In February of 2012, the Story Pirates–a media and arts group that celebrates the words and ideas of young authors through comedy–brought kids’ stories to life by acting them out on the stage. Story Pirate Sam Reiff-Pasarew answered a few questions before the event.
What will the Story Pirates perform at the Museum?
We’ll be performing a sketch comedy show based on stories written by kids. We asked kids at the Museum’s SpaceFest and after-school programs to submit stories that take place at the Museum, and our actors adapt those stories into live theater with costumes, props, music, and puppets. We’ll also perform some of our most popular stories written by kids across the country.
What’s the challenge of live theater?
Live theater takes a lot of energy, but it’s a great opportunity to engage with the kids and let them participate in the show. In addition to the stories we rehearse ahead of time, we also perform a story at the show that is totally improvised based on suggestions from kids in the audience. And the most important live interaction is at the end of every performance when we bring the kids who wrote stories up on stage to take an author bow.
What’s the best part about working with kids?
Kids never run out of ideas. There’s a non-stop flow of amazing, funny, creative, thoughtful writing for us to adapt. We have the best material in the world!