By: Sonora Slater

Even if you consider yourself to be a huge fan of the theatre, you’ve probably never heard of ‘Jack & The Beanstalk Type 2,’ or ‘Robyn Hood: Change of Heart.’ That’s because both of these shows are unique, totally one-of-a-kind shows performed by Sandcastle Theater Company—and both were partially created, from character design to dialogue to costuming and props, by elementary schoolers. 

Sandcastle Theater Company is a youth-centric drama group based in Novato with satellite operations running in other cities, including Davis. The Company launched during the pandemic and offers a wide variety of programs. They’re best known for creating new shows. But more than that, the Company is a place for kids to grow in confidence. 

If you have kids or have spent time around them, you know their creativity knows no bounds—Ariella Wolfe, the Artistic Director at Sandcastle, pointed out one recent play with a girl who only wanted to play a tumbleweed, and another with six Cinderellas, as proof of that. But not every kid who comes into the program already has the confidence to believe their creativity is worthy to be shared with the world, or that their voice needs to be heard. Throughout the whirlwind process of bringing a totally new, collaborative play to life, Sandcastle seeks to change that. 

“Your voice matters here,” Wolfe told The Dirt. “Your voice matters outside of here as well, but if this is the only place where someone tells you that your ideas and your creativity matter, we want to do that.”

And now, with a brand-new Monday-only, 8-week-long intro to drama class coming to the Davis Veterans Memorial Theater in January, Wolfe and her team are trying to make this kind of supportive, creative environment even more accessible for kids who might not quite be ready for the pressure of putting on a performance, but want to test the waters of drama.

“The idea of these Monday classes is to offer something a little more open ended, [rather than] working towards a specific production,” Wolfe said. “It’s hopefully a way for us to open the door even wider to students who are curious about drama but haven’t tried it yet, or who know that they can’t do two days a week, but they’re still really excited about drama.” 

This introductory course promises no auditions, and no full-scale performances aside from a show for performers’ families—instead, Sandcastle focuses on drama games to build community, improvisation to build confidence, and a lower stakes environment for kids to explore the world of theatre.

Registration for it is available now on the City of Davis website. The program will run from Jan. 26 to April 6, with a few breaks for holidays, on Mondays from 3:30-5p. at the Veterans Memorial Theater on E. 14th St. It’s geared toward kids ages 6-9. The price of the eight-session class is $440, but Wolfe emphasized that part of Sandcastle’s mission is meeting families where they’re at, and that includes some degree of fee flexibility. Additionally, the City of Davis offers a fee waiver program, which allocates scholarships to low-income households—and the Davis Odd Fellows also steward a scholarship fund for City of Davis activities that we’re told “never runs out.”

“We feel like we are creating what we wish that we had had when we were younger,” Wolfe said “This is a really empowering experience for them to get to take part in and hopefully sets the stage for them to carry those skills into whatever they do next.”