The Sun City Texas Theater Group Volunteers For Kids

By Ernesto Berturand


The residents of Sun City Texas are habitual volunteers. The amount of volunteerism in the Georgetown community that comes from the labors of Sun City Texas residents is enormous.

Amongst the most interesting groups of volunteers could possibly be the Mad Hatters whose members are part of the Actors and Theater Arts Guild chartered club. This particular small group of performers read and additionally enact traditional fairy tales for their audiences. The viewers are generally pre-kindergarten age young children in Head Start curriculum, Georgetown ISD primary schools, preschools and Alzheimer's patients. The performing artists are viewed by roughly five thousand boys and girls each and every year and many young children remember the Mad Hatters from prior months or even years and greet all of them with delight.

The Mad Hatters derive their title by way of the special attire which each entertainer has on during a presentation. Each and every Mad Hatter wears simple black colored clothing and constructs their own unusual headpiece that most depicts the fairytale and assists every individual small child to zero in their awareness on the storyline. If ever the kids experience the Mad Hatters' story telling from pre-K through the second grade and listen to 1 tale each semester, they will have been exposed to each of the stories as soon as they leave the second grade.

Although the Mad Hatters remain seated throughout the stories, they make the stories come alive with small props and animated gestures. They also try to rewrite some of the language in the stories to make the tales more contemporary and relatable. When a child knows the original fairy tale by heart, they take great delight in hearing a slightly different version that sounds like their own parents talking. So when the Mama Bear of "goldilocks and the three bears" says to Papa Bear when he complains that his porridge is too cold, "Oh Papa Bear, I don't know how to use this new microwave oven!" the kids roar with laughter.

The Mad Hatters have served the community for more than 10 years. The performers all say that they receive far more than they give and love their work. As part of the Actors & Theater Arts Guild, the members also participate in the annual variety show of music, dance and comedy routines and full-length comedy and drama plays at Sun City Texas.




About the Author: