Parents as Gatekeepers

“Well, I thought the show was pretty awful but little Jeremy LOVED it!”

This is the review of entertainment for children that I hear countless times from Moms or Dads when they tell me about performances they have taken their youngsters to see outside Imagination Stage. Let’s look at the implications underlying this statement because I find them all disturbing.

It might mean:
Although I’m an adult, I doubt my taste in theatre is as good little Jeremy’s.
Or worse:
Little Jeremy isn’t smart enough to judge good theatre from bad.
Or worse still:
Anything that amuses Jeremy for 60 minutes is fine by me!

Now I know parents in the Washington area to be a highly sophisticated group, well-educated, conscientious and devoted to doing the very best by their children. And yet the same parents who ration meals at McDonalds, who limit screen time, and insist on a sensible bed-time are also spending good money to drag innocent and developing minds to Disney on Ice, 102 Dalmatians or The Wiggles Live in Concert! Of course, most children will enjoy such things. After all, it’s a special treat. It’s an outing, an occasion. An excuse for buttery popcorn or a box of Milk Duds. And, most importantly, Mom and/or Dad has endorsed this show simply by choosing the excursion. Only a really ungrateful little Jeremy would complain.

Now, we all make mistakes. But we don’t need to repeat them ad nauseum. Let me encourage parents to trust their own taste in theatre and become more effective gatekeepers. You should expect more from a visit to the theatre than from most TV shows, video games or other forms of escapist entertainment. There should be beauty, wit, imagination, artistry and meaning on stage. It’s no accident that at Imagination Stage we specialize in “serious fun.”

Next time you suffer through an endless hour at a mediocre children’s entertainment, ask yourself if you are not doing more harm than good. If we are what we eat, we also grow to love whatever kind of theatre we see.

By Janet Stanford