September 1 2011

WHO IS LITTLE RED THEATRE?

We are from Toronto Canada and have been presenting children’s theatre performances all over Ontario for 23 years. And as you may have HEARD...........We are always dreaming up new plays! It was out of control for along time, but we're getting the hang of it.  We see about 70,000 kids every year and keep dreaming up new places to visit. This past year we have carried our little red seed to about 225 schools in over the course of the year offering our shows to students from JK - 5.

How we got here....
In 1988 I was looking for a job.  I didn’t want to go out and do the usual stuff like get a waitressing gig. I was looking for something that I could do for awhile.  After seeing that I was way too optimistic for an average adult theatre project, I decided to look at my other options.

Backtracking to  1983,  I took clown classes with Richard Pochinko and I laughed a lot.  That is when it hit me, ‘you need to be doing stuff that is funny, lighthearted and somewhat whimsical’.  So that is eventually what I did.  I started making theatre that was funny, lighthearted and somewhat whimsical!  And kids liked it!  Although.... well....  not all of it is entirely lighthearted. SELKIEMAID, our production running in October 2011, carries a more sombre mood of loss in it, but it is punctuated with beautiful sea imagery, lovely singing and some very sweet humour.

Our new show BABAR (the famous elephant) opens in February and is a gentle tale of both good things that happen and some bad things that happen in the course of an elephant’s life.  He is both a father and a son, has a lovely cultured wife and together they rule a kingdom sweetly and gracefully.  (We expect to see some very small audience members at this show). 

Since 2004 we have been offering some of our fare in both French and English.  Both Babar and Arabian Tales which will be touring April 15 - May 31 2012 will be available in both languages.

Thinking about where we are after 23 years of performing for children, where I started was  pretty crude.  However all the essentials of what I do now were there.  I have upgraded the production values yearly, continually learned to write better scripts and am more confident in my ability to execute a workable show that will hold the attention of young people for 45 minutes.  I may even delight teachers who need a break from their crazy schedule of teaching.  

I am proud of these accomplishments.  A few years ago at little red’s 21st birthday, people said was, ‘wow, I can’t believe you have survived for so long”.  They say things like this because it is really hard to make a theatre company last for a long time.  My special secret is a lack of reliance on grants!!  Because I count on the revenues of the shows to be the lion’s share of our earnings, I am able to budget out a a reliable source of income.   Grants are a bonus!!  Donations are a bonus!!  I love them, please send them!!  But.... we don’t need them to survive. You, my reader are probably the reason the little red theatre is still here. 

Jody Terio
Artistic Director