SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The lights in the base theater go out, leaving only a minimally-dressed stage visible. A piercing scream is heard off stage before a small boy runs across.
“Wolf! Wolf!,” he yells to scattered laughter, beginning Team Shaw’s 2016 Missoula Children’s Theatre production of Red Riding Hood.
The Missoula Children’s Theatre provided an opportunity for Team Shaw children to spend their free time in a creative, productive environment this spring break by rehearsing for and putting on a performance at the Shaw Theater April 1.
The Missoula Children’s Theatre is a traveling performing arts workshop for children ages 5-18 that aims to develop life skills through participation in the performing arts. The company, which has been around since the 1970s and is the largest children’s theatre company in the world, creates entertaining and engaging shows for younger performers and audiences by putting twists on classic children’s literature.
This year’s production at Shaw was Red Riding Hood, a show about a pre-teen girl intent on proving she’s old enough to take care of herself and a “big, bad” wolf who wants to clear his name.
“We go to a new town every week,” said Travis Burbee, MCT tour actor-director. “We show up on Monday and have auditions and then by Friday or Saturday we have a show. We have some quick rehearsals and then we put the whole show together really fast.”
Burbee and his tour partner Lara Dohner, MCT tour actor-director, have been traveling from town to town since January with nothing more than a cloth set, some costumes, a little bit of makeup, and scripts for children to memorize.
“It’s a really incredible company because it focuses on bringing theatre to communities that don’t have many arts opportunities for kids,” said Dohner. “It’s incredible to see how many kids still want to be in a play because a lot of people think theatre is a dying art form, but I think the opposite.
“Because their standards of entertainment are so much higher than even just two generations ago, it’s great to be able to remind kids that theatre can be fun and it’s simple; it’s just bodies in a space saying lines to each other, but that can be just as fun as playing a video game.”
Aside from Dohner, who played Big Bad Wolf and helped children who forgot their lines or stage directions, the cast was made up entirely of Team Shaw children, most of whom were on spring break during the week of the show.
“It was a really fun way to spend the break,” said Abigail Prichard, who played the title role in Team Shaw’s production of Red Riding Hood. “I made some new friends and we were able to put the whole show together in less than a week, which was really cool.”
At the end of the show, all 31 children who performed took to the stage for a final bow. As the applause and hollers of support from the family members and friends in the audience filled the theater, proud giggles and expressions of accomplishment swept across the stage.
“That’s my favorite part of the week,” said Burbee. “When all the kids are on stage at the end of the show and they bow and you can just see on their faces how proud they are. It’s such a confidence booster for kids, to realize what they’re capable of.”