Traveling Theatre 2006
2006
Ken Bradbury's Traveling Theatre took live performance directly into central Illinois schools, packing a tight, high-energy show into a touring kit and bringing it to one auditorium and gym after another. The surviving planning notes — jotted from the 2005 tour as the next year was being mapped out — read like a road manager's shorthand: which schools wanted on the list, which towns to revisit, and which runs ran tight on setup time.
The show was built to be physical above all. Ken's own reminder to himself sums up the spirit of the piece: "Physical, physical, physical…dropping pants, riding the horse, Nick tumbling onto the stage, dance." Clocking in at almost exactly thirty minutes — "perfect," by his note — it was paced for restless young audiences and the logistics of moving a company from school to school in a single day.
Production Notes
- Toured central Illinois elementary schools, including stops at White Hall Elementary, Turner, Eisenhower, Bluffs, and runs that touched towns such as Rushville and Beardstown.
- Carried a crew of three technicians (Ken noted three was more than the show actually needed).
- Run time approximately 30 minutes.
- Tour planning notes survive from 2005, written as the company looked ahead to the next season; warm letters of thanks from school contacts such as Fred Rogers are remembered fondly in those notes.