Document Actions
Children's Activities
Help Your Child Enjoy the Show
If there is a book or video version of the story, read it or watch it with your child before attending the performance. Discussing the story can help children understand what they are about to see. Ask your child how a live performance will be different from a book or video.
Some younger children may not be ready for the "realness" of a live performance in a large crowded room. Help them understand that what they are about to see is not the same as a movie or TV show.
Let your child know the theater lights will darken at the beginning of the show and during the performance. There could be loud sounds or other surprises as part of the show. Study guides and other resource materials may be available from the show Presenter.
Discussion Questions for Children
- Who has been to a live theatre show before?
- What did you see?
- Did you like it? Why or why not?
After the Show
- What was your favorite part?
- Who was your favorite character?
- Was anything different than you thought it would be?
Theater Vocabulary
- Actor or Actress: A theatrical performer
- Applause: Expressing approval by clapping your hands
- Backstage: The area behind the curtains
- Cast: All the performers
- Choreographer: A person who develops and arranges the movements for dancers and performers
- Composer: A person who writes music
- Costume: Anything worn by a performer. Costumes may indicate a certain style, culture or time period.
- Crew: All the people who operate the lighting and sound equipment, build and move the scenery, make the costumes and get everything ready for the performers
- Designer: A person who decides what something should look like; costumes, scenery, lighting, etc.
- Director: The person who supervises all the performers & crew and interprets what is supposed to happen as part of the performance
- Lyricist or Songwriter: A person who writes the words to the songs
- Musical: A play that uses song and dance to tell a story
- Play: A story that is presented to an audience using live performers
- Playwright: A person who writes the story and words of a play
- Props: Objects handled by the actors
- Score: The pages of music for the performance
- Script: The pages of words that the actors must memorize
- Stage Manager or Director's Assistant: The person who helps everyone remember to do the right thing at the right time
- Stage: The area where the actors normally perform