The Congo Code with Kohl’s Wild Theater

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[Picture: L to R: Sherrick Robinson, Lindsey Gagliano, Emmitt Morgans and Liz Faraglia]

Kohl’s Wild Theater is a very sophisticated education project that is founded on a partnership between Kohl’s Cares and the Zoological Society of Milwaukee. The group uses professional actors, costuming puppets and things to put together kid-based conservation-themed theater performances. I’ve had a chance to see them in their home at the Milwaukee County Zoo and on the road at a farmer’s market not too long ago. Kohl’s Wild Theater also performs in schools. I was recently invited to see a new traveling production that they’ve developed in performance at a local school. The Congo Code is a remarkably ambitious piece that cleverly illustrates the importance of active problem solving in keeping the world habitable.

It was interesting seeing a performance of a show at a school assembly. I remember feeling more than a little disengaged going to touring theatre programs that would breeze through school when I was a kid. As a student, if it’s not part of the curriculum or the classes it’s something you feel free to pay little attention to. At only 45 minutes in length, The Congo Code is remarkable in that it is packed with so much information from so many different angles. The impressive density of Ernie Nolan’s original script incorporates so many different topics and disciplines that it has great potential to be engaging to a pretty diverse group of kids.

The performance I saw had charismatic Sherrick Robinson playing Cameron—a reluctant student inadvertently being transported into a virtual simulation of the Congo rainforest. Tech-savvy tutor Taylor (played with sparklingly clever compassion by Megan Kaminsky in the performance I attended) helps him survive the game from outside the virtual world also populated by a few different characters played by a couple of different actors. In the performance I saw, Samantha Sostarich and Emmitt Morgans brought a colorful support to the production in those roles.  The script fluidly fuses topics of conservation, ecology, basic engineering, the importance of empathy and quite a lot of other things in a very, very dense package. The accompanying 20-page Teacher Packet recommends the show for grades 4 - 8. There’s more than enough supporting material and additional discussion topics and ancillary projects for a full day’s class. Granted, there probably aren’t many schools that would have the time for that much of a departure from their central curriculum, but The Congo Code is well worth it.

Even without a comprehensive exploration of the material, the smart thing about the script is its almost overwhelming detail-driven narrative. It’s a multi-media production with rear-projected computer environments that serve as an interesting backdrop for the action. It’s not just scenery. Every time a character is introduced, we see a computer RPG-style breakdown of their attributes, which serves as a really stylish form of characterization. There’s some humor in there too... the ages of all the adult characters are listed in the displays as being simply “old.” This is a production that packs more than just educational details around the edges of the story.

The technology has actors appearing both in person and in live onscreen video. There’s a bonobo puppet. There’s a surprisingly complex understanding of the nature of congolese poaching that makes it into the story as well. One of the discussion questions in the Teacher Packet asks: “What incentives and disincentives may influence a person's decision to become a poacher?” There are no simple answers here and the play doesn’t attempt to simplify things. Kids are smart. The Congo Code fully engages that intelligence in a way that’s fun and engrossing.

The Congo Code and other plays by Kohl’s Wild Theater are currently touring area schools and libraries. For more information, visit Kohl’s Wild Theater online.