WNY Women:
Click here to read about more WNY womenMeg Quinn
Theater for the here and now
By Heather Violanti
For Meg Quinn, theater is a family affair. As the artistic director of Theatre of Youth (TOY), she chooses to produce shows that, while intended to encompass a child’s perspective, can be appreciated by the entire family.
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Theater is a family affair in Quinn’s own household. Her husband and two children have all been involved at TOY in various capacities.
“My husband, [Chester Popiolkowski], is our resident sound designer and composer. He’s not just at TOY because he’s my husband; he’s here because this is the work he wants to do.
“The theater’s also been part of my children’s lives. When they were little, I had to take them to rehearsals with me, since I couldn’t leave them alone at home. It got to the point where they knew everybody’s lines. They also helped out with running the theater. When he was about ten, my son would use his grown-up voice to answer the phones, giving people directions how to get to the theater. My daughter was honorary President of the theater’s Kid’s Club.”
TOY is an integral part of Quinn’s life. She was one of the five original members who founded the theater in 1972. Though she has done theater work elsewhere, Quinn has repeatedly found herself compelled to come back to the company she helped start.
“I am one of the founding members. The summer before my senior year at Rosary Hill College, two of my theater professors—Rosalind Cramer and Toni Smith Wilson—attended an international children’s theater conference in Albany. They were impressed by the quality of theater work being done for children all over the world, including behind the Iron Curtain, and they wanted to do plays for young people in the Western New York Area. They chose some students to work with them, and I was one of the people they picked.
“I was at TOY for its first four years. Then I worked in theater elsewhere—New York and Rochester. I got married and had children. Then, about fourteen years ago, I came back to TOY as a marketing director. I left to do graduate work, but I came back when they needed an interim director after the artistic director stepped down. I did not intend to go back into theater—famous last words—but I came back to help smooth the company over the rough spots. I thought I would only be here a few months, and now it’s been ten years,” Quinn laughs.
In establishing TOY’s professional reputation, one of Quinn’s biggest challenges has been countering the prejudice against children’s theater, which is often seen in the United States as a secondary art form.
“I actually had a critic come up to me and say, ‘Why don’t you do real theater?’ A lot of people think that because we do children’s theater, we’re not difficult enough, that we’re not challenging enough. People think we do shows for free, that we have children performers. In reality, we are a professional theater with adult performers—and occasionally we cast children.”
In facing prejudice against children’s theater, Quinn has encountered criticisms levied against her own talents.
“When I first started, some people were really dismissive. It was thought that ‘of course, only a mother could do children’s theater,’ or ‘that’s just kid stuff.’ It’s been a challenge to establish ourselves in the professional theater community, but I’ve worked hard to build our reputation.”
Quinn explains that the attitude towards children’s theater is improving in Western New York, thanks to TOY’s efforts.
“Things are changing. People realize that we do some challenging stuff. Yes, we do fairy tales and happy stories. You can’t hit people over the head with reality all the time. But we also examine serious issues. Two years ago we did The Diary of Anne Frank. Some people said that was too sad a play to do here, but I felt we had to do it. It’s the story of a young person, seen through a young person’s eyes. It’s a play young people should see. What better way to learn about this part of history? I had young people come up to me after that play, real shook up that things like that actually happened. I’m very proud of that production.
“Another show that looked at serious issues was an adaptation of Bridge to Terabithia, a popular children’s book. In that book, one of the main child characters dies. The play let kids realize that they weren’t alone in feeling sad or scared about death. Kids could look around the audience and realize, ‘Yeah, it’s OK to feel this way.’ That production opened up dialogue between kids and adults. Kids could talk about their feelings through the safety net of the characters.”
At TOY, Quinn feels privileged to work with a talented team of resident artists: Kenneth Shaw, set and costume designer, Barbara Priore, head of wardrobe; Chester Popiolkowski, the sound designer and composer; Brian Kavanagh, lighting designer; and Jamie Devinoff, resident stage manager.
“I am lucky to work with a great production team,” Quinn states. It’s one of the best teams around. We’re all storytellers. Our work is to tell the story of the play. It’s not about ego. It’s about maintaining the spirit of the story—to use our unique talents to tell the same story.
“Although we have to cut corners—sometimes we take pay cutbacks—we make everything as detailed and authentic as possible. Our period plays, for example, are accurate right down to the underwear. In talking to the kids, we show them the bloomers and the petticoats the actresses wear, to show them that yes, this is what people wore back then. We don’t scrimp on those things.”
One of the cornerstones of Quinn’s policy is to keep ticket prices low—thirteen to fifteen dollars for individual seats—to keep the theater accessible to everyone.
“We’re not in this for the money. We keep ticket prices low so everyone can attend. If we factored production costs into ticket pricing, no one could afford to come. We’re theater for the masses. A lot of times we get school groups calling in who have no money for seats. If a day comes up when we have empty seats, we call them back and let them come in as our guests.”
TOY’s new home, the restored Allendale Theater, a former movie theater, has had a positive effect for the company.
“We’ve been in the Allendale, a former movie theater, since 1999. It’s a great space. The other day, a six-year-old boy toured the theater with his buddy. When he walked in, he said, ‘now this is a theater!’
“It’s important to have a permanent space. Right now, I’ve cut back on the touring to focus on work here. I want kids to think of this as their space, the place where they go to see theater,” Quinn explained.
While the City of Buffalo has been a key supporter of TOY, helping the company restore the Allendale, Quinn acknowledges that recent cutbacks in funding have created additional challenges.
“The City of Buffalo has important things to take care of—it has to feed people, educate them, and protect them. These are important needs. But arts are important too. Throughout history, every culture has supported its arts, to help form creative, critical The arts are essential to our lives. They need to be available to people.
“Look at what happened after September 11. As people came together, they called for the best opera singers to sing, the best actors to read poetry. The arts helped us express our feelings.
“We need to do some innovative thinking on how to support the arts. This year, [the City of Buffalo] cut back all arts funding. My worry is that in the future, this will stop artists from creating. Either artists will do less, because they can’t do it full time, or places will close down altogether because the support is not there.”
But the present is just as important to Quinn as the future.
“People think I do children’s theater to help create the audiences of tomorrow. Yes, that’s a nice outcome if kids come see our shows and then continue coming to the theater when they’re twenty-five or forty. But that’s not why I do it. I’m doing this theater for the here and now. I’m doing it to reflect the learning and growing of children here and now, to give them a theater that speaks to them while they’re children.”
Heather Violanti, a Buffalo native and graduate student at Yale School of Drama, has written about theater for the Buffalo News and produced her plays in Baltimore and at the Alleyway Theatre.
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