TheatreSquared All About the Box
Company Presents Children's Play 'Noodle Doodle Box'
Last updated Thursday, February 28, 2008 4:35 PM CST in Entertainment
By Sara Sullivan
The Morning News
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Zacharias and Pepper each live in their own very special box. They don't compromise, and they don't share, and as a result, they aren't as happy as they could be.
"The story itself is incredibly sweet," says Kassie Misiewicz, director of TheatreSquared's children's play, "Noodle Doodle Box." The two friends are having a tough time until they learn to overcome selfish and competitive impulses in "a very joyful, funny comedy."
The play, which is geared toward children ages 3 to 7 and their families, is in "a European clowning style," with no white faces or red noses, Misiewicz says. "It's very much the Charlie Chaplin, 'everyman' character."
In Misiewicz's concept of the play, the two characters are siblings, "very much like a Lucy and Linus" of the Peanuts comic empire. When the drum major, played by Julie Gabel, comes into town, things get stirred up, and lessons are presented.
"It's a morality play," Gabel says. "It hits on topics that are important to everybody," like sharing, conflict and the importance of friendship.
Before and after the play, theme-related interactive stations will be set up ("very much like a children's museum") for children and their families to explore, "so that it's not just about going to see a show," Misiewicz says. Such installations and "car ride home" discussion questions included in the program take the addressed topics and "make it a valuable part of their lives," she says. "There is nothing like this happening in the entire United States."
TheatreSquared is offering accompanying workshops that allow children to play in the story and learn about the set and theater. "The idea is to give the kids the opportunity to be the experts" and be the ones who are schooling the parents, Misiewicz says.
"It kind of makes theater more accessible," says Gabel of the workshops. The entire experience is a great way to expose children to live theater and give them "more choices for expression," which is what the arts are really all about, she adds.
The company will also be hosting an hour-long Noodle Family Camp, a Grandparents Day performance and a fundraiser dinner party and show.
"We're really trying to offer opportunities for people to engage in the arts in whatever direction they feel comfortable," Misiewicz says. The organization wants to help continue the dialogue about what each family member saw on stage, she says, making the marriage of arts and education stimulating and enjoyable.
The play's unpredictable ending "shows that with the choices that you make come consequences," Gabel says. "It's a happy ending, but it's not your typical tidy ending. It shows how you have to live with the choices that you've made."
"We get to celebrate humanity," Misiewicz says. "We get to celebrate the human experience, the good and the bad."
The event is very interactive and hands-on, Gabel says, and is an opportunity for children and adults "to play and evolve."
Go & Doodle
TheatreSquared's
'Noodle Doodle Box'
Dates & Showtimes:
• Today and March 7 at 6 p.m.
• Saturday and March 8 at 2 and 6 p.m.
• Sunday and March 9 at 2 p.m.
• Tuesday at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.
• Wednesday at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.
• Thursday at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.
Venue: Walton Arts Center's Nadine Baum Studios, 505 W. Spring St. in Fayetteville
Admission: $12 for adults, $6 for children
Special Events:
• One-Day Noodle Camp for children ages 4-7, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and March 8, $25 (includes show)
• Grandparents Day performance, 2 p.m. March 8, regular ticket prices
• One-Hour Noodle Family Camp, 4 to 5 p.m. March 8, $25 (for a family of up to six)
Fundraiser: Pre-show dinner party, 4:30 p.m. Saturday, $25 (includes show)
For tickets, call 445-6333 or visit theatresquared.org.
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