Red Ladder Theatre Company: The Experience
There are two types of participants that come to Red Ladder workshops: first-timers and old friends. After the first 15 minutes of any Red Ladder workshop there are only old friends.
First time participants arrive quietly, shuffling off the ir bus in single file, or with their assigned buddy, and beginning the short walk to the Red Ladder performance space. The walk is somewhat halting, strewn with puzzled whispers about what will happen next. Faces are turned downward while minds race through a world of possibilities …what will Red Ladder be like? Their thoughts are suddenly interrupted by the sounds of singing and music coming out of the Red Ladder space. Participants slow down, raise their eyes, and look in excited wonder toward the open doorway where two Company members lean out the door singing and welcoming the group. Participants quickly arrive at the door and are met with high-fives, smiles, and personalized hellos…it seems Red Ladder Company members already know their names.
Participants enter the barn at Emma Prusch Memorial Park, Red Ladder’s home base and are amazed at what they discover inside. The barn is a big, bright open play space artistically littered with oversized wooden boxes, three-dimensional stars, circles, triangles, and ladders—lots of ladders. The objects are all brightly painted and arranged and balanced to create settings that invite and inspire. The kids’ jaws drop. Their eyes shine with an intuitive understanding of the space. Company members lead the students to leave their shoes, coats and backpacks by the door and pick up instruments and join the jam session. One Company member plays the synthesizer that provides music for the song created especially for this session. The other Company members and the Red Ladder Director sing out the song and rally the students to join in.
All aboard, it’s time to go, the train is leaving the station,
and all you need to bring along is your imagination.
Clickety, clickety, clickety, clack,
the train goes rolling down the track.
Come along and ride with me
and bring your creativity.
The train goes low, the train goes high,
under the water, into the sky…
The students play instruments, dance, and shout out lyrics and begin to form a train behind a company member. They chug their arms and pull imaginary chords and create the full illusion of a train rolling through the space, weaving in and out of settings and taking turns being the engine. By the end of the song all hesitation is gone, with participants clapping, shouting, and clustering around Company members and talking like old friends.
Participants and Company members return their instruments to the red suitcase in the middle of the room and sit down in a large circle to discuss the rules of Red Ladder. Surprisingly there is only one: in this space no one “disses” (shows disrespect to) anyone else. This item of business complete, participants and Company members are off, diving immediately into a game using “imaginary objects.” Red Ladder’s Director leads the game by example, telling the group they must guess who he is or what he’s doing. He stands up straight, takes some exaggerated puffing breaths, leans over at the waist and grips an imaginary bar. He adjusts his grip s and suddenly jerks upward heaving the heavy invisible weight to his chest. He takes a few more short breaths and staggers as he quickly raises the bar above his head. As he regains his balance and smiles in feigned pain and victory, everyone yells out that he’s a weightlifter and applauds as he drops the barbell to the floor. He turns the game over to the group and each child gives it a try. One student plays with an imaginary kitten, while another is a cop arresting a criminal, still another becomes a rock star. Each is met with encouragement and huge smiles.
Once everyone has had a chance, a new game – “Rhyme or Reason” – is introduced. This time students break into groups, each group led by a Red Ladder Company member. In this game group members act out an action that their group members must guess. When the action is guessed, the next person in the group has to act out something that either rhymes with what has just been done, or directly relates to it. One group starts with lipstick, which is transformed to dipstick, which changes to driving, to deep-sea diving, then to a shark, which is changed to dark, and finally to the monster under your bed. Groups give this game a try, and once it is mastered, they are off like a flash to another new game.
Red Ladder Company involves diverse groups effortlessly, with an inescapable rhythm and wellspring of talent. Without pause they lead students through two to three-hour sessions, matching participants’ abilities, interests and changing energy levels perfectly to theatre exercises and improvisations. In short order, inhibition and personal space disappear, children rapidly become willing team members and supportive audiences. Participants’ faces shine with genuine interest and eagerness with each new task. Regardless of differences, the look that comes over the faces of participants at Red Ladder is surprisingly similar: a look of focused attention and enthusiastic participation. Within this supportive atmosphere imagination is praised, affirmed, and freed to guide most interactions. Whether playing “Explosion Tag” or imagining and “creating” their own planets, participants suggest the scenarios and solve the problems themselves.
Throughout the session, participants appear amazingly unencumbered as they travel from place to place and through time, without ever leaving the room. Though all the journeys have been taken through the imagination, they feel incredibly real. Each participant has created the places, the characters, and the situations in their own minds, where the landscapes are more vivid, the action more complex, and the people much larger than life. Amid the joyful configurations of triangles, stars, cubes, and ladders that surround them, Company members and participants invariably form a circle of inclusion, trust, and sharing.
As the session winds to a close, participants disengage their bodies from the castles, space ships, and wish-making machines they have created out of the oversized objects. They remove the taffeta skirts, character hats, and bright costumes that allowed them to become whatever they could imagine and say good-bye to Red Ladder Company until next week. Participants sing and chatter while they put on their shoes and collect their belongings. They leave Red Ladder reluctantly but triumphantly, heroes for an afternoon that may last a lifetime.
The Red Ladder process—like running downhill—overtakes you. It moves from a process of effort to a function of gravity. The acceleration—the movement, the friendships, the encouragement, and the creative process—kicks in. You move without effort from inhibition to creativity and freedom. From slouch, shuffle, and mumble to stand and deliver.
“Before our eyes, we saw…[students] blossom with new confidence and gain new respect for…[their] abilities.” - The Staff of the Bill Wilson School
“[Red Ladder] assisted us in helping students break barriers that too often hinder them from pursuing their educational development….The exemplary work that you have provided demonstrates that together we can encourage all students to strive for academic achievement. You have truly helped make a difference in a student’s life.” - Raquel Topete, Activities Coordinator, Upward Bound Program
“One of the most beneficial aspects of [the Red Ladder] program, was the individualization of each workshop to meet the children’s specific needs. You were presented with challenges in the form of negative attitudes, shyness, and lack of attention initially. Over the course of the training, I saw our group of children become very enthusiastic about, and proud of, their contributions to workshop activities.” - Monique Gill, Milieu Activity Therapist, Eastfield Ming Quong