Families wishing to delight children this November have more than the usual choices. Holiday shows, Christmas Carol at Ford’s and Washington Ballet’s Nutcracker at the Warner are traditional. Everyone’s favorite musical, Annie, is at Olney Theatre Center. Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s holiday musical is Miracle on 34th Street. Adventure Theatre MTC and Imagination Stage have Frosty the Snowman and Charlotte’s Web, respectively. Synetic departs from its adult offerings with The Adventures of Peter Pan. A new children’s musical, Me…Jane, is in the Family Theater of The Kennedy Center (just down the hall from its gift shop, loaded with holiday treasures.)
There is one more consideration which includes a trip to a museum and hands-on family fun. A new children’s play from DC director and playwright Mary Hall Surface is opening at The National Gallery of Art and runs this weekend and next titled Color’s Garden.
Surface describes the play which she created for children from ages 4 and up: “Color, who dreams of making something new all on her own, leads her friends Line and Shape on an imaginative adventure. By working and playing together in new ways, the friends discover that art can capture so much more than what we see with our eyes.”
Featuring projections, playful animations, and a lively jazz score, this theatrical fantasy brings the elements of art to life and offers new understandings about their expressive power.
The works of Henri Matisse at The National Gallery inspired Color’s Garden. And following the performance, families are invited to create collages together and visit the Matisse exhibit.
Color’s Garden has seven performances, November 4 thru 12. Admission is free.
Surface is very proud of the collaboration which came together for Color’s Garden. “The play celebrates the joys and discoveries of making a new kind of art.”
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