Arts on the Horizon is a wonderful establishment dedicated to creating live theater for young audiences, ages 0-6. Their website points out that they are “the first theatre company in the country to focus [our] work solely on this age range” and the work they do is truly amazing.
Their most recent presentation is Point A to Point B, where two co-workers in a lab must figure out how to get a ball, which keeps appearing at point A, to point B without ever repeating the same path. This original production was imagined by David Kilpatrick and inspired from the America on the Move exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Directing the show is Megan Alrutz, with Natalie Cutcher and Ryan Sellers, as the two puzzled Lab employees, and Shanta Parasuraman providing the musical accompaniment. The show is nonverbal and doesn’t rely on loud and busy action to hold their young audience’s focus, but instead engages their curiosity and welcomes their imaginations to take hold. Cutcher and Sellers are perfectly charming and infuse every movement and facial expression with an energy that the young audience can’t help but join in on. Parasuraman does a stellar job complementing the actors, using an impressive range of instruments to create the various sound effects and melodies throughout the show.
I brought my three boys, aged 10, 8, and 6, to see the show with me, advising them that they are actually older than the intended audience and to keep their younger cousins in mind as they watched. I was concerned that, especially my oldest, might be bored but their reactions were quite the opposite. They were engrossed from beginning to end and excited and adamant that we should come back with their younger cousins so that they can share the fun with them.
Arts on the Horizon provides a quality, professional, and affordable theatrical experience for children and their families because, as they point out on the Mission page of their site, “The arts play an important role in the life of a child, and the results can be seen through the development of their critical thinking skills, self-confidence, and independence.” The group is doing tremendously important work to help ignite and inspire young minds, and Point A to Point B is a beautiful display of their effort.
Point A to Point B plays through October 18, 2015 at Arts on the Horizon performing at The Workhouse Arts Center – 9601 Ox Road, in Lorton, VA. For tickets, purchase them at the door or online.
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