CRT hosts most successful youth tour

CREEDE- The traveling company with the Creede Repertory Theatre (CRT) Young Audience Outreach Tour made their final rounds in recent weeks and made it home just in time for the holiday season. This year the tour visited 110 schools in six states and did 75 performances for 24,073 students in rural communities while spreading the message of love and acceptance.

The play reached out to young audiences during a time when acceptance and love of their fellow classmates, teachers and parents was something that needed to be taught, and through the artistic talents of the company and playwright Lojo Simon, the message was well received.

The play was written by Simon, who according to her bio is, “Extraordinarily excited to bring Albert Porter: Boy Explorer (Niño Explorador) to children and families in Creede and the Four Corners area. Lojo’s other plays for young audiences include Nice & Slow, which won the Old Miner Playwriting Award and toured Utah schools earlier this year; Mi Corazón and a commissioned middle-school play for Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre. She also writes grown-up plays, which have won awards and been produced nationwide, making audiences laugh and cry and hopefully spend more time thinking about their humanity and connection to the people and world around them. Learn more about Lojo at www.lojosimon.com and read her plays on the New Play Exchange.”

Youth Outreach Director Johamy Morales stated that now the tour is finished for the year the youth outreach program will focus on next year’s production and will be welcoming back Simon for the 2018 season. Simon is currently working on the new piece which will focus on math, science and the environment. The tour will be the 35th year for the outreach program and the crew working on the new season plans on bringing out all the stops.

“The tour was a huge success. We were able to visit new schools this year and hope to add more to next year’s tour. Our 2018 play will come from the same production crew as this year, and it is always great to be able to welcome back the same crew members for another high-quality production,” said Tour Manager Natalie Mayo. The tour started off in Colorado in late August before venturing out to neighboring states like New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. The theatre hopes to continue to add to the tour, bringing the love of theatre to more schools as the years progress.

More information about the coming 2018 Young Audience Outreach Tour will be announced soon.

Next up for the theatre is their annual involvement in Colorado Gives Day, which is one of the theatre’s main fundraisers which helps to provide programs like the Young Audience Outreach Tour. On Dec. 5 the theatre will receive a match from the Colorado Gives organization for each donation made during this event.