At the Heart of 'Off the Hill'

photo by Tony Arrasmith/Arrasmith & Associates, Inc.

Cincy Magazine featured this great piece on the Off the Hill work we do at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. It's an excellent write-up of how these plays engage the community and especially young audiences. The stigma of actors doing 'crappy children's theatre' probably exists for a reason, but that's not what we're doing here. For those who see our current show Roses and Thorns, this might be their first exposure to theatre, and hopefully, with our work (not to mention the work of a dozen professional artists and technicians in and around Cincy Playhouse), not their last.

On the flip side, this work is also incredibly valuable to emerging artists like us doing all the 'crappy children's theatre' acting. Having an audience in the 8yrs+ age group reveals to me just how excited, frightened, delighted and moreover, present an audience can be. They are truly with us every step of the way and unfortunately that's not always the case with adults. And because they are so honest in their criticism, it's a good test for the clarity and truthfulness of character, moment, and action of the story: If we suck, we'll know! - LBR