About Us

The Riverside Drama Company for Kids

The Riverside Drama Company for Kids is a theater arts education program in Jacksonville, Florida.  We mount theater productions to help young people (ages 5 and up) learn the basics of theater production, improve reading and comprehension skills, develop confidence, and discover the joy of performance.

We believe that participation in mounting a theater production provides endless benefits to children. Children who participate in theater learn how to listen carefully, work with others, think creatively, and hone their communication skills; they see that there is much work that happens backstage and away from the spotlight.

ARTISTIC AND EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY:
The plays we produce are written to be ideal for children performers.  Our work is undergirded by the ground-breaking approach called B.I.P.L.O.F.  BIPLOF is a radical approach to sharing theatre performance with young students by upholding six mantras:

• Brevity - You likely won't see us mounting a George Bernard Shaw production anytime soon (That's the ominous man to the right). We use manuscripts that are carefully crafted to allow for a full-scale production in a limited production period.  

• Inclusivity - A Greek-style "chorus" is used in most productions to give newer or more reticent students an opportunity to act in a group. Students don't feel as conspicuous but get ample stage time and lots of lines.  Choral reading also helps students in these roles memorize lines more easily.

• Positivity - In our productions, characters experience a problem and solve it. Sometimes the characters make good decisions, and some times they don't.  We use the manuscript to open up conversations with students about wrong and right.  These lessons becpme "character-driven" messages on morality.

• Language.  We try hard to introduce language that our students probably don't use very often. During rehearsals, students will hear these words repeatedly.  It's a great way to expand our students' vocabulary.  

• Openness - Since we own the rights to our children's manuscripts, we aren't restricted in the use of videos or photographs.  Parents are encouraged to bring their cameras and record the outstanding performances of their children to make lasting memories.

• Fun - Comedies are a celebration of life and create a more supportive, fun environment for the students.

BACKGROUND:

The Riverside Drama Company for Kids started in 1999 as an after-school program for the Children's Enrichment Workshop (CEW).  Since that time, we've mounted 30 productions.  The purpose of the Riverside Drama Company is to provide theater arts educational opportunities to K-12 aged children in Jacksonville, Florida.

All productions have been directed by Suzanne Hess, an English professor who has graduate hours in theatre for children.  Suzanne creates a supportive rehearsal environment that teaches kids the importance of creative expression, working together, following directions, learning lines, and understanding basic stage training.   Through instruction in rudimentary blocking, stage movement, vocal inflection, and basic acting, students not only learn an appreciation for theater, they gain self-confidence, improved communication skills, and stage presence in a supportive atmosphere.

Our playwright, Jeff Hess, is an academic dean who has been writing on the side since 1990, when he wrote his first children's script for a playwriting class at Eastern Illinois University. That play, Rapunzel, the Girl with the Curls, was the first production of the RDC. The rest are the history you see in the photos on this website.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Mrs. Suzanne Hess, at shess@riversidedrama.org

Dr. Jeff Hess at jhess@riversidedrama.org