‘‘As parents, we really are gatekeepers,” observes Janet Stanford, Imagination Stage’s artistic director and the mother of two now grown-up boys. ‘‘Kids are very open to everything. We have to help them develop their own aesthetic.”
Stanford knows ‘‘it’s easy to plop kids in front of the TV,” but she also sees parents making the effort to read with their children — and she knows Imagination Stage can make it easier.
‘‘It’s going to stimulate them, get them interested,” she says. ‘‘They see ‘Twice Upon a Time’ (and learn that) Hans Christian Anderson wrote ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes.’
‘‘You know what? He wrote 20 more. Let’s read them!”
Staffers at Imagination Stage and Round House do quite a bit to facilitate reading: developing relationships with local branches of the Montgomery County Public Library, training teams to do in-school workshops, holding post-show discussions and serving as a destination for busloads of elementary school field trippers.
In his three years at Round House, Robison has made a point of bringing books to the stage — from classic children’s books like ‘‘Frog and Toad” and ‘‘Treasure Island,” to modern bestsellers for adults, like ‘‘Midwives” and ‘‘A Prayer for Owen Meany.” While Round House doesn’t hold a formal book club, the artistic director says that copies of the book on which any Round House play is based are available for sale in the lobby during the run. And he says he finds inspiration for his programming on the pages of the Montgomery County Public Schools reading lists.
‘‘This spring, we’ll have ‘Lord of the Flies,” he says.
Open mind
‘‘Sometimes it’s hard for a parent to say, ‘Hey! Turn the TV off!’” says Cullom, who has three small children. ‘‘We’re afraid they’re going to get bored.
‘‘Right now, we’re in a culture of video games and DVDs,” she adds. ‘‘The beauty of theater is that it takes you out of your hand-held game and opens your mind.”
Emma Thomas’ mind was open to the Adventure Theatre production of ‘‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
‘‘It was a little different from the book,” says Thomas, 8. ‘‘They mixed some parts, skipped some parts.”
‘‘I liked it,” her brother Micah, 4-1⁄2, pipes in. ‘‘I always like everything.”
In a lot of ways, a post-theater book club for children is similar to the book clubs many adults attend. Both involve likes, dislikes and sharing personal preferences.
Pals Katherine Holden and Emma Amato liked ‘‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” for different reasons.
‘‘It was cool — all mysterious and stuff,” exclaims Katherine, 6, who is full of vivacious energy. ‘‘Wicky! Wacky! Woo!”
Her friend Emma, blonde, placid and ‘‘5-3⁄4,” says she ‘‘liked Lucy the best. She was pretty.”
The girls are neighbors and friends; the C.S. Lewis fantasy novel on which the play they’ve just seen is based is meant for older children, but that doesn’t deter them.
‘‘We just came here because we read all the Stuart Little books,” explains Katherine. ‘‘And next is ‘Go Dog Go.’”
‘‘Go, Dog. Go!” runs through Feb. 24 at Adventure Theatre, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Performances begin at 11 a.m. and 1:30 on Saturdays and Sundays with holidayÊperformances at 11 a.m.Êand 1:30 p.m. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 21, and President’s Day, Monday, Feb 18. A sign language-interpreted show is set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, and a book club show, 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10. Tickets are $12. Call 301-320-5331 or visitwww.adventuretheatre.org.
Imagination Stage, Bethesda, 301-280-1660, www.ImaginationStage.org
Olney Theatre Center, 301-924-3400, www.olneytheatre.org.
Round House Theatre, Bethesda & Silver Spring, 240-644-1100, www.roundhousetheatre.org.
