Official Web Site of the City of Phoenix

Phoenix Young Chatauqua Program

Program Description:
"Cowboys and sheriffs - and the first airplane flight in Arizona! Leap back into time and up onto the stage as you explore the wild stories of Arizona's past with costumes, acting, and historic fun!"

This innovative collaboration will enable students to work with professional actors, theatre and design professionals, and humanities scholars to develop and perform first-person theatrical interpretations of Arizona historical figures.

The goal of the program is to engage students with the arts and humanities by providing them the tools and the self-confidence necessary to perform historical research and to create art which relates the lives of historical figures to their own lived experiences and family stories. These tools will include knowledge, skills, and abilities related to acting, theatre and design, playwriting, historical research, and public speaking.

Teacher Information:
This program will be led by Childsplay teaching artists who meet the Childsplay "certification" expectations of excellence in teaching acquired through experience, familiarity in child development, use of AZ curriculum and standards and extensive training in theatre.

Also known as living history presenters, these Chautauqua scholars assume the roles of significant figures from the past, including wearing period clothing. They present as their historical characters, then field questions from the character's perspective. They end by "stepping out" of character and taking questions as themselves, providing scholarly context and insight. Chautauqua presentations have long been considered an intriguing and dynamic way of engaging audiences of all ages and backgrounds in the stories of our past.