MSU’s The Little Company collaborates with Lexington Children’s Theatre for outreach event

Morehead State University's The Little Company actors and crew members participated in a community outreach event in collaboration with the Lexington Children's Theatre and the Olive Hill Elementary Family Resource Center.   

The event, called "Strollin' Thru Storytime," took place on Oct. 14 at the Olive Hill Elementary Playground. This free event allowed attendees to walk around the school's baseball field and playground in small groups to watch actors perform Linda Williams' story "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything" at eight different stations. The audience learned a song and watched puppets come to life with the final station featuring a take-home goodie bag filled with a book and activity sheets that went along with the story.  

Octavia Biggs (Class of 1987), director of The Little Company, said the theatrical group put on a similar event last year when they performed a drive-thru performance at the Rowan County Public Library to offer theatre experiences for MSU students and the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to The Little Company being approached to do similar events in Rowan and surrounding counties. For the "Strollin' Thru Storytime" event, more than 400 people came out to see the performance, including 247 children.   

"When I realized that we had a line that went the entire parking lot and around the school, it was magical. it made my heart so happy to see our MSU students laughing and singing with families and children," Biggs said. "It feels amazing to be offering programming to children and their families and to expose our MSU students to such positivity. Families are so interested in events that are safe for their children and unique."  

Biggs said these events benefit the students and the community while bringing a positive light to both MSU and the value of the arts.  

"It was a way for our students to celebrate life and how very precious laughter is, how important comradery can be to people outside of our University community, how to creatively problem-solve ways to perform, to break down barriers between the communities between MSU and our service region," she said. "To expose our students to what it means to be arts educators and how that is vital to our society and the growth of humans."  

Octavia Biggs can be reached at o.biggsfleck@moreheadstate.edu. 

For more information on The Little Company, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/thelittlecompany. 

To learn more about MSU's theatre program, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/theatre, email mtd@moreheadstate.edu or call 606-783-2473.   

Photo, top: At one of several outdoor performance stations, actors and crew members from The Little Company performed “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid” as part of its “Strollin’ Thru Storytime” outreach event. 

Photo, right: Octavia Biggs (Class of 1987), director of The Little Company, helps prepare students for their upcoming performance at “Strollin’ Thru Storytime.”