Creative Cauldron brings drama workshops to Mason District kids
Creative Cauldron, a theater in Falls Church, is teaming up with Westlawn Elementary School to offer students an afterschool drama program and a chance to perform on stage.
ArtsFairfax awarded Creative Cauldron a $13,000 “ticket/transportation subsidy” grant to support Artes Para Todos, an initiative that supports arts workshops for students at Title I schools from homes where Spanish is the first language.
When Creative Cauldron reached out to schools in the Falls Church area to see if they were interested in launching an afterschool drama program, the principal at Westlawn responded, says Laura Hull, who founded Creative Cauldron in 2002 and currently serves as artistic director.
“When we started planning the program, we found we weren’t reaching enough of the target population, and transportation was a problem for parents,” Hull said. So the focus shifted to the Monticello Gardens apartments, where about 240 Westlawn students live. Thomas Jefferson Library agreed to provide space for afterschool drama workshops.
Lenny Mendez, a bilingual artistic associate at Creative Cauldron who also lives at Monticello Gardens, is working on incorporating the children into a touring show, “Tales from the Andes,” a play dramatizing Peruvian folktales. The show is performed with three professional actors, giant puppets, and traditional Andean music by Juan Cayrampoma of the Raymi ensemble.
“We’re now working with the kids to get them comfortable being performers in an expanded version of the show,” Hull says. The play will be presented at two school assemblies and at an evening show at Westlawn for parents, family, and friends on June 17. Transportation will be provided for the evening performance.
Creative Cauldron is also working with Second Story to offer afterschool drama workshops at three locations – the Culmore Family Resource Center in Bailey’s Crossroads, St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church in Annandale, and another site in Springfield.
Last summer, Creative Cauldron provided scholarships for drama camp to the kids at the Annandale location.
Participating students and their families also receive free tickets, and transportation, to Creative Cauldron’s family-friendly productions throughout the year and free or reduced tuition to the theater’s spring break and summer camps.