This document discusses different types of children's theater programs and the typical process for a week-long program where students write, direct, and perform their own original play in one week. It describes the roles of the playwright, director, and other staff and volunteers. The benefits highlighted are that it allows students to take ownership of their creative work, helps develop collaboration skills, and introduces them to the arts in a fun and engaging way.

1. Children’s theatre
Featuring Maile Speetjens
By Heather Salyer

2. Children’s theatre?
- Year Long: usually have a Jr. version of a popular show,
cast, rehearse and perform
- Week Long: a predetermined script or Jr. version of a
popular show, cast first day, rehearse, perform last day
- KDIA: Kids write THEIR OWN script, build their set, make
their costumes and perform (in one week)

3. Benefits of kdia vs other children theatre
- Students get a chance to take ownership of their work
- If the play sucks…. IT’S THEIR FAULT
- It is more engaging to be apart of something that YOU
created rather than something someone created for you

4. Maile Speetjens
- Maile has been the head
director of KDIA for the last
four years
- Started working in Children’s
Theatre at the age of 17
- Maile has worked every angle
counselor, director,
playwright, TD

5. Down Side
- Kids do not come with instruction manuals
- Theatre as a collaborative art is hard for the most
professional adults
- Children are energy dementors

6. Plus Side
- KIDS REMIND US OF WHO WE USED TO BE
- It is constantly new theatre and new ideas
- There are so many personalities
- A great environment to experiment and fail

7. What Is a Typical Week(students)
- Monday:meet students, give a tour, teach basic theatre
knowledge, improv games, dance, music and art
- Tuesday: warm up, movement based improv, brainstorm ideas
for the play, dance, music and art
- Wednesday: warm up, read the play round robin, improv
based on script, get roles, start learning song and
dance, make projections
- Thursday: warm up, memorize lines, finish learning song
and dance, start blocking, paint set
- Friday: warm up, rehearse all morning, perform for other
groups in the afternoon
- Saturday: SHOW TIME!!!!

8. PLAYWRIGHT TYPICAL WEEK
- Monday&Tuesday: Watch/Lead improv to get ideas for what
the students would like their play to be about
- Tuesday Night: write the play using the ideas from class,
making sure there are no lead roles and that the play is
30min or less
- Wednesday: read the play with the kids and help with any
pronunciation
- Thursday&Friday: keep the peace when the director is
staging
- Saturday: Lead games, introduce kids, possibly tech

9. Director Typical Week
- Monday&Tuesday: Lead games and keep the piece while the
playwright gathers ideas
- Wednesday: read the play before the kids get there, start
casting while they read the play, start blocking
- Thursday: help teach the song and dance, start teaching
blocking, tell TD what the set needs to be
- Friday: make sure everyone is off book, approve costumes,
be there for the kids
- Saturday: lead games, do any special makeup, introduce
kids, keep the peace

10. What Does EVERYONE Do?
- Every day there is a meeting to see how the groups are
doing and what the plays are about (so the music director
and TD can start doing their part)
- Every Friday the counselors divide up the kids and write
letters to give them after the performance on Saturday
- WE TEACH!! Everyone has to, at some point, lead a game or
answer questions that we think are simple but not so much
to a child

11. How Does This Benefit The A&H?
- By introducing young minds to music, art, theatre, dance
and literature they can feel more confident in those
areas as they move forward
- It utilizes the part of the brain that is not as
stimulated due to STEM schools
- TEAMWORK!!! It gives kids more opportunities to work with
people different from them in a safe and expressive
environment

12. More Reasons WHy Children’s Theatre Rocks
- Kids get to take ownership of their work and see how
collaboration and teamwork can add up to great things
- When you perform it is sort of like a celebration
- It is six days off creative freedom that always ends with
a surplus of encouragement

13. Why Teach Children’s Theatre?
- It is a way to get out of the 9-5 culture
- If you are a writer, you get the challenge of writing a
new script each week that has to be an ensemble piece…
that makes sense
- Artists get to design new sets each week
- Directors/Teachers get to work with new students and test
out lesson plans each week

14. Last Slide I Swear
Overall, working in children’s theatre is a huge passion of
mine and I am fortunate to work with Maile. For the last
four years I have directed eighteen original one acts for
some stellar children. I am exhausted everyday but it is all
worth it to give a home to some arts and humanities
advocates in the making.