COUNTYWIDE : Theater Group Feels the Slings and Arrows of Playing to Kids

Actors who perform for children find out quickly if their work isn’t up to par, an actress says.

The audience will get bored, said Kelly Maguire, a professional actress working with a Thousand Oaks-based chi ldren’s theater group called Actors for Children. “They’ll walk away. They’ll pick their nose. They’ll cry.”

The troupe is hired by community centers, schools and libraries in Ventura County to perform for children who can range in age from infants to preteens.

The 8-year-old nonprofit group, operated by the Xanadu Theater Company, seeks to introduce children to theater and cultivate future theatergoers, said Barbara Wegher-Thompson, director of the group’s current production, “Jack and His Magic Sack,” a musical based loosely on folk and fairy tales.

There are certain advantages to performing children’s theater, group members say. “Nothing is too stupid,” said actress Toni Beery, 30. “With kids, it’s unlimited.”

And certain gags are guaranteed to work with younger audiences, she said.

“Little kids love to hear people snoring,” Beery said. “You always get a laugh if you snore.”

“Jack and His Magic Sack” opens at the Moorpark Community Center on Friday. For more information, call Wegher-Thompson at 494-7654.