The Best Holiday Gift
by Nina Meehan, Executive Artistic Director, Bay Area Children’s Theatre
Welcome to the holiday season! A time of turkeys, table decorations, presents and SHOWS! Yes….this is the season of the year when suddenly everyone is offering family entertainment. Why is this? Why do we crave live entertainment at the holiday season more than any other time of the year?
Live entertainment brings us together as a community in a way that nothing else does. A recent study out of University College London found that the hearts of audience members synchronized while watching live theatre together. So, we actually have a physiological connection to the people we sit with in the audience above and beyond the shared laughs, the shared tears and the shared smiles. We connect with those around us through the beauty, passion and emotion depicted on stage. Then we get to relive our favorite moments discussing them over a meal or in the car on the way home. We bond through a shared experience, and we are moved by the power of storytelling.
We are so blessed to live in an area with so many incredible options. There’s “The Nutcracker” at the San Francisco Ballet and other Nutcrackers galore, ODC’s “Velveteen Rabbit,” the San Francisco Symphony’s “Charlie Brown Christmas-LIVE” — not to mention Bay Area Children’s Theatre’s “A Year with Frog and Toad” and “Construction Site on Christmas Night” — and so many others.
At a time of the year when we are looking for connection, community, and maybe a bit of magic, it makes sense that we flock as families to see live theatre, dance and music! And what a bonus, if we can inspire the next generation with imagination and empathy! So, if you are looking for a special gift this season, consider the gift of live entertainment. Happiness doesn’t come from “things”- happiness is born from experiences, and, when it is dark and cold, finding those experiences inside a glowing, warm theatre might be the best way to spend time with your loved ones.
If you do attend a show with young people in your life, here are some questions that might be fun to discuss over milkshakes or pie after the performance:
- What is the story being told in this performance?
- Why do you think this story matters?
- What is one detail that you noticed about the performers?
- What is one detail that you noticed about the setting?
- What is one detail that you noticed about what you heard during the performance?
- If you had closed your eyes during the show, what colors would you have pictured in your mind’s eye based on the music?
- If you were to tell a friend about the performance, what would you describe as your favorite moment? Saddest moment? Funniest moment?
First published in the Piedmont Post November 2019
