Childsplay Timeline
1977
Childsplay name coined at a company potluck
1977
Childsplay founded by Artistic Director David Saar as a nonprofit professional
touring theatre, performs its first play Sense and Nonsense during the year for
6,000 children at such places as the Phoenix Zoo
1980
Move to first formal offices on Mill Avenue
1981
Zeta Phi Eta Winifred Ward Outstanding New Children's Theatre Company Award
presented by CTAA, the national children's theatre association
1981-82 season
Jon Gentry joins the company performing the part of Ivan in The Overcoat
February 1983
First Childsplay tour outside Arizona under the auspices of the Utah Rural Arts
Consortium
1982-83 season
Debra K. Stevens joins the company playing the part of the Princess in Fool of
the World
1983-84 season
Only Arizona theatre company on the 1983-84 touring roster of the Western States
Arts Foundation
1984
Move administrative offices and gain of first resident main stage theatre at
Rural School Theatre, Geneva Drive, Tempe
1984-85
First major collaboration with the Arizona Theatre Company (week-long residency
in Tucson)
1985
Creation of new logo - the Childsplay Minstrel
1986
Debra K. Stevens, The Belle of Amherst, Best Actress in a Drama, Max McQueen
Best in Valley Theatre Award
1986
Special Recognition Citation from AATY, national children's theatre association,
for continued excellence and effectiveness in the field of children's theatre
1987
The Masque of Beauty and the Beast, Best Production for Young Audiences, Max
McQueen Best in Valley Theatre Award
1987-88 season
Expansion into two separate ensemble-based acting companies, touring two shows
1988
Senators' Cultural Award, East Valley Cultural Alliance, for contributions to
assure audiences today and for the future
1988
Appointment of a Director of Development
1989
David Saar recipient of Governor's Arts Award for his contributions to the arts
in Arizona
1989
David Saar 6-month sabbatical; Jon Gentry Acting Artistic Director
1989
Inaugural meeting of the Childsplay Auxiliary Guild
1990
The Benjamin Færoy Saar Memorial Ticket Fund established
1990
Move to new Tempe Performing Arts Center, corner of Forest and Sixth Streets,
Tempe
April 1991
By invitation performance of The Masquerade of Life/La Mascarada de la Vida, the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC
1991
David Saar recipient of Distinguished Achievement Award from ASU College of Fine
Arts
1991
David Saar recipient of National Winifred Ward "Dare to Dream" Fellowship
presented for development of the The Yellow Boat
1992
David Saar recipient of Phoenix Futures Forum's "Dream Weavers" Vision Award
1991
The Yellow Boat, first Childsplay participation in New Visions/New Voices
Playwriting Development program, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
Washington, DC
1992
Receipt of one of the first eight grants awarded nationally by the Lila
Wallace/Readers Digest Fund for theatre for young audiences for development of
Hush: An Interview with America
May 1993
By invitation performance at the Seattle International Children's Festival,
Seattle, Washington, and at the first International Youth Festival at ASU
1993
David Saar invited to serve as a site reporter for the National Endowment for
the Arts, a position still held today
1994
The Yellow Boat, Best Production for Children, Best Production of a New Work,
Best Script by an Arizona Playwright, and Dwayne Hartford Best Male Supporting
Performance, Greater Phoenix Theater Critics Circle awards
1994
12 AriZoni Awards, the most of any Valley company
May 1994
By invitation, week in residence at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California
1995
Sara Spencer Artistic Achievement Award from AATE, the national children's
theatre association, for "artistic theatre practice of long duration and wide
recognition . . . for sustained and exceptional achievement in the field of
theatre for young audiences."
1995
Named Arts Organization of the Year by the Phoenix Business Volunteers for the
Arts
1996
Achieved Basic Aid status from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, as one of the
ten leading arts organizations in Arizona
1998
David Saar recipient of Distinguished Play Award from AATE for The Yellow Boat,
published by Anchorage Press
1998
One of 12 professional theatres receiving Theatre Residency Program for
Playwrights grants and one of 15 chosen for the National Theatre Artists Program
grants from TCG
1998
Even Steven Goes to War, second Childsplay participation in New Visions/New
Voices Playwriting Development program, John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts, Washington, DC
1999
United States nominee for the President's Award of ASSITEJ, the International
Theatre for Young Audiences organization
2000
April cover story of American Theatre magazine features Childsplay as one of the
top four theatre companies for young audiences in the United States
2000
Salt & Pepper, third Childsplay participation in New Visions/New Voices
Playwriting Development program, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
Washington, DC
2000
Recipient of the Shofar Zakhor Award of the Phoenix Holocaust Survivors
Association for And Then They Came for Me
2000
New Plays Program receives multiple-year foundation grants from The Flinn
Foundation and The Whiteman Family Foundation
2001
Arizona Governor's Arts Award for Arts-in-Education
2001
Multi-year grant awarded by The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust for
infrastructure to support increased marketing and development efforts
2002
Grant from Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust for Childsplay's production of
Eric & Elliot in conjunction with the Mental Health Association of Arizona
2002
David Saar recipient of ASU Herberger College of Fine Arts Notable Achievement
Award
2002
Telemeca: Stories My Mother Told Me, fourth Childsplay participation in New
Visions/New Voices Playwriting Development program, John F. Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, more invitations to participate than any
other theatre for youth company in the world has received.
2004
Inaugural Pied Piper Award given to Mayor Neil Giuliano. Subsequent recipients
include Harry Mitchell, Shelley Cohn, and Carol DuVal Whiteman
2004
World premiere production of The Imaginators broadcast on KAET (Arizona's PBS
station)
2004
Selected for the New Generations/Future Leaders Program, receiving a two-year
grant to mentor Chicago director Adam Burke
2004
Received a TCG National Theatre Artist Residency Program grant for José Cruz
González, who spent three months in residence at Childsplay working on Tomás and
the Library Lady and partnership outreach activities with the Virginia G. Piper
Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University
2005
Eric and Elliot - written by Associate Artist Dwayne Hartford and premiered at
Childsplay - received the Distinguished Play of the Year Award from the American
Alliance of Theatre and Education
2006
Childsplay performed its world premiere production of Tomas and the Library Lady
for First Lady Laura Bush. The play was also invited to the national conference
of the American Library Association
2006
Childsplay received a four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to
implement, evaluate, and disseminate a model for integrating theatre arts across
the middle school curriculum.
2006
Roseneath Theatre of Toronto, Canada in-residence for a three-week run of Danny,
King of the Basement and partnership education and new play development
activities.
2007
Company receives the Tempe Chamber of Commerce's Business Excellence Award.
2007
Inaugural season at the new Tempe Center for the Arts.
2007
Childsplay launched its first national tour. Tomas and the Library Lady traveled
to 40 cities in 17 states.
2007
Construction began on the Sybil B. Harrington Campus for Imagination and Wonder
at Mitchell Park, the result of a successful $4.75 million capital campaign.
2007
Selected for the New Generations/Future Leaders Program, receiving a two-year
grant to mentor Portland director Andrés Alcalá.
2010
Childsplay launches first international tour. Two Childsplay actors travel to
the Netherlands to tour Rock, Paper, Scissors in roles they originated.
