Interactive children’s theater ‘Across the Sand’ coming back in April

After rave reviews from the community last year, “Across the Sand: A Passover Theatrical Experience” by Northbrook Theatre for Young Audiences will be back next month.

The production running April 17 to April 28 will transport young audience members to Ancient Egypt, with an interactive retelling of the Passover story complete with live music and traditional food.

The production is a blend of cultural storytelling and interactive children’s theater that engages nearly all the senses — seeing, touching, hearing and tasting — with tabletop puppetry and immersive design.

“Across the Sand” exemplifies what makes NTYA great, said Northbrook Park District Visual and Performing Arts Manager Drew Kambach.

“Bringing this production back to our stage is such a joy,” he said. “It’s imaginative, entertaining, and reflects our wonderful community.”

Central to the Passover holiday is the concept of community, exemplified by the sharing of a special family meal, the Seder. The audience is made an active participant by being seated at four separate tables set for Seder, with the actor/musicians situated in the center of the tables.

“This was an amazing, professional, polished, brilliant, beautiful musical theater experience,” said audience member Heather Benveniste, who attended last year’s performance with her husband and two children. “The material and actors kept us glued to the story. The director/creator workshopped this to perfection.”

Benveniste said Northbrook Theatre for Young Audiences directors and staff “made an amazing call” bringing this programming to Northbrook, and she hopes to see more of this type of format.

“Across the Sand” is written and directed by Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, a Northbrook resident who founded The K’ilu Company, which uses theater and imaginative play to bring Jewish education to life for young audiences.

Chapman previously workshopped the production in New York, where he lived. In Northbrook, it’s been turned into a sophisticated and fully immersive theatrical experience.

The one-hour production runs at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from April 17 to April 28. General admission seats are $17; interactive table seats are $19.

For tickets or information, visit nbparks.org/series/acrossthesand.