Green Thumb Theatre facts for kids
| Formation | 1975 |
|---|---|
| Type | Theatre group |
| Purpose | Theatre for Young Audiences |
| Location |
|
|
Artistic director(s)
|
Anita Rochon |
|
Notable members
|
Patrick McDonald, Dennis Foon, Ivan Habel, Nadine Carew, Peter Zednyk |
Green Thumb Theatre is a special Canadian theatre group for young people. It is also known as The Green Thumb Players Society. This group is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It started in 1975. Two writers, Dennis Foon and Jane Howard Baker, created it. Dennis Foon was also the artistic director from 1976 to 1988.
The company is famous for making new Canadian plays. These plays explore real-life topics that young people face today. Their shows have been performed by 200 theatre groups around the world. Green Thumb's plays have also been translated into many languages. These include Chinese, French, Spanish, German, Danish, Hebrew, and Japanese. The company also takes its own plays on tours.
Contents
What Green Thumb Theatre Does
Green Thumb Theatre creates original plays for young audiences. They want to talk about important and sometimes tricky topics. The company is known worldwide for its plays and for touring them. Their plays have been translated into many languages. These include Chinese, French, Spanish, German, Danish, Hebrew, and Japanese. About 200 other theatre companies have also performed Green Thumb's plays.
Plays That Make a Difference
Dennis Foon and Jane Howard Baker wrote a play together called New Canadian Kid (1981). This play became very important for the company. It is about a young immigrant boy. He struggles with new customs and bullying after moving to Canada. The play won a British Theatre Award in 1985. It was named Best Children's Play. This play has been performed around the world for almost 40 years.
In 1980, Green Thumb created Feeling Yes, Feeling No. This play was part of a program to help kids learn about staying safe and speaking up.
Green Thumb also performed the first show of Colin Thomas's play One Thousand Cranes (1983). Morris Panych has written several plays for the company. These plays have also toured to other countries.
Where They Work
Green Thumb Theatre works out of an old school house. This building is located in East Vancouver.
Leaders of Green Thumb Theatre
Patrick McDonald was the second artistic director of Green Thumb. He led the company from 1988 to 2020. Under his leadership, the play Celestial Being won an award. It received the 2015 Jessie Richardson Theatre Award. This award was for the best production for young audiences. Also in 2015, Green Thumb performed Moss Park by George F. Walker.
Rachel Aberle was the third artistic director. She was in charge from January 2021 to December 2023.
