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PaintBox Theatre is a theatre of improvisation and imagination for the whole family. Audiences young and old have called it unique, wild, zany, and even educational. Audience members range in age from 1 to 100 and include parents, seniors and other adults who love IMPROV. Every show includes problem solving, reading aloud, children’s artwork, and exuberant audience participation.
PaintBox Theatre is a non-profit, professional adult theatre company that engages children and adults in a passionate love of art, language, theatre, and play. Our goal is to increase literacy, intellectual curiosity, and children’s connection to their unique voices through improvisational theatre performances, school and community residencies, and community workshops.
Artistic Director and founder, Tom McCabe begins with a well-known children’s story, adapts it, modernizes it and adds twists. Most shows feature just three actors. The actors work as a team, improvising, playing multiple roles, creating props and costumes, solving problems and drafting people out of the audience to help. Educationally speaking, every production models the joys and challenges of unstructured play.
Tom Tells the History of PaintBox
“The idea for PaintBox Theatre came to me as I was sitting in the office of my old friend and theatre comrade, Sam Rush, who runs New Century Theatre in Northampton. As we were talking, I noticed on the wall a line drawing of a pirate that Sam’s 3 year old had done. It was fantastic, and totally viable art. I wondered if instead of making lots of expensive scenery, we could ask children to draw pictures, then project the images over the stage as a part of the production. At that moment, PaintBox Theatre was born. In every one of our shows we ask between 20 and 30 kids to draw pictures. I provide a list of every location, character and object, and children pick one and draw a picture. We sometimes also create an art gallery in the lobby where the originals are displayed. Children can write a message under their work if they wish, and even stand by it after the show and answer questions.”
And to whet your appetites for the upcoming season of PaintBox tomfoolery, here is an old PaintBox behind-the-scenes-with-Kelsey-Flynn video from the 2008 Summer season. Enjoy!