A (Real-Life!) Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a woman who loved old people, kids, and theatre. Those were the things that made her happiest, and when she put them together, magic happened.

It all started with her grandma, Eliza, whom she was named after. Her grandma was big and soft and safe, and she told good stories. Eliza loved being with her grandma, so as she grew up she always looked for older people to be with. When Eliza was a teenager she discovered how much fun kids were! They taught her how to play, and they were so real —she liked that a lot.

Then there was theatre! She didn't really learn about theatre until much later in school, but it was her true love—it's where she felt most alive.

Now Eliza was always a very busy person. She worked and played hard, and had lots of adventures. But she never really settled into a career, or had children of her own. There were too many interesting things to do—she was too busy! And then one day she was all grown up, even past grown up. How did that happen? And then a doctor told her she had a problem . It wasn't a huge problem, but it wasn't good, and it made her think. Her life was half done. What should she do with the second half?

She heard of a place where wise people gathered—it was way up on a hill. So she went there. Maybe they could help her figure it out. They asked her lots of questions. Some of them seemed pretty silly, but then someone said, “If you could do anything you wanted and get paid for it, what would you do?” Well, Eliza knew the answer right off, and she quickly wrote it down: “Create a theatre that makes a difference in the world.”

It was a magic moment. The questioner smiled, and Eliza came up with a plan. She would make theatre out of old people's stories, and take it to kids! The stories would all be true—that was important—and the shows would be free, so that all kids could see them.

Eliza was excited. It was a good idea. The people who ran the city thought so too, they even gave her some money to get started. Friends heard about Eliza's dream, and they came to help. Most of them were old. There were singers and costume-makers, a painter, and wonderful storytellers—even though some of them didn't know they were. And then the best songwriter in the whole city came to join. The show would be filled with music!

So they worked and worked and worked, and they made a wonderful show, and they called it Encore. They took their show to a school, and the little kids loved it! More schools called—the big kids wanted to see it too—so Encore made a show for them! People heard about it, and they started sending money so that the show could go on tour. And more people came to help!

One very special woman came. She said she would help make the money needed for this theatre to happen—she knew it was important work.

Years passed, and more shows were created, and more old people came and told their stories to kids. The kids liked hearing them. It made them feel less alone. And the old people liked it too. Shows were taken to kids everywhere—even kids in jail. They really liked Encore, but they wanted to tell their own stories. So Eliza started making theatre with old people and kids together—in jail! That was very exciting!

People from faraway lands heard about Encore, and they wanted to learn how to do it too. It seemed to be making a difference. Eliza's dream was coming true. And they lived happily ever after.