Impressions Theatre- a traveling children's theatre.
Leave your mark.
About
“Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths good theatre.”
– Gail Godwin
Impressions Theatre was founded out of a desire to bring high-quality educational theatre to elementary aged school children across the country. We believe that theatre is more than just entertainment, it can also be a teaching tool.
Teachers do the best they can with the tools they have available. As a 4th grade teacher myself, I know just how important it is for them to have the right tools at their disposal. That’s where we come in. We are a resource for you to use in conjunction with your current curriculum. Elementary aged students are highly impressionable. It is imperative that we impress upon them that learning is fun, exciting, and super cool. Studies have shown that children retain more information when it is presented in an actively engaging format. Our mission is to instill a thirst for knowledge in young people through the wonder of live theatre.
The Impressions Theatre office is located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, but we are a traveling company. We have performed our programs for schools and libraries throughout Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio and look forward to adding new territory each season.
Please contact us for pricing and scheduling opportunities in your area.
Christopher Markham- Founder
Christopher began his career as an actor in Virginia. While at Wayside Theatre in Middletown, he helped pioneer their touring children's branch by co-writing, directing, and performing in the flagship show Fractured Fairytales.
After moving to Chicago, he worked with children's companies such as Timestep Players, Emerald City Theatre, the National Theatre for Children, Traveling Lantern, and Mad Science before assimilating all of his experiences into Impressions to address the need for quality edutainment available to local schools.
He returned to the Shenandoah Valley in August of 2007, reaquainting himself with the many theatres in the area and served on the Board of Directors for Imagine That! He holds a BS in Fisheries Science from Va Tech, Master's of Arts in teaching from Mary Baldwin, and he performs in a Murder Mystery with Memento, Mori and Co. He is also an elementary school teacher in Rockingham County. Check out his author page here.
Aaron Hale- Actor
Aaron is originally from Stanardsville, VA (near Charlottesville, VA). He holds an AA degree in Theatre and liscence in Special Education from the University of VA. Aaron has been performing for about 11 years now and has been a part of over 50 productions. Most recently he has worked professionally with Impressions Theatre, Clever By Half Productions (a touring murder mystery theatre company), and performed as Marty in the children's show, "Marty's Party," at Cedar Fair Park Kings Dominion. He is also th owner of Tellaplay Entertainment. Aaron collects rubber ducks and believes that if you trip in life, then just make it part of your dance.
Christina Scott Sayer - Writer
Christina holds a master's of fine arts in dramaturgy and a masters of letters in teaching from Mary Baldwin College's Masters in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance Program, a master's of arts from Hollins University's Children's Literature Program, and a B.A. in English and theatre from Mary Baldwin College. She is primarily responsible for churning out the scripts for many of our shows. In addition to her acting and writing for Impressions Theater, she writes and performs in murder mystery dinner theatre through Clever by Half Productions.