A Child's Garden of Verses

This is a multi-sensory, highly interactive Theatre for Very Young Audiences piece. Its words and actions are inspired by the classic book of poems by Robert Louis Stevenson. A few actors and a musician, puppetry and play, help audiences grow a garden and their imaginations as they frolic in the leaves, feed a bird, sing in the rain, dance with the wind, build a boat and discover treasures, including the greatest of them all—friendship. They also plant seeds and words that, with careful tending, grow into flowers and poems to bring home. This play is specifically devised for preschool children as young as 15 months old, but can be enjoyed by children as old as those in first or second grades. A Child's Garden of Verses calls for the musicalization of some of the Robert Louis Stevenson poems or excerpts thereof. Producers can choose to create their own music for the piece or arrange to use the wonderful songs created by Scott DePoy for the premier production at the Alliance Theatre, which commissioned the work.