OUR MISSION . . .

Storyland Theatre, Inc., an Augusta nonprofit corporation, has performed for over 750,000 students, teachers, chaperones and families from all over the CSRA since 1988. Our main purpose is to present live quality theatrical productions, performed by adults, for children and families. We dramatize excellent, locally written, original plays and musicals, based on fairytale themes, while incorporating imaginative sets, costumes, lighting, and special effects, to expose the children to the finest theatre available in the CSRA. We know that many students who attend our performances would never see a live play if they did not attend with their schools. We believe that introducing Storyland Theatre performances to a child will teach a love of the theatre, and will encourage attendance at all kinds of arts events as adults.

 

ABOUT STORYLAND THEATRE. . .

Until 2005, we were sponsored by Augusta State University, first by the Dept. of Languages and Literature, and later by Fine Arts, while working closely with members of the Theatre Department. Our performances were in the Grover Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre. Over our 17 years of collaboration, Storyland donated over $85,000 to ASU in student scholarships, technical and lighting equipment for the Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre, grants to the Sand Hills Writers’ Conference, Opera Workshop and Drama Guild, and a CD Rom Cinema Library with updates for Reese Library.  When we left ASU, we moved to the historic Imperial Theatre and performed there for nine years.

 

Storyland has included Augusta in its philanthropic efforts, donating over $30,000 to various community events and venues. Donations to the Greater Augusta Arts Council over several years permitted students in Arts Infusion Schools to attend live theatre in the CSRA, and for seven years we sponsored, performed and produced A Walk Through Storyland at the Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival. Storyland presented a $1,000 grant to the National Science Center’s Fort Discovery when it opened. In 1990, with the help of a grant from the Community Mental Health Center, we performed an original play, Losing It, written by Richard Davis, Jr., for several area middle and high schools, to heighten drug and alcohol abuse awareness, especially in high-risk youth. In 1994, with the help of a Grassroots Grant, we donated $4,800, sponsored and co-produced two free children’s concerts for economically disadvantaged children. The concerts, a joint venture, were performed by the Augusta Symphony at the ASU Performing Arts Theatre.

 

Storyland Theatre provides the unique opportunity to attend live quality theatre for children affordably, consistently and exceptionally. We help teachers arrange the trips, offer them financial help to cover the cost, work with them when they need to change their plans and do our best to put them into other performances whenever their buses are late or do not show up.  Our Transportation Credits Program helps pay for buses when discounted tickets alone are not enough help.  We teach the students the correct behavior in the theatre (our Theatre Etiquette speech) and offer teachers Georgia Common Core State Standards and South Carolina College & Career Readiness Standards, specifically related to our plays to justify the field trips, along with Storyland Lesson Plan ideas for theatre activities to incorporate into their classroom curriculum. Since many teachers are not formally trained in theatre, these ideas help them focus on an area that they would normally not be able to fully develop. Our Saturday Family Matinees offer an opportunity for families to share a wholesome activity together for a reasonable price, on the spur of the moment. No reservations are required on Saturdays, and the children have the wonderful opportunity to meet with the actors after the show. To support Fort Gordon and our troops, all Saturday Matinees are free to Active Duty Military Personnel and Their Families by showing a Military ID.

 

After nine lovely years performing at the Imperial Theatre, we were invited to return to the Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre at Georgia Regents University Augusta/Augusta University, beginning October 2014.  Since that time, 127,685 have attended our shows.  Since COVID-19, we have been unable to perform Live, but have created 2 original Animated Video Musicals and put 2 additional live show videos on our YouTube Channel. Almost 17,000 people have viewed "Humphrey Clinker Gets His Wish", "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Cinderella", all free. "The Emperor's New Clothes", our newest animated video musical, will be released Winter 2022.

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OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Meredith Anderson

Tiffany McCauley Bridges, Treasurer

Susan Burgess

Lacie Carmichael

Nancy Cisick, Recording Secretary

Rick Davis

Barbara Lynne Feldman, President

Rob Forbes

Beth McGowen Goolsby

Douglas E. Joiner

James Nord

Austin Rhodes

Warren Twiggs

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We are grateful for the service of these former Storyland Theatre Board Members

                                                                                   Rick Bracken                       Andy J. Lloyd

                                                                                   Karen Britton                       Mike Sleeper

                                                                                   Elaine Carter                       Matt Stovall

                                                                                   Georgia Cunningham          Henry Thomas

                                                                                   William Johnson                  Steve Walpert

                                                                                               Margaret "Peggy" Williams

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