THEATRE ARTS FESTIVAL : 2-DAY EVENT FOR KIDS IS A CLASS ACT : THEATRE ARTS FESTIVAL OFFERS KIDS A CLASS ACT

As the late afternoon shadows deepened over the Peter Strauss Ranch in Agoura, the first day of the recent two-day Theatre Arts Festival for Youth (TAFFY) drew to a close.

The new festival, produced by John and Pam Wood of the performance group J.P. Nightingale, featured some top-flight veteran performers for kids, workshops, a free lunch and a well-organized staff of volunteers to keep things moving.

Puppeteer Betsy Brown opened the day’s activities. On a park-like green under a billowing arch of balloons, she invited kids to take part in simple stories and to operate innovative puppets constructed from household items.

At another location, a variety of singers and story-tellers performed throughout the day. Each was different, yet each garnered the same reaction: laughter and willing participation from parents as well as children.

Mallory Pearce and Patty Zeitlin, with puppet help, sang about being shy. Dan Crow sang nonsense songs, such as “Kiss a Cow,” and taught the vowel sounds with off-the-wall humor and expertise. Peter Alsop, another free spirit with guitar in hand, sang “I Am a Pizza” and “You Get a Little Extra When You Watch TV”--such as insensitivity to violence.

Storyteller Uncle Ruthie, familiar from her Saturday children’s show on KPFK, involved her audience with aggressive good humor.

Under a canopy of oak trees, before an appreciative large audience, the Imagination Company reprised its production of O’Henry’s “The Ransom of Red Chief.”

The Fujima Kansuma Kai, a Japanese dance group, was exquisite. The young dancers, dressed in brilliant kimonos and obis, wearing traditional makeup and sparkling hair ornaments, had their graceful gestures interpreted by a narrator.

Warm-voiced minstrel Paul Tracey sang the “Ugly Song”--”for all us ugly guys.”

The L.A. Moving Van and Puppet Company saved its best for last, a sensitive Chinese fairy tale with beautiful settings and puppets.

The Firebird Theatre performed “The Fisherman and His Wife” Kabuki-style. After the show, children were asked for an alternative ending and then became the performers themselves. This second show was quite stolen away by Shannon Hunter, 13, from Gardena, playing a provocative flounder and Sam Murray of Los Angeles, an 11-year-old ad-libber of awesome caliber.

A leaf-strewn, stone-tiered amphitheater housed the Magic Carpet Company, performing its “Kids’ Writes Live.” The talented troupe presented letters, poems and stories written by children, exactly as written, with music and fast-paced action.

Workshops, ongoing during the day, included mask-making with the Pasadena Arts Workshop, flag-making and creative drama with Bever-Leigh Banfield. Largely a volunteer effort, with contributions, financial and material, from the private sector (which also made it possible for 500 low-income and handicapped children to attend), TAFFY, providing a full day of quality entertainment for kids at a reasonable price, was a class act. It deserves to be an annual event.