The Tacoma Theater Where Kids Run the Show

At This Tacoma Theater, the Kids Do More Than Act

At Tacoma Youth Theatre, the people running the show are often the same people appearing in it. Young actors take turns at the box office, handle props, and operate lights and sound.

Artistic director Maggie Knott wants children to have a stake in the whole production. The theater offers acting programs for ages 5 to 18 and focuses on plays, giving young performers room to try things out together.

That includes deciding how they’ll work together. At the start of a program, the group creates its own agreements. Trust matters when a missed entrance or forgotten line means someone else has to help carry the scene forward.

Knott’s approach also makes space for the restless energy children bring into a room. Rehearsal needn’t look perfectly orderly for the cast to be learning how to listen, respond and tell a story together.

There’s a personal history behind the theater she has built. Knott grew up acting in local productions, then spent years teaching young performers before helping establish a place centered on them.

In a new Weekly Volcano profile, writer Kristie Worthey traces that path—and Knott shares what she believes children gain when they’re trusted with more than a part onstage.