Backstage at APT

What's good for kids this season?

This is a question we commonly get at APT as people are planning their ticket purchases. Here are a few thoughts:

It's always a hard question for us to answer. Every parent is different and every kid is different. There are many factors that come into play: your child's age, attention span, their tastes (and yours), among other factors. Also, we find that different parents and grandparents have different thresholds of what they feel is appropriate material for their child. So you, as a parent or grandparent, are the best judge of what your child should see.

I'd recommend that you talk to our box office staff if you have questions about specific shows. They are familiar with all the plays, and can answer specific questions about the material. Once the shows get close to opening, they can also provide specific information about what is actually happening in our productions (as opposed to just knowing the plot and subject matter of each play).

It might also be helpful to know that we will be doing school-day matinees of Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Of Mice and Men and The Glass Menagerie for middle and high school students.

Finally, as a point of reference, I can tell you that I plan to take my 7-year-old (a bright but not overly precocious kid who attends a fair amount of theater) to Taming of the Shrew, Blithe Spirit, The Critic and The Tempest. He may see Of Mice and Men with a lot of preparation about what's going to happen at the end of the play. He will probably skip The Glass Menagerie, Crime and Punishment and The Cure at Troy. Not that there is anything objectionable in the material, but I think he'd have a hard time absorbing the language and enjoying the story.

Hope that helps. Remember to use our box office staff as a resource if you need it. You can call them at 608-588-2361. For the next several weeks, they'll be open M-F 10-5. Thanks.