North by Northwestern

Seasoned audience members might think they’ve seen it all when it comes to Shanley Pavilion: Among a striking variety of sets, a small cast of college students performs to a seated audience of fellow students and Evanston locals. But this week, Seesaw Theatre is tipping the Shanley model sideways, covering it with streamers and making a lot of kids happy.

In their spring show, Under the Big Top, the cast is divided into adventure guides and circus members. The guides suit up in red shirts and fanny packs to pair up one-on-one with local children who have developmental differences. Their parents give Seesaw information about their children’s likes and dislikes ahead of time. Prompted by a song in English and American Sign Language, these participants move from a low-stimulation playroom into a circus world populated by a helpful ringmaster, a goofy mime, a shy “loodle” (or lion-poodle), a friendly concessions lad and a determined acrobat.

The performers often break into song or present the audience with a challenge – say, to help the acrobat walk the tightrope – but much of the show is based on sensory experiences, from watching shadow puppets to feeling ice cubes from the concessions lad. Accompanied by their adventure guides, children can choose whether to watch or to wander around the circus area, and they’re free to be as loud or quiet as they like. Fifty minutes later, the kids leave, with the cast wiggling their fingers in ASL applause.

Producer Liza Alrutz, a Communication sophomore, was holding back happy tears the night before the first show.

"I'm almost not ready to see kids in the space because I'm just so, so excited knowing that we've almost made it,” she said.

Seesaw Theatre began in 2012, but Alrutz said this production is “a little more theatrical than in years past.” Previous shows have sent children under the sea, exploring strings, playing video games and traveling the earth. Under the Big Top is the first to feature a plot, which was devised during rehearsals by the actors and their director, Communication senior Delaney Burlingame.

“Every child deserves to experience the human marvel that is the circus,” Burlingame wrote in a director’s note. “The suspense of the tight rope walker, the flight of the trapeze artist, the enormity of the elephant, all mingling with the tantalizing scent of popcorn, taffy, and a pie in the face. Our job is to find a way to introduce those stimuli in an approachable and contained fashion, without losing any of their joy or energy."

The ringmaster of this show is Communication freshman Tucker DeGregory, who appreciates the chance to apply his psychology and theatre majors.

“This is not … drama therapy, but it's just representing art, and the natural therapeutic elements of art are what come through to the kids,” DeGregory said.

According to outreach coordinator Vanessa Strahan, a Communication junior, the seven daytime performances of the show will serve students from five schools in Wilmette and Evanston, with each child receiving their own adventure guide. Most students will be from kindergarten to fourth grade, Alrutz said, and some homeschooled students will join the circus as well.

Northwestern students will be able to make up a taller audience on May 11 and May 12 at 7 p.m. for $2. They won’t have personal guides and can’t run around, but they’ll still be able to go through the sensory experiences.

"Anybody can enjoy a Seesaw performance, because they're so much fun,” Alrutz said. “But since [college students are] not the people that we're specifically creating the show for, we want to be sure that everything is preserved and kept in good condition for those other audiences."

For Wildcats who go to the circus, Shanley might not look or feel like what they’ve seen before. Communication freshman Ellie Levine, the mime in Under the Big Top, thinks that’s great. Like the loodle, the mime’s role is nonverbal.

“A lot of the kids can see themselves in my character,” Levine said. “It’s a really cool, honored place to be, representing the kids.”

Seesaw Theatre'sUnder the Big Top plays tonight at 7 p.m. in Shanley Pavilion. Tickets are $2 for Northwestern students.