In 1966 the IUSB Children’s Theatre premiered with a performance of Winnie the Pooh. They’ve brought the lovable story back to mark their 60th anniversary and they invite the public on Saturday.
Each year for six decades now, IUSB’s Ernestine Raclin School of the Arts has performed a different children’s play, introducing thousands of students to live theatre through school field trips.
Outreach coordinator Danielle Wilborn hopes those students will bring their children and grandchildren back for two public performances Saturday.
“The 60th anniversary gave us a chance to do some looking back at our own program to realize how many people have been in our theater space," Wilborn says. "Roughly the population of Atlanta, Georgia.”
Wilborn says the kids obviously have fun but IUSB takes an academic approach, sending packets to teachers in advance.
“There’s so many limits on what time the teachers can put to certain things in the schools. And so since we can send the packet to them, and it’s like, this is how theater works, this is public behavior sort of thing, it helps them fit it into the curriculum.”
The show starts at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the IUSB Auditorium.