School Tours Program: NOW BOOKING

Two Program Options: Storytellers Theater and Theatrical Performances (Literary Theater)

See / Download the Info-Sheet

BOOK Now: Storytellers Theater (literature to life)

Email Education@placerrep.org

Storytellers Theater includes a SHOW, plus an interactive lesson plan, experiential learning and performing opportunities and study guide. (Designed for 10-100 students. Runtime: 45-60 min.)

• Ready-to-go shows ($375+):

  • Gingerbread Boy

  • Pinocchio

• Custom Stories. For a little bit more ($500+) — you choose the story or book, or have us recommend one and we create a custom experience
  • Select your age-appropriate book:
    • Most popular: Storybooks, Fairytales, Folktales, Fables, Legends & Myths & Multicultural Stories
    • Middle, High School & College: Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson and similar.

Storytellers Theater runs 30 to 80 minutes, adapted to the audience grade / ages.

Email Education@placerrep.org

*Contact us if you need fee assistance

   

BOOKINGS: Theatrical Performances (Literary Theater)

Email Education@placerrep.org – 30 to 80 minutes. Prices vary by complexity, cast size, audience size, technical requirements, length, discount eligibility, etc.

Prior show samples:

• Fireside Stories from Ghosts of Placer County (recommended for grades 6 and up) – (stories of local history & lore – both admirable & dark)
• Frankenstein or the Man and the Monster – (recommended for grade 3 and up) – interactive melodrama performance (anti-bullying)
• Dracula (interactive melodrama)
• The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll & Hyde (solo show)
• Sherlock Holmes plays
• Alice’s Adventures Underground
• Peter & Wendy & Micah & Spot

Includes SEL & ELA integration (Social & Emotional learning, Language Arts & Social Studies integration)

DID YOU KNOW?  Any School Tours show may be performed as an evening or weekend Family Theater show!

• Any School Tours offering, or main season show, may be booked on weekday evenings and/or weekend mornings, afternoons and evenings for general audiences in a venue near you as Family Theater. 

               

Curriculum:

• Performances, curricula and services are primarily based upon:
  • the California recommended reading list
  • 21st Century Education skills acquisition, experimental method as able
  • the four areas of student development: social, emotional, physical and mental
  • Complementing CA schools’ language arts, social science and STEM curricula
  • Administration/Educator communications and curricular requests
  • MFA Dramatic Arts curriculum, distilled and adapted to be age appropriate
  • Placer County administration/educator survey responses
    • themes, disciplines, writers and notable figures (civic leaders and scientists to artists/creatives and innovators).
    • ARE YOU a PLACER COUNTY EDUCATOR or ADMINISTRATOR? Take the survey. 
      • Seeking your input on shows to offer, performance length and market value.
• Team:
  • Board. Teresa Stirling Forsyth, Board President, and Rodger McDonald, founding board member/advisory committee, each previously operated large professional theater programs that toured to K-12 schools during the weekdays and to performing arts facilities presented to multigenerational audiences on weekends throughout California.
  • Performers:  BFAs, MFAs, Studium-Practicum professional growth training, professional experience as performing artists & educators. Many of our performers are also Education Facilitators for Placer Rep’s VAPA ELO programs. Extended learning opportunities, experiential education and fostering 21st Century skills development.

 

 

INTERACTIVE ELO PROGRAM:

Storytellers Theater (designed for Grades TK-5, and Family Audiences)

This program develops a custom storytelling performance & lesson plan based upon the storybook selected in advance by the educator.

1. The performers (artists/educators) read and act out the story
2. Story discussion is facilitated, and the lesson plan introduces key curriculum (as approved in advance by the classroom teacher);
   1. Games and exercises provide experiential opportunities to engage students with the curriculum.
3. The students are then guided to adapt and perform their own version of the story to champion their unique voices, engage in creative thinking, problem solving and peer leadership, just to name a few of the skill development opportunities.

        

PRODUCTIONS: Theatrical Performances (designed for Grades 4-12, college, adult)

These productions are frequently theatrical adaptations of literature from the California Recommended Reading list that share works from authors like Robert Louis Stevenson, Shakespeare and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Plays may also be based upon curricular themes, or topics like local California History, the Civil War or the Suffrage Movement, or may be based upon notable figures in history, from Langston Hughes (writer) or Thomas Edison (inventor) to Madame Curie (chemistry) or Sally Ride (astronomy). These productions are designed to appeal to multigenerational audiences for weekend performance, while touring to Placer County schools during the week.

   

Each booking of a School Tours Production or Storytellers Theater Show includes a post-show Q&A and study guide for educators.

Optional masterclasses/workshops for a subset of students are also available for booking.

 

SENSORY-FRIENDLY PERFORMANCES

Individuals with sensory needs, including people on the autism spectrum, as well as first-time theatergoers and young children benefit from sensory-friendly performances, which include the below environmental and performance adjustments.  Actor/Educators, Stage Management and PRT Staff are trained to accommodate special patron needs.

Adjustments:

• Dimmed houselights (not turned completely off)
• Light and Sound cue intensity is reduced
• Working with School Staff, a location is identified as the “Regulation Station” should students need to take a break from the event/activities/performance
• An inclusive, non-judgmental atmosphere that allows for individual needs to move, exit and return
• Trained Actor/Educators, SM and staff who will identify and assist student patrons
• Technology is permitted, as an assist to students with special communication needs
• Performance and script adaptations are made, as needed to maximize student engagement and comprehension

 

        

       

 

OTHER EDUCATION OUTREACH PROGRAMS

IN ADDITION TO SCHOOL TOURS PROGRAM

Placer Rep’s other Education Outreach programs include:

• Free tickets for students to Placer Rep public productions
• Artists in the classroom for K-12 and colleges (visiting artists or artists-in-residence).
• May 30 thru June 30 Placer Rep VAPA Academy Summer program
• Aug 2024 – May 2025 VAPA Academy Extended Education Program

School Tours Program 2024-2025