Imagination Theater teaches while entertaining

A big-city thespian troupe is heading our way, not just to entertain, but also to teach 4,000 local kids a few essential social survival skills about bullying and teasing.

The Imagination Theater, a Chicago-based touring company, will present two interactive programs for elementary school students during 15 performances in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls between Tuesday and Saturday.

The four-person cast’s presentations are “Ease the Tease” and “Show Some Respect.”

The principal sponsor for the troupe’s stay in North Idaho is the Kootenai-Benewah Medical Alliance, an organization of physicians’ spouses that teams with the American Medical Association Alliance to identify and address local public health issues.

The local effort is in support of an initiative called SAVE - Stop America’s Violence Everywhere - sponsored by the American Medical Association Alliance.

SAVE’s North Idaho co-chairs are Anne Ellison and Kathi Abate, and it was Ellison who saw the program in Chicago and invited the Imagination Theater players here.

According to Abate, every grade-school principal in the area says bullying is a common occurrence on school playgrounds. The schools, she says, have curricula designed to increase children’s respect for each other and to breed responsibility.

However, she says, those schools don’t have funds for supplementary materials, so the local alliance purchased appropriate coloring books and bookmarks for the Dalton and Winton schools in Coeur d’Alene plus the four Post Falls schools.

Teachers and students will evaluate the materials and, if they prove worthwhile, the local group will purchase more for distribution to other schools, Abate says.

Ellison explains that Imagination Theater members, in conjunction with Chicago-area author and social worker Judy Freedman, wrote “Ease the Tease.” The production stems from Freedman’s 2002 book of the same name and is based on her classroom experiences.

Through a series of skits, students learn it’s OK to tease only if the teasing is friendly and everyone, including those being teased, is enjoying it, Ellison says.

Four Imagination Theater actors present students with a number of scenarios in which one actor is a target of another’s teasing, she explains.

The action in each scene is frozen as the actors turn to the students for suggestions on how to change the conversation so the person being teased can maintain a positive self-image.

Students then interact with the actors to “ease the tease” and finish the scene.

Strategies include answering the teaser with a compliment, ignoring the teaser, taking the teasing as a compliment, saying “So?” and changing the subject, agreeing with the teasing facts if they’re true, using healthy-self talk, and asking for help from parents, teachers and counselors when other strategies fail.

The shows conclude with the actors presenting teasing scenarios suggested by audience members, then inviting students onto the stage to act out their ideas for easing the tease.

The “Show Some Respect,” production demonstrates how to swap potentially hurtful behavior for kinder actions, Ellison says.

According to student surveys, disrespectful behavior includes joking comments, making fun of others, older students picking on younger ones and so-called “cool” students demeaning those they deem “uncool.”

The actors perform a series of sketches about social situations encountered by youngsters and choices they can make in response.

They begin with less-than-desirable reactions. One of the actors then discusses with the audience better ways to handle the situation, and then the skit is repeated with a better approach.

The scenarios demonstrate that ways to be respectful include listening, obeying rules, apologizing, being encouraging and respecting others’ property.

The desired outcome is to teach students how to respect themselves, their peers, parents and teachers.

The Imagination Theater was founded in 1966 to present participatory theater programs to children, primarily disadvantaged children in Chicago public schools. Since then it has expanded its repertoire to include adults, senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

Alliance spokesperson Sandy Billingslea says the organization has raised $10,000 since June through an auction and donations to bring the group here.

Other local sponsors are Mountain West Bank, Safe and Drug Free Schools, Coeur d’Alene Kiwanis, Winton, Dalton, Fernan and Skyway elementary schools, Coeur d’Alene Inn, Coeur d’Alene Rotary, Sunrise Rotary, Louisiana Pacific Corp., Knudtsen Chevrolet, Coldwell Banker, Post Falls School District and Sorensen Elementary.