What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1418015
LARA JO HIGHTOWER NWA Democrat-Gazette T here's no doubt that 2020 was hard on arts organizations around the country. Some, like Bentonville's Trike Theatre, Northwest Arkansas' professional theater for children, were able to deliver their art in a way that sustained them despite the lack of in-person events. Trike Executive Director Paul Savas says that, because of some clever online programming, the theater continued to reach tens of thousands of children across the state. "I expected that last season we would serve maybe 7,000 people," says Savas. "A typical service year for Trike Theatre is over 30,000 impacted, and we did around 17,500 served last year. We did a really, really good job." That online programming included iCademy — a comprehensive slate of theater classes taught online instead of in person — and the 360 Trikesperience. "[Founder] Kassie [Misiewicz] and the team designed this quite wonderfully," says Savas. "It's a number of pre-performance activities and interactions, some live with Trike talent and some recorded, and then a pre-recorded performance and post activities, mostly live with Trike staff. And that was through a lot of schools — we started in Pre-K and then bumped it up through second- graders because there was such an interest in it. God bless those teachers and kids, they were just so hungry for any kind of interaction outside of the classroom. So the 360 Trikesperience really got us through the pandemic." Savas says the program was designed with flexibility in mind: Today, it can be an in-person or virtual performance, depending on the various area schools' requirements. OCTOBER 10-16, 2021 WHAT'S UP! 11 FYI Trike Theatre 2021-22 Season "Peter/Wendy" (Oct. 22-30) — In this original adaptation of Peter Pan, audiences are immediately immersed in the familiar story. Everyone has a front row seat while Peter entices Wendy away from her nursery to the magical world of Neverland, where they both have grand adventures with Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily and the menacing Captain Hook. "Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (Dec. 10-18) — A perennial crowd favorite, this hilarious Christmas classic tells the story of a church Christmas pageant infiltrated by the parish's most difficult children: the Herdman kids. "Digging Up Arkansas" (Jan. 22-Feb. 4) — Three Works Progress Administration work- ers have been sent to Arkansas to present its history to President Franklin Delano Roos- evelt. Along the way, the train rocks some of their crates loose. Now everything is out of order and their notes are wet. Can they work together to re-write their presentation of Arkansas' history using all of the items in the crates? Digging Up Arkansas is an educa- tional play that uses artifacts, songs, stories and student participation to teach Arkansas history from the year 1000-1936. "Alexander Who is Not, Not, Not, Not, Not, Not Going to Move" (March 11-19) — Alexander's dad gets transferred to another city, and when Alexander learns he and his family will be moving, he immediately knows that he'll hate it. He'll hate it because he'll never have a best friend like Paul again. And he'll never have a great sitter like Rachel again. And he'll never again have his soccer team or his car pool or kids who know him or… Anyway, he can't bear to leave the people and places he loves, so he decides that he won't move. "Mariposa/Butterfly" (April 8-May 20) — Two neighbors live side-by-side in Texas. A low fence separates their gardens, but much more divides them from one another. One neighbor grows flowers; the other raises vegetables. One was born in the United States; the other, in Mexico. One speaks English; the other; Spanish. Their differences have kept them so far apart that if one predicts a sunny day, the other is certain of rain. Even the arrival of a caterpillar causes disagreement — until the resulting mari- posa/butterfly and its eventual departure unites them in wonder, in sadness, and in a new understanding of the beautiful world they share. Next Gen Project (May 13-21) — Trike Ambas- sadors, TRAC artists and their directors will work as an ensemble to create an original production from the ground up. They will explore multicultural theatre styles, theat- rical devising methods, and diverse writing techniques. See Trike Page 38 Trike On The Move New season, new opportunities for children's company Trike offers a full slate of theater education classes — like the one shown here — and has even started a resident company for youth actors. "One of the things in the diversity-equity-inclusion work that we really want to do is, we always want to make sure that our constituents and the people who we are serving have a really important place at the table, and a really important voice in the decision making," says Trike Theatre's Executive Director Paul Savas. The newly established youth theater company is one way of doing that, he says. (NWA Democrat-Gazette File Photo/Charlie Kaijo) BENTONVILLE