Touring Outreach Company

2011 · 2012 Touring Outreach Season

The Princess Who Lost Her Hair

An African Legend Comes To Life!
By Jeremy Kisling
Based on the book by Tololwa Mollel

This East African folktale tells a story from the Akamba people who have a beautiful princess with the most glorious long hair. Princess Kalendi loves her kingdom, but becomes vain and loses sight of what's important. When a weaver bird asks for a strand of hair for his nest, Kalendi's refusal brings drought and famine to the land, and the princess loses her prized possession—her beautiful hair. Come on the beggar Muoma's journey to restore the kingdom by helping the princess realize that compassion, humility and kindness are far more valuable than external beauty, praise or vanity.

Curriculum Connections:

• PA Academic Standards: Arts and Humanities; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; History; Geography.
• Reading, analyzing and interpreting literature; reading critically in all content areas; analysis and evaluation of literary adaptation; comparison and contrast.
• Examines multicultural stories and the human characteristics of places and regions (Kenya); world history; cultural contexts in the arts; relate works in the arts to geographic regions.
• Balancing family, work and community responsibility; pride in origins and ethics.
• Extensive look at character education, based on a children's book.

Go Green

Protecting Our Environment is Out of This World!
By Bill Van Horn

From across many light years of space and time comes this wild and crazy show with a sane and serious message. Meet Ellen Mackleby, a fifth grader who is worried about her home planet. Earth could use her help. It's being threatened by climate change, air pollution, and garbage is everywhere! Our precious oceans and lands and all the animals that inhabit them could be in harm's way. But what can she do about it? How will she get the attention of her school and family? Enter a group of visiting aliens from planet Viridis with a plan to help Ellen. During this fast-paced and interactive show, Ellen, the aliens and a variety of other zany characters discover how everything on our planet is connected. The aliens leave Ellen with this message: Even one person can make a difference!

Curriculum Connections:

• PA Academic Standards: Arts and Humanities; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Environment and Ecology; Science and Technology.
• Humans and the environment; sustainability; human impacts; supply and demand.
• Environmental health; human actions.
• Renewable and nonrenewable resources; availability; management; influential factors.
• Earth sciences; science, technology and human endeavors.

The Bully Buster Rides Again

An All-New Play With Familiar Characters!
By Tom Quinn

Following up on our most successful outreach program ever are the continuing adventures of Nate, Sam, Zoe and Bob the Bully Buster from The Boy Who Cried Bully. Students will laugh and learn from Nate and his friends as they dream of escaping school bullies using light saber duels, Harry Potter's magic, by being a cowboy and a super hero. In the end Bob teaches the kids that only respect can make a school safer.

Curriculum Connections:

• PA Academic Standards: Arts and Humanities; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Health, Safety and Physical Education.
• Extensive look at the dangers of bullying; based on Olweus anti-bullying program.
• Safety and injury prevention; strategies to avoid/manage conflict.
• Reading critically in all content areas; analysis and evaluation of folktale adaptation.

Only 13

An Honest Look at Cyber Bullying and
Other Things That Make It Tough To Be A Kid!
By Tom Quinn

Adolescence can be complicated and unkind. Now add social pressures, expectations, and the internet. What do you get? Cyber bullying, body issues and a text-speak glossary of things that make it hard to be a kid in the 21st century. This brand new play combines music and real life adolescent insights to explore the social challenges that kids face every day. Join us for a powerful show that looks at the ways kids are mean to each other, the consequences of a cruel teen culture, and how to navigate those difficult "tween" years.

Curriculum Connections:

• PA Academic Standards: Arts and Humanities; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Health, Safety and Physical Education; Civics and Government.
• Extensive look at the dangers and implications of teenage bullying; discusses body image, nutrition, sexuality, social hierarchy and destructive rumors.
• Safety and injury prevention; safe/unsafe practices; strategies to avoid/manage conflict.
• Rights and responsibilities of citizenship; sources and resolution of conflicts; relationship between rights and responsibilities; rights of individuals in a community.

Martin and Malcolm

The Civil Rights Movement and What It Means Today!
By Tom Quinn

Take your students on a journey that explores the explosive issues and ideas that ignited a nation in the 1960s. Through the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, our gifted actors show how their messages are as relevant today as they were in that turbulent era of race riots, bus boycotts, sit-ins and marches. This inspirational story brings your classroom history books to life.

Curriculum Connections:

• PA Academic Standards: Arts and Humanities; Civics and Government; History.
• Examines the Civil Rights Movement in depth.
• Discusses issues of racial profiling and affirmative action.
• US history, historical analysis and skills development; contributions of individuals and groups; rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
• Historical and cultural contexts; conflict and cooperation among groups; speeches and writings that impact civic life.
• Ideal for Black History Month or Diversity Awareness.