2014 - 2015 Season
LIBERTY! EQUALITY! AND FIREWORKS!
by Gregory S. Perrin
October 10-19, 2014
Pollyanna has commissioned a new play by Austin Playwright Gregory Perrin that is a theatrical exploration of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. Set in a history museum, the play’s characters (a group of 4th grade students) experience key elements of this important part of our national history when iconic images from that period come to life and begin to move and speak.
Pollyanna is partnering with the LBJ Library on the creation of educational and dramaturgical materials for this production. Our organizations will cross promote visits to see the LBJ Library’s Civil Rights Exhibit as well as this new production entitled LIBERTY! EQUALITY! AND FIREWORKS! Resources for parents and teachers that explore the issue surrounding the Civil Rights Movement and how to help children through this very difficult topic will be created in conjunction with the LBJ Library in an effort to facilitate constructive and empowering family conversations.
Best for students grades 3 – 6 and their families.
Performed at the Long Center's Rollins Theatre
YOUNG BEAR: THE STORY OF FRANCES SLOCUM
by Lou Clark
January 16-24, 2015
This play is based upon the life of Frances Slocum, a young girl who is taken in the early 1800’s to live among Native Americans in the Mid-Western U.S. The play follows her personal journey through two different cultures and looks at each through the eyes of a young child. Pollyanna is thrilled to be working with award-winning playwright Lou Clark again to bring her newest play for young audiences to life. YOUN BEAR is sure to have young audiences thinking deeply about the definitions of family and belonging. The story of YOUNG BEAR, while based in a true story, is designed to take children on an imaginative journey through a different time and place.
Best for students grades 2 – 5 and their families.
Performed at the Long Center's Rollins Theatre
THE BIG BOLT
by Holly Hepp-Galvan
May 9-17, 2015
Jimmi and her dog Pal have found a big, big bolt at the construction site in town and he decides to keep it, thinking that one missing bolt won’t matter to a building which has thousands and thousands of bolts. Boy is she wrong! The missing bolt wreaks havoc on Jimmi’s hometown and everyone in it. The Construction Foreman ends up locked inside the construction trailer with ripped overalls and he can’t get out. Mr. Sherman, the mailman, can’t see the mailing labels on the packages he is supposed to deliver because the town loses electricity and all the lights go out. Brunhilda, the opera singer down the street, doesn’t get her costume delivery in the mail and begins to have an anxiety attack. And, the Storekeeper may have to go out of business because he can’t operate his store. With Pal’s help Jimmi begins to realize that all the mess is due to the missing bolt but she is afraid to speak up and admit that she took it. You see, she thinks that everyone will be mad at her. What will it take for Jimmi to admit that she made a mistake? How will everyone respond once they know she took the bolt? Will everything return to normal again?
Best for ages 3-7
Performed at the Long Center's Rollins Theatre
SARAH THE DINOSAUR
by Andrew Perry & Kathleen Fletcher
July 11-20, 2015
Sarah is very quiet and feels like no one ever notices her. She is tired of not being listened to and on a class field trip to a museum she discovers a dinosaur that is just as big and important as she wants to be. When her teacher tells her that she “can become anything she puts her mind to,” Sarah decides that the best way to get attention is to become a dinosaur herself. She makes her very own dinosaur costume and learns to ROAR. At first, Sarahsaurus Rex gets all the attention that Sarah always wanted. But the attention does not stay positive for long. She bites her brother and upsets her mom. She begins to frustrate everyone at school when she refuses to settle down. Will Sarah ever give up being a dinosaur? What will it take for her to realize she doesn’t have to ROAR to find her own voice?
Best for students grades Kindergarten - 5
Presented at the Long Center's Rollins Theatre
"Learning should always be fun and challenging."