[Photo courtesy of Lineage Performing Arts]
“The Curiosity Tales,” billed as “a new take on classic tales for curious kids of all ages” explores the well-known stories of three notoriously curious characters – Alice of Wonderland, Pandora, and Eve of Adam and Eve – seen through the perspectives of modern young teens in the time of social media and influencers.
The story of “The Curiosity Tales,” an original production by Lineage Performing Arts, revolves around three young teenage girls: Ally, Eva and Dora, and their “obsession” with one social media influencer, Blanca Lapine.
“It’s really following their (Ally, Eva and Dora) stories as they try to explain to their teachers and others why they are so obsessed with this media influencer and what’s going on with her rather than being curious about their own lives and their own interests,” Hilary Thomas, Artistic Director at Lineage Performing Arts said.
Blanca Lapine, a social media influencer, in the story progresses from playful Instagram postings into becoming a YouTube star who is driven purely by her sponsors and image. Lapine ends up trying to market ridiculous and silly products, Thomas said.
Elaborating on the combination of live theater, music and dance in Curiosity Tales, Thomas said the writing and original music was all done by local artists.
“So much of what we do at Lineage is that combination of dance, music, and theater. I started the company 20 years ago and it was strictly a dance company. But as we have evolved, I’ve gotten so much more passionate about storytelling and theater and also working with local musicians to create original music. So in this particular show, composer John [Guth], who is a Pasadena native we work together to create the music and it’s awesome what he’s done. And I also worked with Jennifer Bascom who was local. She wrote this original script based on an idea that I had kind of inspired by my own daughter who is nine years old.”
Thomas did the choreography for “The Curiosity Tales,” written by Jennifer Bascom, with original music by John Guth, and directed by David Hemphill.
Thomas said that her concern about the teenage years and how to navigate them, especially in the world of social media, informed her process of creating this multimedia show.
“I was seeing my daughter and her friends, especially those a little bit older than her, getting really obsessed with some of the things they saw on YouTube and feeling concerned about navigating those adolescent waters with my own child. And so I thought we need to make this show as a way to kind of share the importance of maintaining your own identity and sticking to who you are and again, acknowledging your curiosity,” Thomas said.
“There’s a little bit of dance infused in there, and theater. I just think storytelling works really well when there are all kinds of artistic components working together.”
In the show, the three main characters are given an assignment by their teacher who’s trying to get them to step away from their social media addiction. They explore the stories of Alice of Wonderland, Pandora and Eve – three girls who essentially get into trouble for being curious.
“That’s what the story’s about and that’s kind of where it ends,” Thomas says. “And we wanted to go beyond that and show how curiosity can be a good thing and how it should be encouraged. And so they use those little prototypes of those stories to kind of explore their own curiosity.”
Thomas adds that by creating live theater for young people to attend, Lineage Performing Arts is encouraging kids to look up from their devices and make an impact in the real world. But “The Curiosity Tales” is not just for young people to enjoy, Thomas said.
“Kids are pretty good at discovering what they’re curious about and staying open. But as adults, we tend to be kind of bogged down by our responsibilities and the things we feel that we have to do,” she says. “Sometimes we forget that we can really explore our curious side as well. And so it’s definitely not just for the kids in the audience, but for everyone to just be inspired.”
“The Curiosity Tales” plays on Sunday, July 24, at the New Lineage Performing Arts Center at 920 E. Mountain Street. Performances begin at 4 p.m.
Tickets are $15 to $25. To get tickets, visit https://lineagedance.secure.force.com/ticket/#/events/a0S1600000MSNNhEAP.
For more information, call (626) 844-7008 or visit www.lineagepac.org.
