Roxaboxen

"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Click on links to view video clips.
A rock is just a rock and a box is just a box... except in Roxaboxen. Loosely adapted from the book by Alice McLerran, this interactive performance invites the audience to recreate the place and people of Roxaboxen, where imagination reigns. In Roxaboxen, a rock can be a cell phone or a birthday candle or a glass of milk. And a box can hold a French poodle that makes Belgian waffles or become a podium for the mayor to speak from.

An election results in a tyrannical mayor being replaced by a good one who answers reporters' probing questions at a press conference. Citizens learn the terminology associated with the voting process. Then the mayor's top hat is turned over to an auctioneer who takes bids at the Imaginary Animal Auction while audience members wiggle their noses to express the desire to buy extraordinarily gifted dogs, elephants, mice, etc.

You never know who you may meet in Roxaboxen, perhaps a woman who was on the Titanic, or a poet laureate, or George Washaboxen, friend of Paul Revere. And before you leave, march in the Annual Roxaboxen Parade. Toss an invisible baton in the air, play the trombone, hold the strings on the giant Charlie Brown balloon- or whatever else you dream up.

Upon request, Roxaboxen can be customized to link with a museum's collections or current exhibition, or a library's summer reading theme. The production can also be modified to augment a school's social studies, literature, or history curriculum. Roxaboxen meets curriculum standards in these areas as well as language arts and theater arts. 15 children participate onstage and there are numerous opportunities for the audience to contribute throughout.
Recommended for ages 6-12. Running time: approx. 45 min.

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"The highlight of the performance for us was certainly the interview with Impressionist artist, Mary Cassatt (played by a young member of the audience). Ms. Salerno Thomas artfully interviewed Cassatt, providing the audience with a mini-lesson about her life and work, all of which was added to the show specifically for the Bennington Museum performance."
Deana Flanders, Programs Coordinator
Bennington Museum
Bennington, VT
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"We kicked off Read Across America Week in our school with the presentation of Roxaboxen by Sarah Salerno Thomas who has skillfully woven the learning standards of literacy into her stunningly brilliant and marvelous work. The children (4th & 5th grades) absolutely loved her."
Wesley P. Manaday, Principal
John Oldham School
Norwood, MA
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"In Roxaboxen, Ms. Thomas has created a playful world that is often neglected in today's society, where rocks and boxes become every imaginable device the mind can imagine. The children rule (and may outvote you!) in this educational yet delightful entertainment."
M.J. Pullins, Marketing Manager
The Mary Baker Eddy Library
Boston, MA
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"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
-George Smith Patton