The Occidental Children’s Theater is a theater troupe in its 31st year of performing fairytale-inspired shows and hosting camps for local kids. The cast is made up of six actors, all current or former Occidental students.
Visiting Professor of Theater and Performance Studies James Angell is the artistic director and founder of the Children’s Theater. Angell said his inspiration for creating the troupe came from a previous summer theater program at Occidental that was started in 1960, and became focused on performing for children in 1995.
“My idea was [that] you don’t have any sets, you don’t have any costumes,” Angell said. “All you have is a quarter staff and a sash, and you make everything that way.”
Angell said the original idea for the Children’s Theater was an experiment, and he didn’t know if it would succeed.
“I figured, in my hubris, that if it didn’t work out, I’d just write a play,” Angell said. “So that’s how it started […] and it worked really well. We’ve built on that over the years. The one really important ingredient that we added was Nick Erickson, who was teaching at CalArts at the time […] he was really instrumental in creating the physical performance style that we’ve adopted.”
Connor Leebardt ’25 is a current participant in the Children’s Theater. Leebardt said the troupe shoulders a number of responsibilities in their programming.
“There’s two sides to the Children’s Theater,” Leebardt said. “In the actual performance itself, we perform three folk tales and one custom mashup folktale, usually with a modern movie or something […] There’s [also] the second half, which is the Summer Institute of Fun. [It’s] a four-week summer camp program, teaching kids ages 8 to 13.”
Angell said the cast’s interaction with children in the audience is integral to the Children’s Theater’s performances.
“If you’re talking to an 8 or 9 year old in the audience, and you ask them a question, they’re going to answer, and you’re not in control,” Angell said. “When there’s an extended kind of back and forth that is completely unexpected, and my actors are dealing with it and engaging with it, it makes the audience happy […] and it really makes me happy. It’s those kinds of things, the unexpected, that really is wonderful.”
According to Leebardt, the devising process is a joint experience between the participants, the director and everyone else involved.
“There is a lot of collaboration, a lot of synergy,” Leebardt said. “The first few months are a very collaborative experimental process where we’re just trying to see what’s feasible to put on as a story […] everyone is contributing all the time, and it’s a very open space. You’re allowed to make mistakes, and if something doesn’t work, then you try something else.”
Leebardt said despite the amount of work the Children’s Theater requires, they still enjoy the ordeal.
“We have the Thursday, Friday, [and] Saturday performances, and then the actual weekdays of teaching the kids,” Leebardt said. “On those Thursdays and Fridays, you have both the whole show in the morning and then you immediately get ready to teach all of that [and] put on a different show. It gets grueling, but it’s very fulfilling work throughout the whole process.”
Leebardt said being a part of the Children’s Theater has helped their mindset and acting skills, as well as being a good opportunity to try a different style of performance.
“It’s all about the devising process and working together and having fun,” Leebardt said. “We have a clown come in sometimes and teach us some clowning principles, and something that’s stuck with me […] is the three tenets: ‘It doesn’t have to make sense. It doesn’t have to be good. But it must be fun.’”
Megan Johnson ’19 is the stage manager for the Children’s Theater. Johnson said the troupe forms close connections as they devise together.
“It gets really tight-knit, which I know everyone says about every rehearsal process,” Johnson said. “But this is so physical. You’re so reliant on the other people in the cast to support each other, to keep each other safe. It really feels like you’re part of a team.”
According to Johnson, the Children’s Theater is an effective form of community outreach and representation for the college.
“I wish that more of the direct Oxy community knew about [the Children’s Theater], but this is something that from the beginning has been for the larger community that really does bring in people who have never been to Oxy before,” Johnson said. “This feels like one of those programs that is actually for the community and not just for Oxy.”
Johnson said having dedicated performances for children is fulfilling for the whole cast.
“There’s something really rewarding about performing for children and creating something for kids,” Johnson said. “For a lot of kids, it’s their first theater experience that they’ve ever had. To give them something that’s at their level and that they get so excited to see [is] really rewarding.”
Contact Angus Kapstein Parkhill at parkhill@oxy.edu
