Taproot Theatre’s Road Company will perform “Camp Super Friend” at the New York International Fringe Festival, FringeNYC, in August.
Left to right: Laura Bannister, Adrienne Littleton, Peter Nolte and Solomon Davis. Photo by Josiah Wallace.
“Camp Super Friend” is part of FringeJR, the family portion of the festival. They’ll perform at The Cherry Lane Theatre on Aug. 18-22. Taproot’s Road Company performs social-issues plays at schools around the Pacific Northwest; it reached 80,000 kids and teens with its three educational touring plays during the 2008/2009 school year.
“Camp Super Friend” by Bethany Wallace follows Marvel, a superhero who, despite his super powers, doesn’t know how to be a super friend… yet. At Super Camp, the summer camp for superheroes, he learns just in time, as the evil Professor Nemesis has come up with a sinister plan to strip all the superheroes of their powers. It’s up to Marvel and his new friends to use their special gifts and work together to save the day.
Taproot Theatre’s Road Company has performed Camp Super Friend for over 40,000 students since it commissioned the play in 2007. Many of those students have been victims of bullying, or even bullies themselves; in the United States, 15 to 25 percent of students are believed to be bullied from time to time, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Road Company’s plays provide students with tools to help prevent bullying and harassment.