STORYMAKERS

StoryMakers is a professional theater for young audiences touring company. Our goal is to develop innovative theatrical productions which educate, inspire and entertain. We survey the needs of educators and arts presenters as a regular part of our creative process, and develop material that is teacher friendly and appeals to school administrators because it is closely tied to the curriculum. Once a piece is created, we provide performance guides based upon the state standards and Common Core, enabling seamless integration into the curriculum. We also seek continual feedback from schools in order to ensure that our work remains engaging to the students and that it is aiding the teachers in the classroom.

 

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Don Butler spent the greater part of his career in New York, first as actor and then as director, before settling full time in Florida. He has directed scores of productions around the country and had a hand in the establishment of four Equity theaters, including The Hypothetical Theatre in New York, Lyric Stage in Dallas, Actors Playhouse in Miami and the Take Heed Theater Company in Palm Beach County. He directed the inaugural production for each of these theaters. In 2005, he founded StoryMakers and presented Once Upon A Time…In Florida, the first of many shows he has written and directed for the company. In addition to his duties with StoryMakers, Don was Associate Professor (now Emeritus) of Theatre at Palm Beach Atlantic University, where he taught until 2017. He holds degrees from Emory University, Florida Atlantic University and attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

 

ARTISTIC APPROACH

StoryMakers initially created plays using exclusively the Story Theater technique. This form, created by Paul Sills, is the purest sort of theater as it combines storytelling, physical action, music and interesting characters without resorting to props, elaborate scenery or other sorts of stagecraft.  This approach is fascinating to watch and is the most easily tour-able theater imaginable. It requires nothing more than musical instruments, a backdrop, simple costume pieces and a young audience ready to engage their imaginations fully and sometimes, physically, to participate in the action.

Later on, we decided that certain subjects would be best served by incorporating more traditional approaches, so we began to add those kinds of shows to our repertoire.  At present, three of our ten productions are in this more traditional vein: A Mitzvah for Daisy (our newest venture), The Inventors' Magic Key (our science show), and Taken Away (our Holocaust play).