In March, New York City Children’s Theater will premier FISH IN A TREE, adapted by Barbara Zinn Krieger from the children’s novel of the same name by Linda Mullaly Hunt. FISH IN A TREE tells the story of a girl with undiagnosed dyslexia, who doubts her own intelligence and value because of her disability. When a new teacher recognizes what’s holding her back and offers her the learning support she needs, she begins to thrive, both socially and academically.
At New York City Children’s Theater we recognize that in a world built for adults, children love to see themselves at the center of a story. When a character in a play or story shares a trait, a history, or a struggle a child recognizes in themselves, their joyous experience of that story is palpable. When a child sees that a person they thought was fundamentally different from them actually shares many of the same worries, pleasures, and cares they have, that child learns empathy and can build fellowship. Twenty-six percent of Americans have a disability. We’re looking forward to sharing FISH IN A TREE with the 1 in 4 New Yorkers who navigate each day in this bustling city through the lens of disability. We’re looking forward to promoting fellowship and empathy to the 3 in 4 New Yorkers who may never have considered what navigating the world through that lens is like.
One of those schools which has already booked school-time matinee performances of FISH IN A TREE is Bridge Preparatory Charter School. This Staten Island public charter school is New York State’s first and only public school specifically designed to meet the needs of students with dyslexia and other language-based learning difficulties. We know these students will recognize themselves at the center of this story. In fact, Bridge Preparatory Charter School was so keen to have their students come to the show, that we added an entire week’s worth of school time performances to accommodate them.
In addition to seeing the play, our education department has built pre- and post-show workshops which will take place at the school surrounding the performance. These grade specific workshops will ask students in ten separate 1st – 4th grade classes to contemplate what it takes to adapt a book into a staged performance. They will provide space for young people, some of whom have never been to the theater, to practice being in a theater audience. The workshops challenge students to engage their creativity to design a perfect friend. And once they’ve designed the perfect friend, the workshops engage the student’s introspection to identify what makes each of them good friend material. We ask them to center themselves in their experience of the story. Because theater is one of the best vehicles we have to help people see inside themselves by looking outside themselves and we’ve built the play to encourage children to do just that.
Thank you for all you do to help us get there. None of this work would be possible without your support.