Only at the Children’s Summer Theatre Workshop can an elderly lady be found hitchhiking to a “One Direction” concert at 3 a.m. while talking about “way back in 1984.”
And Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the Bowlus, the public can be treated to the witty writing, acting and improvisation of Iola’s young talent at “Saturday Morning Live.”
CSTW, a theater workshop for students from 3rd through 9th grades, is entering its 20th year of educating local youth in the arts. Lessons include improvisational theater games, voice projection and expression, character development, line memorization, performance in front of peers, playwriting, pantomime, body movement, the audition process and theater technology.
At the workshops held in the Iola Community Theatre Warehouse, students fill the stage with their own imaginations.
In one improvisation game, called “taxi cab” or “hitchhiker,” participants are given a reason for why they are in the “car,” with four chairs representing the four seats of a car. A “hitchhiker” is picked up, playing a persona, and the rest of the car takes on characters that fit with the hitchhiker’s.
One such scenario was “driving to the first day of school,” and elicited groans from the students.
“Too close to home — too soon?” asked John Higginbotham, creative director of CSTW and assistant tech director at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
In the car, Mati Tadlock said, “Guys, what if the seniors are too tall?”
“They are,” replied Lauren McDermeit.
“I can fit in a locker,” Tadlock said. “Even the small ones in the gym.”
“That’s why you go into hiding,” Allie Fager said.
The hitchhiker was then picked up, immediately changing the dynamics.
“Thank ya kindly,” River Hess says, taking on the persona of a priest with a western accent. “I appreciate ya givin’ a poor ole sinner a ride.”
Fager asked the priest to say a prayer for her.
“I bless you with the intensity of a hundred thousand suns,” Hess said.