InterAct Story Theatre

STORIES ON STAGE programs combine storytelling, drama, and song to explore world cultures. Our gifted performers become a variety of characters while bringing a story to life. Students "get into the act" too by participating in this riveting experience. STORIES ON STAGE programs are performed by one actor with audience participation, and include selections such as “The Magic Tree” (based on an African folk tale), “Rabbits and Sharks!” (based on a Japanese Folk Tale), Tales of Juan Bobo (based on Latin American folk tales), and more!

InterAct Story Theatre offers a number of fully staged theatrical performances designed to tour into schools and throughout the community. Titles scheduled for the 2021-2022 season include “The Hero of EVERYTHING” for elementary ages; “The Lonely Lion” for early childhood audiences;  and “Harriet Tubman: The Chosen One” for grades 4 - 12;  “According to Shakespeare” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for middle and high school audiences. More information and updated season information can be found on our website.

InterAct’s musical performances include programs like Tom Teasley’s “Drumming Through Time and Across Cultures” a unique journey through the history of percussion from around the world! Audiences travel the Silk Road from Italy to China and follow the Sugar Trade Route from Africa to the Americas. This program for all ages combines ancient instruments with the most recent advances in music technology, including digital looping. Audiences are captivated as Tom creates and records performances in real time, layering elements to create virtual percussion ensembles of up to five “performers.” More information can be found on our website.

InterAct Story Theatre offers a variety of workshops designed specifically for the early childhood population, which use drama, music, movement, puppetry, and/or dance to help build and reinforce oral language and literacy skills alongside other developmental and social and emotional learning goals. Workshops can be booked for a single visit, or expanded into a residency program over multiple visits. We frequently design programs based on your curriculum and your learners’ needs. More examples and information can be found on our website!

InterAct Story Theatre’s workshops for elementary-age children use a variety of art forms (drama, music, dance, opera, and multidisciplinary arts) to create arts-integrated learning experiences with curriculum topics from reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies, designed specifically for each classroom. Popular workshops designed for schools have included Responsive Playmaking, A Visit to a Colonial Village, and Dancing through the Curriculum: Tectonic Plates and the Carbon Cycle, and Books Alive. Many workshops can also be expanded into residencies, and we frequently design programs based on your curriculum and your learners’ needs. More information and ideas can be found on our website.

InterAct Story Theatre has a variety of workshops designed to integrate with the curriculum topics of middle and high school teachers in Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and more. Recent workshops for middle and high school students have focused on Shakespeare’s Themes and Language, Responsive Playmaking and Playbuilding, The Underground Railroad and the Civil War, and Ancient Civilizations. We frequently design programs based on your curriculum and your learners’ needs. More information and examples can be found on our website.

The KidStory Theatre Festival is an annual celebration of stories written by kids, for kids, and the KidStory Theatre workshops are one of the best ways to get involved! InterAct’s teaching artists lead participating classes in a collaborative, creative drama-based writing process to create and dramatize a story rooted in the topic(s) teachers give us. The best of the best are selected and performed by professional actors in our annual KidStory Theatre Festival! Our process is designed to connect with MCCSS in Reading Literature/Informational Text, Writing, and Speaking & Listening and National Arts Standards in Theatre. For more information on the workshops and on the Festival, please see our website.

InterAct Story Theatre's Parent-Child workshops and Family Literacy events offer parents and caregivers ideas they can use at home to build literacy and language skills through the arts.  Parents observe teaching artists work with their children, and then learn how they can play, sing, and act with their children at home. A fun and educational experience for all! Please see our website for more information.

In this drama-based writing residency with InterAct Story Theatre, students use creative drama techniques and collaborative writing strategies to write and perform original stories and scenes. In doing so, students learn and apply basic acting tools and elements of story structure as they practice collaboration and appropriate peer review. This process builds pre-writing skills, oral language and presentation skills, problem solving skills, and collaboration. Themes can be drawn a variety of character education topics or curriculum content. Please see our website for more details.

As experts in arts integration and linking the arts with classroom learning, InterAct Story Theatre provides professional development opportunities for teachers, artists, and child care providers. These sessions are adaptable to suit different needs and time limitations, depending on the program chosen and in consultation with InterAct. Topics and information can be found on our website, or ask us to design a training specifically for your needs!

In these popular and effective capacity-building residencies, an InterAct Story Theatre teaching artist works collaboratively with classroom teachers to build skills and practice arts strategies in the classroom. They plan lessons together integrating drama with the ongoing curriculum. The teaching artist demonstrates a lesson and on succeeding visits, co-teaches with the classroom teachers. This residency has been implemented successfully in school systems nationwide. More information can be found on our website.