We are now looking forward to our August Workshop at Buzzards Play Productions in Wareham. Our class is filling up with a nice mix of ages, including a substantial crew aged 10-12, including a good number of boys. The play we are doing is based on Dory Story, which is about the ocean food chain.  There will be plenty of opportunities for killer whales, sharks, seals and big whales to interact on stage, and to improvise with the plot. Class participants will be required to do some scientific research on their marine character, and they will help with their own costumes, props, and background scenery. One of the props is a dingy, which will be built out of cardboard. There will also be at least three songs to learn along with simple hand motions and dance moves.

The class is Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, 10AM to 12 PM for two weeks, starting August 4 and ending with a performance on August 13 at noon. Call Lee Drescher at 508 548-0155 to sign up, or email mrstreas@comcast.net.

Treasure Time Story Book Theatre Program for Young Actors, ages 6 & up.

Take part in a spontaneous play at Buzzards Play Productions, 3065 Cranberry Highway, East Wareham on Saturday, March 22 at 2PM. Limited to 30 children, $20 each.  Call  508 548-0155 or email  mrstreas@comcast.net for reservations.

The children who attend this workshop will act out a scripted, musical play which is based on Giraffe's Can't Dance, a popular book about bullying, published by Scholastic. After hearing the story, they will all have a chance to be on stage for part of the play as they take turns volunteering for different roles. They will be encouraged to improvise or a line will be dictated to them. Music and a song will be played when each animal comes to the dance, so each young actor will be urged to dance when he performs. If there's time and kids want to try, they can come up and sing some of the songs at the end of the show.

This will be an experiment in children's theatre. Through practice, I have discovered that this is the format which works best. We also hope that this live story hour will lead to future performances. In an intergenerational, interactive story hour, big kids will give back to the community while they put on a play and sing songs for pre schoolers and younger kids.

 

It will also be a family literacy program which encourages communication, makes brain connections and encourages having fun at artistic play.

Christmas 2013

The Treasure Time Story Book Theatre produced The Elves & The Shoemaker on FCTV and also performed the play again at the West Falmouth Library on December 14.

Fall 2013 & Winter 2014

During the Fall, Mrs. Treasure was busy working at the Tierney Center in South Boston, doing weekly Reading Adventure Hours for Head Start and neighborhood children. In 2014 she will be doing monthly story hours for all of the Head Start classrooms in South Boston. She will also visit Julie's Learning Center, The Tierney, and Boston Catholic Academy.

Treasure Time puts on A Play in Ninety Minutes

Last week Treasure Time put on The Tico Tango Show at the South Boston branch of the Boston Public Library, with about thirteen members of the Summer Reading Club. Mrs. Treasure came with costumes, and read the story of The Parrot Tico Tango, written and illustrated by Anna Witte, to the children. Parts were chosen, music learned, and a short rehearsal was held. At the end of the hour, kids worked on a jungle backdrop for the performance, along with those arriving for the show.

Though not an example of perfect theatre, but definitely an opportunity for children to perform onstage and have fun, the play was a great success and learning experience for all those involved. At the end, everyone, including the audience, was invited onstage to dance with Tico.

The Treasure Time Story Book Theatre has just finished a performance of Theodore and Friends at Arts Alive in Falmouth, MA. Five wonderful children who ranged in age from Kindergarten to Grade Four, acted in a ten minute skit about friends who give advice to Theodore the Elephant who hurt his leg and can't get to the other end of the forest. The play is based on the book That's What Friends are For, by Florence Parry Heide and Sylvia Van Clief, and illustrated by Holly Meade.

Three original songs by Lee Drescher, who is the creator of Treasure Time and adapts each story book into script form, are also included in the show. The song about marching through the forest  is interactive with the audience. Theodore and Friends will be performed again at the Falmouth Public Library on Thursday, July 12 at 4PM in the Children's Room.

Treasure Time will also be at the South Boston branch of the Boston Public Library on Tuesday, July 10 at 3PM. Mrs. Treasure will be putting together an impromptu performance of A Dancing Giraffe, with children who want to be actors and are in grades 1-6. They will come at 3PM to prepare the play, and then younger children will come at 4PM to see the play and hear the story.