Saved by the Stage

Ismael Lara Jr. grew up in southeast Texas, in the small town of Palacios, halfway between Galveston and Corpus Christi. He fell in love with theater and the arts in high school, but telling stories was not just a hobby. It was a way to survive.

Lara grew up in a home with domestic violence.

“When my father would act out,” Lara says, “I would go to my baby sisters’ room, throw a sheet over our heads and tell a story. It was a means of escape and a way for me to provide bravery and safety for my sisters.”

Lara, a third-year student in Northwestern’s Master of Fine Arts in Directing program, continues to tell stories for young people, now just on a bigger stage.

He is part of a long line of Northwestern students and alumni who have discovered the world of theater for young audiences (TYA), an approach to family-friendly performance that has the potential to open minds and change lives — for audiences and artists alike.

This past winter Lara directed Tomás and the Library Lady, a play by José Cruz González based on Pat Mora’s picture book of the same name. “I am the only Latine-identifying director in the MFA program,” says Lara. “And I think it was important that someone of Latine and/or Chicano heritage and identity lead this show.” (Latine is a gender-neutral term for Latin Americans.)

The play tells the story of a young boy who travels between Texas and Iowa with his family of itinerant agricultural workers. At the urging of his grandfather, Papa Grande, Tomás visits a library in Iowa that transforms his life by introducing him to the power of books. The story was inspired by the life of scholar and author Tomás Rivera, who became chancellor of the University of California, Riverside.

“I thought about my grandparents, who worked as migrant workers in fields and who paved the way for me to be here at Northwestern doing this magical thing of telling stories,” Lara says. “[That reflection] was really profound for me, and so immediately I said, ‘I want to tell this story.’”

The University played an integral role in the origins of theater for young audiences and, through programs such as Imagine U, has been at the cutting edge of the approach ever since. The very idea of TYA as an art form unto itself grew out of pioneering work by Northwestern professor Winifred Ward (class of 1905), who founded the Children’s Theater of Evanston in 1925.

And today Northwestern students and alumni are doing everything from creating shows for the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., to running multimedia companies with hit podcasts to bring this sophisticated entertainment to audiences worldwide.

“I love the fact that theater for young people is done at a very high level at Northwestern,” says Rives Collins, professor of theater and head of the School of Communication’s theater for young audiences module. “This is a community that takes children and the arts for children very seriously.”

The way TYA is taught and executed at Northwestern creates theater experiences that move beyond the cliches associated with “children’s theater.”

“In the national scene, there is an awful lot of bad theater for young people,” says Collins. “People used to think this is where folks who aren’t really actors can go to be hams, less talented designers can work in primary colors and less gifted writers can offer emotional cliches to our children. I fight against those stereotypes with every fiber of my being.”

For many, the archetype of children’s theater might be a play in a school assembly where performers discuss the food groups and perhaps sing about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables. Collins and the theater department work in a less pedantic mode, aiming for a higher level of artistry without condescension, and with a more inclusive approach, accessible to more children and reflective of more diverse experiences and communities.

“People like Rives and [Imagine U creative director] Lynn Kelso have studied the form, have spent their lives dedicated to the form and are connected to professionals in the field,” says playwright and senior lecturer Laura Schellhardt ’97. “At Northwestern, we are leading from a place of generosity, kindness and curiosity. Those should be the bedrock of all theater, but they are certainly the bedrock of theater for young audiences.”

OPENING THE DOORS WIDER

There are a number of TYA-focused student groups at Northwestern (see “The Kids Are All Right”). Seesaw Theatre specifically focuses on creating multisensory experiences for neurodiverse children, both in its own productions and in collaborations with Imagine U. Seesaw Theatre productions differ somewhat from traditional narrative shows in that kids can participate in any way they want with the characters, music, activities and props.

“Imagine U was one of the first groups to engage the Seesaw artists to do a ‘relaxed’ performance,” Kelso says, “and that has made our shows available to children who otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to experience plays.”

One Seesaw Theatre fan is 12-year-old Max Fortmann. He has 1p36 deletion syndrome, which results in cognitive and developmental disabilities, including difficulty with verbalization, according to his mother, Anna Guillemin. When Seesaw Theatre came to the Park School in Evanston, which works with children who have significant disabilities, Fortmann was thrilled. “He’s very social and driven by sounds and sensory information,” says Guillemin. “So watching the Northwestern students and all their instruments was utterly fascinating to him.”

Every Seesaw Theatre production is flexible and open-ended enough that, by design, no two children necessarily have the exact same experience. “We like to keep a 1-to-1 ratio of Seesaw adventure guides to kids,” says Michael-Ellen Walden ’21, who was Seesaw Theatre’s artistic director in the spring, “so that every audience member has their needs specifically attended to.” Adventure guides are trained students who accompany audience members through a Seesaw Theatre performance.

“We’ve had kids run around the space for 45 minutes and not engage with our characters at all,” explains Susie McCollum ’21, who was executive director of Seesaw Theatre in the spring. “That’s great. And we’ve also had kids really respond to the story. There are experiences available for both of those realities, and in many instances both are happening within the same space.

“The way to be an audience member is something that is so socialized for — and by — neurotypical individuals,” she adds. “Breaking down the othering of the disability community is always a priority for me.”