By Outreach Directors Meg Fischer and Elizabeth McClelland

PYT continues to expand its education program with School Play in a Box. This outreach program takes the play out of PYT and delivers it directly to your school-- director, scripts, props and all!

Designed to bring theatre to elementary schools without drama programs of their own, SPIB follows a structure similar to Theatre in the Park. Over a period of ten weeks, PYT teachers lead weekly rehearsals that culminate in a final performance. Children learn the basics of acting, character development, storytelling, and theatre terminology, and perform in a wide range of one-act shows including fairy tales and other classic children's stories. Sessions are designed for children ages 5-8 and 7-11 and provide an opportunity for children to either get their first taste of theatre or cultivate their already growing love for the stage.

One of the primary goals of the SPIB program is to make PYT's drama classes more accessible to students who for various reasons could not attend a class at PYT. A recent grant from the James Irvine Foundation has allowed PYT to offer scholarships to lower income students and provide SPIB sessions at schools that would not otherwise be able to afford theatre classes.

This fantastic program is also a wonderful way to spread the word about PYT. Most SPIB participants are new to PYT if not to theatre. Thus far, the program has been very successful with most students returning for a second, third, and even fourth session.

If you think you know a school that would be interested in the program, please contact mfischer@pytnet.org. We are always looking to bring PYT to new places and new people!

Artistic Director Dexter Fidler interviews PYT Associate Artist Andrea Bechert about the process and challenges of Set Design.

You've designed a lot of sets at Mountain View Center - not just for PYT but a lot of other theatres that work there such as TheatreWorks. Are there any challenges left for you?

Each production I work on is a new challenge. Whether it is a play I have never designed before, or a play I have designed several times, each has challenges. For plays I have never worked on, I get to start fresh and solve all the problems. For plays I have designed before, the director may have a new concept, and I get to create a new design. Or, if we are going to use the same design, I try to figure out how to make it better, and solve any problems there were in the last production.

Actually, one of the biggest challenges is keeping organized. I still design around 20 shows a year all over the place and keeping all my design deadlines on track is like a big juggling act. The design process takes several weeks to several months, and I work on many projects at one time.

Compared to professional theatres, what are some of the differences designing for an organization like PYT that has low budgets and parent-volunteers?

In this economy, not much...Seriously, though - the design process isn't really different. I have to design for whatever the parameters and budgets are of any given production. PYT actually has very skilled and talented parents, many of whom I wish I could take with me to some of the professional theatres I work with. I have worked with PYT for over a decade, and the quality of work has grown tremendously.

We received a comment that the graphics on mugs from "Sound of Music" are washing off. If this is happening to you, please email ksimpson@pytnet.org - if it is a widespread problem we will contact our vendor to get them replaced.

The brochure is at the printer and we anticipate having all of our summer camp and class offerings available for enrollment the beginning of February. We'll send a special notice out to our email list when camps are available for enrollment.

PYT has had to raise the cost of Theatre in the Park camps due to a dramatic increase in costs for use of some of our camp sites. According to our research, Theatre in the Park will still be very reasonable compared to other two-week, full day camps.

We hope we'll see you this summer!