Visit to Local Theater Elicits Awe-inspired Reactions from Children
August 6, 2017The fine arts have an extraordinary capacity to bring people and communities together, and in Russia, it’s no different. Recently, Allies in Youth Development through the help of local city officials, partnered with the Chamber of Musical Theater for a special project meant to reward 15 orphans who have demonstrated exemplary work in school. The theater was keen to jump on board, as it provided them an opportunity to resume their involvement in social outreach programs.
“Our theater did such projects before, but in the last few years, we have been inactive,” theater deputy Svetlana said. “I’m very happy to know that there people in our city who are not indifferent to others’ problems and are ready to help without expecting anything back. We’re grateful to Allies for the chance to share our creativity and performances with the children. We are all quite touched with the reactions and look forward to doing this again with other orphanages.”
The activity kicked off with an introductory tour of the theater, with Svetlana telling their young visitors about the history of the building. Afterwards, a mini play featuring theatrical puppets was staged, to the delight of the awe-struck orphans and Allies volunteers.
“It was my very first time to visit a theater. Svetlana is very friendly,” Juliya, 15, said. “We also enjoyed the performance and the actors’ singing!”
As an added treat, the children were also able to meet the cast, who came out after the show to talk about their experience in the theater industry and entertain questions. “It was so exciting that we did not know what to say to them. We could only admire them,” Juliya said. “They even gave us stuffed toys, we received juice and chocolates from the volunteers. Thank you for such great impression!”