Taproot Theatre's Road Company. We travel to elementary and secondary schools throughout the Pacific Northwest performing plays dealing with issues such as bullying, harrassment and friendship building. Our plays empower kids to deal positively with these issues by providing them with safe steps to approach them.

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Friday, December 14, 2007

Skipping Rocks

by Solomon Davis

The Road Company has been on a break from travelling to schools for the holiday season. We'll pick up after the new year. Some of the members, including me, are still touring but in a different way.

Taproot has a variety of Christmas programs that tour primarily to churches. It has been a nice change of pace. Yesterday however I had the privilege to perform our Christmas show, Joey and the Fir Tree, in a school gym for ages k-12. It was a blast performing for kids again - especially the younger ones - they get so involved in the show and have the ability to let their imaginations surround them.

Our show is quite simple - the set is a stool. Your thinking "Oh, it's one of those weird art shows". But a stool is all we really need to tell the story... we could actually do it without it I guess... the point is we have to rely on our craft as storytellers and on the audience's imagination.

At one point in the play my character (Joey) skips a rock into an imaginary lake "located" in the audience. When I tossed the rock a couple of boys flinched. They caught my eye and when I tossed the next rock I saw that they were moving out of the the way, being sure not to get hit by my imaginary rock. Take that 3D movies! (o:

Solly's Soap Box: A live performance of dramatic literature can be difficult in an age where movies rule drama - how is live theatre to compete? I wager that the simpler and more creative approaches to live storytelling will become our (live theatre's) only hope for survival. No movie can compete with our imaginations.

Photo Credit: Solomon Davis, Jeremy Anderson and Gabe Franken in Taproot's Christmas touring production Joey and the Fir Tree. TTC Photo.

Labels: Christmas, performances, touring shows

posted by Taproot Road Company @ 1:07 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

A Quick Wrap-up of Taproot's 2007 Touring Season

Taproot’s touring programs achieved all new heights this year! I am so proud of the hard work of our touring actors, and I thought I would post a few of these numbers for you.

We will have performed a record 348 times in 80 cities for 112,000 people this year by Jan 30th.
The five actors who perform for the schools did a record breaking 243 of these performances for more that 90,000 kids!
Our four Christmas shows will perform an all time high of 72 times!

Keep up the good work!

- Josiah (Director of Outreach)

Labels: performances, touring shows

posted by Taproot Road Company @ 1:03 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

About the Plays

The Road Company's performances primarily focus on the subject of bullying and how kids can effectively prevent and deal with bullying. This year's repetoire features a new play on friendship skills called "Camp Super Friend." It was written by local playwright Bethany Wallace, who also wrote "Star Power," and follows a young super hero named Marvel as he learns how to make a be friend at Super Camp. This hilarious and innovative play shows kids the importance of respect, teamwork, how to join in a group and start a conversation, as tools for making true friendships.

Find out more about our touring shows and see where we're performing.

Labels: arts, performances, theatre

posted by Taproot Road Company @ 4:09 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Free Public Performance

On October 20, the Road Company will perform "Star Power" and "Camp Super Friend" at the Greenwood Library for Seattle's Live Theatre Week Family Day.

You are invited to join us for this fun, free event. "Star Power" will be performed at 11:00 AM and "Camp Super Friend" at 1:00 PM.

Find the Greenwood Library

More about Live Theatre Week

Labels: bullying, performances, theatre

posted by Taproot Road Company @ 4:02 PM 0 Comments Links to this post