Theatre company reaching out to younger audience members

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The Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company (SNTC), located on 20th St. in Saskatoon, is beginning a new venture with its first attempt at children's theatre.

The need for drama developed specifically for a younger audience is huge. And the potential for impact is far reaching, explained SNTC artistic director Kennetch Charlette.

"There is very little if any children's theatre going on in the different Aboriginal communities in Saskatchewan," he said.

Although the theatre group does take productions into schools and remote communities, many of their plays often target older audiences. The theatre company has discovered over time that many children go to its productions, regardless of the content. Charlette, along with SNTC general manager Donna Heimbecker, who are both founding members of the theatre company, believe in the importance of bringing stories to life that small children can relate to.

"If you are going to create theatre for everyone," said Charlette, "it has to begin at a very young age."

The first production aimed at children was called Annabel ... a tale of a girl and her raven and was written by the theatre company's artist-in-residence Mark Dieter. The show ran for 10 days in January, with productions conveniently held in the mornings and afternoons to make the play more accessible for the kindergarten crowd. Plans are in the works to produce one show a year specifically for children.

With their short attention spans, children can be unpredictable and had the director a little worried that most pint-sized members of the audience might be too full of life to sit still for more than 40 minutes. But the story line and acting talent worked well together to hold the children's attention and keep little hands and feet in place until the end.

"One teacher who attended the play with her class said she had never seen her students sit so still," said Heimbecker.

Children can be an especially demanding audience to produce shows for, admitted Charlette.

"They are the most honest audience you'll ever meet," he said. "They will tell you if you have only gone half way in your development."

Having directed similar shows in Toronto, Charlette is more and more convinced the arts can play a significant role in a child's development. Although the arts are part of a culture, they are, more importantly, used in everyday life to teach knowledge and lessons about life, he said. The two cannot be separated.

Exposure to the arts cannot be delayed until a child is older and perhaps becomes a more patient audience. Leading children through the arts at a very young age is good, partly because it reflects the world around them and partly because children are created to embrace it.

"The arts is part of the human make up," Charlette said. Drama can be used to reflect back to the world who we see ourselves to be.

Both Heimbecker and Charlette know they have a good thing going here. A quick search for information about Native theatre on the Web shows most entries centre on or around this very company.

They are in the unique and enviable position of being on the cutting edge of a new style of theatre-they are not mainstream and they are not alternative. The theatre company is, first and foremost, for Aboriginal artists and audiences. It gives Aboriginal artists a chance to live and work in Saskatchewan. It also helps at-risk youth to develop creative talents and work with professional actors to learn more about the craft. But the company is committed to going beyond promoting their productions only in the Native community, Heimbecker said.

"We want to educate Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal audiences about the stories that artists tell."