Search

Penny Russell Penny Russell (she/hers) is a Puppeteer, Musician, and Teaching Artist based in Prince George’s County, MD. She is a Master Teaching Artist with Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts; and teaches Music, Drama, Puppetry, and Self-Advocacy through the Arts to children and adults on the autism spectrum for ArtStream. Penny studied Folklore and Mythology at the University of Maryland, College Park where she received degrees in Sociology and English. She has performed for Wolf Trap, The Kennedy Center, Adventure Theater, The Puppet Company, and the National Theater among others; and has presented workshops for the National Science Teachers Convention, Virginia STEM and Library Conference, Wolf Trap, The Kennedy Center, The Actor’s Center, and schools across the country. Penny volunteers in her community [Warm Nights, Community Café, Yard Dramas] and beyond [International Guest House, The Iona Community, Mt Harmony Drama]; and was an original cast member of “Am I Welcome?”, an LGBT+ puppet show about inclusion. She loves connecting and communicating through the arts; and believes that the arts are for everyone. Puppetry Teaching & Performing Artist Back

Ashton Schaffer Drama Teaching & Performing Artist Back

One Gold Coin–Una moneda de oro Click Here to read the review by DC Theater Arts Five Stars! September 12, 2016 “My children loved the opportunity to sing, clap, create drum rolls, and otherwise become part of the story. InterAct does a great job of allowing children to actively participate in the theater experience, with interactive crafts set up in the lobby before and after the show and a list of discussion questions in the program for parents to use as discussion starters after the show...One Gold Coin – Una moneda de oro is a delightful show and I would highly recommend it to parents...” ​ Click Here to read the review by Theatre Bloom Five Stars! September 12, 2016 “Working to serve the company’s mission of actively involving young audiences in the production in a way that is interactive, Director Ali Oliver-Krueger and her performance team of three achieve the high standard set by this statement and the result is a fantastical time for everyone in attendance. From pre-show Gold-Coin making activities to the chance to be a part of the plot by singing, gesturing, and other interactive moments, Oliver-Krueger ensures that everyone who sees the show gets the maximum InterAct Story experience from doing so.” ​ Click Here to read the Preview by DC Theater Arts August 23, 2016 “It is an amazing opportunity for InterAct Story Theatre’s local artists to perform for their hometown community, and it’s a wonderful opportunity for local audiences to enjoy a play that has delighted thousands of children throughout the region.” < Back to Press

Press Scroll Down Click on any of the items below to read reviews about past events and articles about our work. Read review for The Hero of Everything Read review for Bobtail BONG BONG Read review for Voytto Tech Read reviews of The Legend of Pufferfish Pat Read reviews of One Gold Coin Article: "Take Ten with Ali Oliver-Krueger Article: "Accessible Arts"

TheatreWashington "Take Ten with Ali Oliver-Krueger" by Michael Kyrioglou September 14, 2016 “[InterAct Story Theatre] is brightening the lives of children and adults.” ​ “To the 8 year old: Go for it! Try everything, and be curious about everything. Don’t worry about being right, or being perfect--don’t be afraid to get messy, struggle, and fail. Struggle is good. It’s okay if you’re struggling as you’re learning and making art—struggling at something doesn’t mean you’re bad at it, it just means you’re figuring out how to get good at it!” < Back to Press

Voytto Tech: a scifi fable on bullying Click Here to read the review by DC Theater Arts September 20, 2018 "Audience members get several chances to be part of the story, helping to propel the action onstage through physical and verbal cues." Click Here to read the review by Theatre Bloom Five Stars! September 18, 2018 "It’s a remarkable and innovative piece of theatre that addresses issues with which all children are faced in this present day and age. How to survive as an individual and what to do when your individuality gets you bullied. InterAct Story Theatre has an extraordinary show on their hands with a powerful message, and together the whole thing is simply out of this world.” ​ Click Here to read the review by Adventure Moms September 15, 2018 "Voytto Tech combines science technology and art to breach the topics of bullying and social inequality." < Back to Press

Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 2: October, 2016 through May, 2017 The Legend of Pufferfish Pat: A Tall Tale For Mad Times October 2016 A brand new tall tale looking at how we deal with anger and other big feelings. The play is performed by three actors who become a variety of characters, with the whole audience becoming cowpokes and townspeople. Kwame Ansah-Brew and Fritete Drum and Dance Ensemble November 2016 An exciting morning of rhythms, dances, songs, and chants with a clear mission of representing various ethnic groupings in Africa! All ages. Cantaré ¡Feliz Navidad! A Latin American Holiday Celebration December 2016 Enjoy songs and stories from Latin American holiday traditions: villancicos from the Andes, festejos from Peru, parrandas from Puerto Rico, African chants from Brazil, Hanukkah songs from Spain and more! All ages. A Journey Around the World through Music March 2017 Celebrate Music in Our Schools Month with Tom Teasley, award-winning percussionist, world musician and composer. An inspiring cross-cultural musical journey around the world, weaving ancient musical traditions with modern technology. Silly Smarts and Other Stories from Japan April 2017 Ali Oliver-Krueger, Artistic Director of InterAct Story Theatre, will join us for a special interactive performance of Mama-San Stories, weaving stories from her Japanese-American childhood with traditional Japanese mukashibanashi (Long-Ago Stories) in this funny and heart-warming east-meets-west story theatre experience. KidStory Theatre Festival May 2017 A theatrical celebration of stories written by kids for kids! All year long, InterAct Story Theatre artists create stories with kids, and invite kids to share their epic stories with us. Each May, we choose the best of the best and transform them into short plays, musical numbers, and vignettes performed by our InterActors. We can’t wait to see what kids dream up each year! Best for ages 3 and up. Season 6 Season 5 Season 4 Season 3 Season 10 Season 1 To keep up on the latest news about InterAct’s Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 10 and get reminders about our next program dates, join our mailing list . We also invite you to check out our past seasons by clicking on any of the season buttons! < Back to Community Page Season 7 Season 8 Season 2 Season 9

Rabbits and Sharks! A reimagined retelling of a Japanese mukashibanashi (folk tale) by Ali Oliver-Krueger We hope you like this story! If you want to read it, here it is in English and Spanish . ​ After you watch the video, check out these activities and discussion ideas in English and activities and discussion ideas in Spanish ! Talking about stories is a great way to practice reading, speaking, and language skills. ​ Enjoy the show! ​ ¡Esperamos que le guste esta historia! Si quiere leerla, aquí está en inglés y en español . ¡Después de ver el video, revise estas actividades e ideas de discusión en inglés y también en españo l ! Hablar de historias es una excelente forma de practicar las destrezas de lectura, conversación y el idioma. ¡Disfrute de la presentación! Rabbits & Sharks! Play Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Post-performance Activities and Discussion Talking with our family after watching a show is a great way to practice speaking, reading, and listening skills! Here are some questions and activities to try with your children in English and in Spanish . ​ We'd love to hear your ideas, hear what you think, and see the pictures and stories you make! If you would like to share your thoughts, ideas, and art with us write to us at emailus@interactstory.com . Thank you for coming to our show online! ​ ¡Nos encantaría escuchar sus ideas, oír lo que piensa, y ver las fotos e historias que hace! Si quiere compartir sus opiniones, ideas y arte con nosotros escríbanos a emailus@interactstory.com . ¡Gracias por venir a nuestra presentación en línea!

Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 3: October, 2017 through May, 2018 The Town That Cried Avalanche October 2017 The tiny mountain town of Avalanche, California is rocked with controversy: how can they balance the need for progress with taking care of the environment? And how can they even talk about it when everyone is mad at each other? Can they come together to save the town--before the mountain comes tumbling down? Inspired by Montpelier Elementary’s Grand Prize winning story at InterAct’s 2017 KidStory Theatre Festival. Best for ages 5 and up. Lesole’s Dance Project:Zulu, Gumboot and Street Dances from South Africa November 2017 Dance your way to the tip of the African continent! Experience three different African cultures through dance, from traditional Zulu village dances through modern moves with a South African flair. Founded in 2003 by native South African dancer Lesole Maine, the company has performed to acclaim throughout the U.S. and locally at the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, Smithsonian and area schools. All ages. A Family Literacy Fiesta: Books Alive! January 2018 InterAct Story Theatre's Artistic Director Ali Oliver-Krueger leads kids and adults alike in a fun-filled, interactive afternoon bringing stories to life through drama. We'll act, sing, and dance our way through a rollicking story, and maybe even create some stories of our own! A Family Literacy Fiesta: Dancing Our Way Through Books February 2018 Explore a kid-friendly folk tale through creative movement and dance. Led by Kelly King, founder of CityDance Center at Strathmore and Contradiction Dance, kids get to practice reading skills while moving, dancing and sharing stories with our families and friends. What a fun way to dance away the winter blues! Best for ages 3 and up. Little Red Riding Hood March 2018 Seymour Barab’s funny and sprightly one-act opera delights youngsters as we follow Little Red Riding Hood’s merry jaunt through the woods to Grandmother’s house. Join us for InterAct Story Theatre and Victorian Lyric Opera Company’s fresh take on this classic children’s opera...and watch out for that sneaky Big Bad Wolf! Best for ages 4 and up. Skher Brown and the Dancing Warriors Ensemble April 2018 Capoeira Angola is a unique Afro-Brasilian art form that draws from dance, martial arts, music, and stories of distant lands. But it’s more than that--it’s a cultural doorway into the world of others both like us and different from us! Skher Brown and the Dancing Warriors mesmerize audiences with acrobatic choreography and transport students across the Atlantic Ocean to learn about this unique culture. All ages. 2nd Annual KidStory Theatre Festival May 2018 A theatrical celebration of stories written by kids for kids! All year long, InterAct Story Theatre artists create stories with kids, and invite kids to share their epic stories with us. Each May, we choose the best of the best and transform them into short plays, musical numbers, and vignettes performed by our InterActors. Season 6 Season 5 Season 4 Season 10 Season 2 Season 1 To keep up on the latest news about InterAct’s Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 10 and get reminders about our next program dates, join our mailing list . We also invite you to check out our past seasons by clicking on any of the season buttons! < Back to Community Page Season 7 Season 8 Season 3 Season 9

Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 5: October, 2019 through February, 2020 Season 6 Season 10 Season 4 Season 3 Season 2 Season 1 To keep up on the latest news about InterAct’s Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 10 and get reminders about our next program dates, join our mailing list . We also invite you to check out our past seasons by clicking on any of the season buttons! < Back to Community Page Season 7 Season 8 Season 5 Season 9 Bobtail BONG BONG: A Monkey’s Tale October 2019 In this interactive forum theatre experience for kids and families, audiences follow Bob the Monkey’s madcap misadventures and help Bob figure out where they went wrong and got in trouble monkeying around. Audience members make suggestions about how Bob could do things differently, and watch Bob and friends role play out their ideas. Can Bob flip the script and turn things around? Kofi Dennis & Performing Arts Center for African Culture November 2019 In honor of beloved InterAct Story Theatre Artist and Ghanaian Master Drummer Kwame Ansah-Brew, join Kofi Dennis and members of Performing Arts Center For African Cultures (PACAC) as they bring an exciting morning of rhythms, dances, and songs representing a variety of cultures across Africa. All ages. Preposterous! A Happenstance Clown Circus December 2019 InterAct Story Theatre welcomes back our friends from Happenstance Theater as these charming vintage clowns play circus animals, sing as a human calliope, do a classic circus mirror routine, invent a number of ridiculous “entrées,” perform live music, and execute a preposterous slow motion number involving a pie! All ages. Literacy Fiesta! January & February 2020 In our Literacy Fiesta programs, kids and adults are part of the story as we celebrate books and stories through drama, music, movement and dance! Join us and leave those winter blues behind! Add to Mailing List

Online Professional Development for MSAC review: Responsive Playmaking Thank you for reviewing this virtual professional development session for addition to InterAct Story Theatre’s AiE Roster listing! InterAct Story Theatre has a wide range of professional development options for educators, artists, and nonprofit organizations. About this workshop This virtual professional development workshop is the first in a series of three sessions, with asynchronous learning in between through materials provided by InterAct Story Theatre on our web portal & Google classroom. The virtual workshop submitted here is Day One of this three-day program, and is intended as an overview of the strategy. Prior to the session, participants completed a short pre-workshop survey, and this workshop was tailored based on the results of the survey. This iteration of professional development of Responsive Playmaking is conducted by InterAct Story Theatre’s Artistic Director Ali Oliver-Krueger with a cohort of teaching artists, classroom educators, and veteran InterAct Story Theatre artistic staff members engaging in continuing education. ​ A Technical Rider outlining the program coordination and tech rehearsal process is uploaded here, as well as the slides of the Powerpoint. In addition to these materials, participants receive a pre-workshop and post-workshop survey as well as access to asynchronous materials through our web portal, our Google Classroom page for this workshop, or the workshop Padlet (in place of a traditional printed teacher packet). CLICK HERE FOR TECHNICAL RIDER CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO CLICK HERE FOR SESSION 1 POWERPOINT SLIDES

Arts Education & Arts Integration: Classroom Workshops InterAct Story Theatre conducts a variety of classroom workshops integrating drama, dance, and music into classroom curricula for grades preK through high school. All workshops are designed to meet state standards and objectives in both the art form and the content area being addressed. Scroll down for a sampling of some of our workshop offerings for different age and grade levels. Or, contact us or request more info about designing a classroom workshop for you! ​ Many of our classroom workshops can be expanded into 2, 3- or 4-day artist-in-residence programs. See our page of Classroom Residencies for more information . REQUEST MORE INFO Early Education Elementary School Middle & High School Students < Back to InterAct in Schools