We Can Change the World
2009 · Lincoln Land Community College
We Can Change the World (also titled We Can Make a Change) was the fall 2009 touring children's theatre production created by Ken Bradbury's Lincoln Land Community College theatre class. Devised by the students under Ken's direction, the roughly 30-minute show was taken on the road to area elementary schools, with the class arriving to set up its own equipment and performing for young audiences seated "down front." A confirmation letter from Ken to Triopia Elementary documents a December 11, 2009 performance, one of many stops on a tightly scheduled touring run that also included a Friends and Family show at Trinity Lutheran in Arenzville and a full day of school visits around Jacksonville.
The show follows a little girl named Lilly, who is sweet, polite, and smart but lies awake every night consumed by worries — "What if I come home and Mom's not there? What if I don't grow up? What if I get in trouble before I even start?" The worries grow bigger and bigger until the cast helps Lilly discover that, rather than fretting over the world's problems, anyone can make a difference by starting small: a friendly smile, a helping hand, one step at a time. The ending breaks the fourth wall, with the cast leading the children in a call-and-response — "I can change it! / YOU can change it! / WE can change... The World!" — and inviting the whole audience to clap, sing, and stand together.
Songs
- Worry Song — Lilly and the ensemble voice the nighttime worries of childhood ("Can't sleep! Head is a-keepin' me up... Can't do a thing but just worry!").
- We Can Make a Change — the show's anthem and recurring theme: "Want to make a change? Walk before you run. Take one step, and the change has begun." Several lyric versions survive in the source materials.
Characters
The students performed under invented character names, including Lilly, Bee, Gary, Stevie, Amadeus, Wall-E, Scott, Fido, Sunshine, Lucille, Petunia, Shel, Wendy, Phoebe, Chuck, Jimmy, Jeffy, Alex, Mater, and Annie.
Production Notes
- First-semester project of the 2009–2010 LLCC theatre class, an original devised piece built up from improvisation (early class notes show students working in "Changing the World" improv groups).
- A touring "traveling theatre group" show designed for elementary-school audiences, running approximately 30 minutes.
- Performance schedule included a Friends and Family show on November 29 at Trinity Lutheran in Arenzville and on-the-road school dates in early December 2009, with the documented December 11, 2009 performance at Triopia Elementary in Concord, Illinois.
- Source materials include the full script, multiple versions of "We Can Make a Change," the Worry Song lyrics, a re-choreographed final ending (dated September 10, 2009), character and hat charts, and costume notes.
- The show's music and vocals were recorded in December 2009; six music-and-vocal tracks (about eleven minutes) survive in the Foundation archive and are preserved alongside the script.
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