Picnic Players brings fresh theater for kids to Naperville

Making theater for kids interactive and fun is the aim of a new program launching to provide shows for little ones at the School of Performing Arts in Naperville.

This isn't a theater program where kids can act, but where they watch, listen, sing along, reply, make sound effects or briefly take the stage at the direction of professional actors.

Called Picnic Players, the theater company intends to provide three or four shows a year for various ages of kids, starting with its first performance, "The 3 Little Tales," targeted toward preschoolers.

"We're trying to give moms and caregivers something to do during the day," said Heather Hutchison, artistic director of theater for the School of Performing Arts.

The first show took place Thursday, with kids in the audience sitting on picnic blankets near the stage and actors getting them involved.

Actors Darby Schober and Anna Ahoen took to a stage designed to replicate a forest environment, with a playful bohemian feel meant to be welcoming, Hutchison said. Picnic Players company managers Cindy Hartigan and Lauren Erickson also occasionally took to the stage as needed to provide additional characters.

Two other showings of "The 3 Little Tales" are set for 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday inside the school's black box theater at 1112 S. Washington St. in Naperville.

"The mission is to be educational and engaging and interactive," Hutchison said. "What we did not want to do is do a show in a box, a show that the kids sit back and they watch and they're not participating in the storytelling."

"The 3 Little Tales" meets the educational goal by teaching about perspective. For example, instead of telling the "Three Little Pigs" fairy tale through the traditional lens, Hutchison said the show challenges kids to see it through the eyes of the wolf.

The name Picnic Players was chosen on purpose to meet the engagement goal, Hutchison said, conjuring a picnic, something accessible that can take place anywhere and involve anyone.

Ticket prices also keep the shows attainable for many, at $10 for adults and $5 for kids.

Future Picnic Players shows may involve guest composers or choreographers and children's book authors as well as other performers.

"Our goal is to create a troupe of actors that would rotate through the shows," Hutchison said.

The next shows are expected to be in February 2019, followed by a new set of performances next summer.