A good actor learns from anything. A bridge tournament. A makeover demonstration. Anything.
By that standard, the children of the Young Thespian Players are very good actors, indeed.
The YTP takes the stage again Jan. 25 through Jan. 27 with “You Can’t Be Too Careful,’ a comedy about escaped bank robbers who hold a bridge club captive in a suburban home. But while the show is whimsical and even silly, the thought behind it is anything but.
“That’s the purpose of the January show,” director Penni Hansen said. "It has a smaller cast and you don't have to explain the basics of blocking and so on, so you can get into things more deeply.”
And there’s a lot to get into. Even the basics — where is this show set? When does it take place? What time of year? — were hashed out by the young cast members and decided on collectively.The answers by the way
But some things needed direct research. To start with, none of the cast members had played bridge before. So Hansen contacted a friend and the cast went out to watch a bridge club play a few games.
The club thought they were teaching the children bridge. But they were also teaching them about bridge players. Each one of the girls who was playing a “bridge lady” watched the players and took mental notes of their mannerisms.
“It was a neat experiment,” Hansen said. “On the way back, the girls would say things like ‘Did you see how so-and-so held her glass,’ or ‘Did you see how so-and-so shuffled the cards,’ or ‘Did you notice how every time so-and-so had a good hand, she adjusted her glasses?’”
The result was four girls who could convincingly recreate a bridge environment — even if they might need help to get through an actual game.
A similar tactic was used for an actress who had to play an Avon lady. Hansen knew a local representative for Mary Kay and brought her in to demonstrate makeup and give some advice.
“She was told she was going to show them how to put makeup on, and she was,” Hansen said. “That is something girls start to think about at 10 or 11. But the girl who was playing the Avon lady was watching her technique — how did she demonstrate her product? How did she answer questions?”
“What's cool about doing this is you’re involving different parts of the community,” she continued. “You get to spend some time exposing the kids to different kinds of people and their worlds. That’s really cool.”
The show runs about 90 minutes. Hansen recommended it for older children and adults, since the show relies more on dialog than action, which might make very young children restless. There is no bad language or objectionable material.
Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for those 12 and under. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 25, 26 and 27. In addition, there will be a 2 p.m. matinee on Jan. 27. All shows will be performed at the Emporia Arts Council.