“If you’re looking for a great audience,” says Michael Bobbitt, “look down. Children may still have their hands in the dirt, but those early years are fertile ground.” As artistic director of Adventure Theatre, the longest-running children’s theatre in the D.C. area, Bobbitt has demonstrated how theatre helps our deepest values take root—and he does it with a hearty sprinkle of laughter and play. For the company’s next phase, with a larger focus on touring, Bobbitt has developed a show that might just save the world.
Just a Dream: The Green Play will tour dozens of schools in April and early May, to coincide with Earth Month. Adapted by Sandra Eskin from a picture book by Chris Van Allsburg, the play follows a boy named Walter as he turns his life as a litterbug into a stirring plea for preserving the planet. Says Bobbitt, “On top of it being a really fun story, it’s a great opportunity to cross-pollinate theatre, education and the environment.”
Last spring, Adventure toured Just a Dream to 40 schools, nearly all within a 50-mile radius of Washington. With bonus weeks in July in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur—the company’s first international gigs—Bobbitt tallies about 28,000 audience members so far. He remarks that the kids’ “visceral” reactions have been gratifying: “They’re responding immediately. And that passion is addictive for the artists.”
Just a Dream encapsulates Adventure Theatre’s approach to the arts. The story is topical. It’s lightweight and portable, easily toured with three actors, but vivid and imaginative. It also sticks to Bobbitt’s three tenets of educational theatre. First: Get the facts right. Second: Keep the plot interactive from beginning to end. Third: Use the closing moments to call the kids to action.
“This is a lifelong trend,” says Bobbitt. “Theatregoing begets more theatregoing.” Fortunately, as Adventure Theatre increases its touring presence regionally and nationally, more young audiences will be learning to plant their own seeds. “I’m always sad to meet people who don’t buy children’s theatre as legitimate,” Bobbitt adds. “I say to them, why do you think there are any adults out there who love theatre? It’s because we saw it when we were kids.”
