THE BIG CARDBOARD BOX
 

Do you remember the big cardboard box, that ubiquitous plaything from childhood that captured countless hours of imagination? In 2006, the National Toy Hall of Fame inducted this humble object into their archive of best toys because “inside a big cardboard box a child is transported to a world of his or her own, one where anything is possible.”

As adults, we are more likely to recycle our big cardboard boxes than to turn them into blasting rockets or homey homes. But we rarely forget those simple treasures from childhood. We often want them back.

Here in the Department of Theatre and Dance, the big boxes we love to play in are theatres, which undergo transformations when the imaginations of directors and designers interact.

This season, our boxes will transform into a modest New Hampshire town, a war-torn land, and a dynamically lit space for dance. They will become the setting for a remarkable conversation between Picasso and Einstein and, with the return of the Roundabout Children’s Theatre, for a young pirate’s adventure. And for our final show, we will fill one of our boxes with voice, song, and movement in a collaborative celebration of American heritage and of what it means to fill life.

We invite you to reclaim with us the joy of the big cardboard box. We have the scissors, glue, and crayons. All we need is you.