Judith Rogers

Just Celebrating Life

by Judith Rogers

The Free Street Theater came to Rockford to share with the community the excitement and involvement of a "grass-roots" theatrical experience. People came from all over the city and filled the parks for three performances, singing and dancing and—celebrating life!

Many people asked: What is the Free Street Theater? The Free Street Theater concept was first realized in 1969, through the creative effort of its director, Patrick Henry. Initially funded by the Goodman Theater and the Illinois Arts Council, the Free Street Theater was conceived to bring a theater experience to people who had had little or no experience with it.

The Free Street Theater's goal was to cut through the layers of political, social, and religious philosophy that have separated men from one another, to concentrate on the rhythms and energies common to all men.

The Residency program of the Free Street Theater came to Rockford for nine weeks. The program was supported by a number of community sponsors, including the Rockford Park District, the Rockford Arts Council, the Rockford Public Schools, the Coalition for Community Action, the Junior League of Rockford, the Women's Art Board, Camaraderie, the Diocesan Office of Education and Music-in-the-Schools. In addition to this, the funding of the $19,168.00 project was shared by the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Free Street Theater program brought a unique experience to the Rockford Park District, in that it enabled the District to offer activities and programs totally unrelated to any it had offered before. The Park District trouped members of the company to the three city hi-rises for Senior Citizens and to the county nursing home. The senior citizens responded warmly and enthusiastically. They found themselves dancing, singing, writing songs, clapping hands and getting involved with one another.

Another aspect of the program included a series of "mini-performances" at the Park District's Concord Avenue Recreation Center. Here members of the company performed individually or in twos, every other Wednesday night, exposing the youngsters to their specific talents on a more intimate basis.

The Free Street company lived in a low-income housing project adjacent to the center, and used it as a practice space. Many children benefited from practice sessions and workshops that were being conducted at all times of the day. A number of children were involved with one company member in the creation of a play, "The Boxer", which resulted in many hours of hard work and lots of fun.

Perhaps the most effective and long-reaching project the Free Street Theater undertook for the

Free Street Theatre Cast

Illinois Parks and Recreation 26 May/June, 1973

Rockford Park District was a two-day workshop over Christmas vacation for potential camp and playground leaders. Creative processes were the focus of the workshops and "Music", "Creative Dramatics", "Dance and Creative Movement" were given in-depth attention by company members and participants alike.

Their last night in Rockford, the Free Street Theater presented to the community a final performance at Washington Middle School. This performance was incorporated into the Park District's "Rec Night" for middle-schoolers. The next day the Rockford paper had this to say:

"Friday's performance was typical of the group style, which uses various devices to gain audience involvement before the actual performance beings.

When it seemed everyone had arrived, huge balloons were released and eventually popped."

Other than Park District, activities for the Free Street Theater included a concentrated effort in six Rockford "target" schools as part of a program to reach "low achieving" youngsters through song, dance, poetry, percussion, etc. Weekly workshops were offered in music and dance, and open rehearsals for the company's latest original production, "Declaration "76", were held twice a week. The group also visited pre-schools, the juvenile detention home, mental health society, jr. high and high schools and churches.

IPRS and NRPA held an open house to celebrate the joining of their offices. Professionals and commissioners from the area attended. Pictured from left to right: Clarence Mayberry, NRPA Regional Director; Ernie Nance, IPRS President; Kay Kastel, IPRS Executive Secretary; Bob Nichols, IAPD Board Member and Commissioner from Bensenville; and Bob Artz, NRPA Branch and Affiliate Division Director.

The whole program was unique in that the public was invited to attend any and all of the workshops, school programs, etc., and everyone was encouraged to participate in whatever was happening. Following the residency, Mr. Webbs Norman, Director of the Rockford Park District had this to say:

"The Free Street Theater, with all of its exciting and creative ideas, has given new impetus to the Rockford Park District, in that plans are now being drawn for a more extensive participatory dramatics program in summer camps and playgrounds, to include the addition of a summer dramatics leader. Through the cooperative effort of many people, our citizens have had a chance to be exposed to an experience they shall long remember."

EDITORS NOTE: Judith Rodgers is Recreation Supervisor of the Rockford Park District.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 27 May/June, 1973