Ease the Tease In Action

In my time with Imagination Theater, I've been lucky enough to observe our audiences from the facilitator's point of view hundreds of times.  Still, few things beat the opportunity to experience a show from the audience's point of view.  

This past Friday I sat in the back of Hope Institute Learning Academy's auditorium with a crowd full of K-2nd graders.  They laughed at our Ease the Tease scenes, contributed to the discussions, processed the response strategies, and then joined our actors on stage to positively influence the outcome of real life scenarios.  Student volunteers were beaming as they returned to their seats.

After interacting with our actors for just 45 minutes, students leave with skills they'll remember throughout the school year!

As always, you can learn more about Ease the Tease and all of our other programs at www.imaginationtheater.org.

– Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

The Reviews Are In!

Creating a new play is an incredibly rewarding experience! This season's overhaul of Show Some Respect was no exception!

From the very first set of workshops with 2nd and 4th grade classrooms, I felt in my bones that this was a powerful project.  Both classrooms beautifully articulated how a program about respect could benefit their school.  They provided invaluable feedback as we turned their ideas into scripts.

When we premiered our two new versions of Show Some Respect for our proud collaborators and their peers, the response was incredible.  Since then, we've shared our newest program at every opportunity.

After our first showcase of the 2014-15 season, parents flocked to our booth to book performances for their schools.

Teachers and parents have been leaving glowing reviews on our post-show evaluations and comments like this one on our Facebook page: 

"Awesome assembly at Fairview School today!!!! Every scene you performed is exactly what the kids connect with, so the production was quite meaningful.  Thank you!!! ~Shari Lambert, Third Grade Teacher"

The most rewarding part of creating this new show is hearing the positive reactions from the audiences and communities we created it for!

As always, you can learn more about Show Some Respect and all our other programs at www.imaginationtheater.org.

—Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

Show Some Respect!

Show Some Respect was the most popular show of our 2013-14 season, so we kicked it up a notch for the 2014-15 season.  

This past May, we led a series of workshops with a very enthusiastic 2nd and 4th grade classroom at Courtenay Elementary in Chicago.  We sought to discover how our audiences struggle to show respect and where they would like more respect shown to them.  These workshops culminated in brand new scenes based on the themes brought up by the students and role-played in their classrooms.

We could not be more pleased with our brand spanking new Show Some Respect scripts for K-2 and 3-5 audiences.  The show premiered at Courtenay, where it earned a warm reception from the students who provided their input, and their peers throughout the school.  

This week we showcased the 3-5th grade scene about an envious best friend at Showcase 2014 and the parents in the audience immediately recognized the social struggles of their own kids.

These fresh scenes are primed for a busy touring season.  we can't wait to get them on the road.

As always, you can learn more about Show Some Respect and all of our other programs at www.imaginationtheater.org.


—Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director 

2014-15 Ensemble!

Imagination Theater is incredibly proud of our talented ensemble and we are thrilled to welcome three phenomenal performers into our IT family!

Sydney Charles, Jose Nateras, and Sean Sullivan have been busy this past month rehearsing our teeming roster of assemblies.  They have taken to the work like ducks to water!  I've loved watching them, and I'm sure audiences will too!

As always you can learn more about Imagination Theater and our programs at www.imaginationtheater.org.

—Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

Curriculum Packets

This season we introduced an extensive curriculum packet and activity book to complement performances of Ease the Tease.  The resulting packet, created by Judy Freedman, has proven to be a phenomenal resources for teachers.  There are enough activities in this massive activity guide to reinforce positive teasing response strategies all year long!

We are now thrilled to introduce curriculum packets for Show Some Respect (K-5), Take A Stand (6-8), Making Healthy Choices (K-5), and Go Green (K-5)!  While these packets are thinner than the Ease The Tease tome, they are perfect ways to cary the dialogue that starts on stage into the classroom.  Each packet includes  discussion questions, drawing exercises, writing exercises, games, and a list of suggested books that further explore the theme.

These packets are now included with all new bookings of their associated assemblies!  A week before performances, I'll email PDF's to our onsite contact so that packets can be distributed to teachers in advance of the show!

I had a blast generating word searches, outlining follow up activities, and flipping through hundreds of picture books at the local library!  I look forward to sharing these packets with our audiences!

As always, you can learn more about Imagination Theater and our performances at www.imaginationtheater.org

— Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

One Earth Film Festival!

As we gear up for April performances of Go Green, it is incredibly exciting to see everything happening March 7-9 at the One Earth Film Festival!

Family friendly events include a film adaptation of Peter Brown's phenomenal picture book, The Curious Garden (Sunday, March 9, 2014 – 3-4:15pm/The Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor 7347 Madison St, Forest Park, IL), and the magical adventure, Lost and Found (Saturday, March 8, 2014 – 3:30-4:15pm/W. Beye Elementary School 230 N Cuyler Ave, Oak Park)!

Definitely check out these awesome green films!

As always, you can learn about Imagination Theater and our Go Green program at www.imaginationtheater.org. 


— Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

Communities In Schools Of Chicago Report

Imagination Theater is thrilled to be featured in Communities In Schools of Chicago's winter 2014 report!

Communities in Schools of Chicago has been a truly phenomenal partner for our work and our mission.  We look forward to growing this partnership in the years to come!

Read the profile of Imagination Theater from their winter report below.

As always, you can learn more about Imagination Theater and our programs at www.imaginationtheater.org

— Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director