About Kerfuffle

Kerfuffle is an award-winning midwestern theatre and dance company devoted to creating aesthetically and emotionally engaging performances for children ages 0-6 years old. Founded in 2015, Kerfuffle centers young children as major creative partners in the development of new work and shares playful, multi-sensory performances in museums, libraries, parks, and other nontraditional spaces. Children’s imagination is at the center of Kerfuffle’s process. In order to understand what engages, delights, and surprises children, Kerfuffle’s plays are developed through creative drama workshops where young people create stories, characters, and worlds in collaboration with adult artists. Kerfuffle is a registered 501(c)3 organization and is the 2020 recipient of the Zeta Phi Eta-Winifred Ward Outstanding New Children's Theatre Company Award through the American Alliance for Theatre and Education.

Our Mission

The purpose of Kerfuffle is to create multi-sensory theatre and dance with and for very young children (ages 0-6) by centering young people as major creative partners in the development process of the plays they see.

Our Core Values

Kerfuffle’s work is Child-Centered, Collaborative, Accessible & Inclusive, and High Quality. These core values are the foundation of our art-making, community engagement practices, and strategic planning.
 

Child-Centered
 

• Very young children are human beings, not human "becomings." We create work with them and for them–for their whole selves, how and who they are today, and with their social and developmental needs and wants at the forefront. 

• We create artistic spaces where children play, explore, connect, and engage with their families and caregivers, their peers, and with professional artists. 
   

Collaborative
 

• Children, families, artists, educators, and community partners are integral to the health of the arts.

• We collaborate with very young children and their families in the development of new theatre works and activate their ideas, aesthetics, and interests on stage in meaningful ways. 

• We build sustainable relationships with artists by uplifting their creative skillsets, providing fair compensation, and incorporating their feedback into our processes.

• We partner with organizations with aligned values around early childhood, community engaged practices, and radical access.
   

Accessible & Inclusive
 

• All children and families deserve to experience the power of the arts and the magic of theatre.

• We develop partnerships with arts and non-arts organizations to remove geographical barriers, provide free-to-low-cost tickets, and bring our performances into the many spaces where children and families congregate. 

• We collaborate with a range of artists because we prioritize diverse perspectives in the rehearsal room, classroom, and on our stages. We want children to see themselves and their experiences reflected in our programming.

• We build spaces where children can come as they are and engage with the performance as they see fit. We want all families to feel included, safe, and comfortable in the experiences we create. 

High Quality
 

• Children deserve theatre that is thoughtfully developed, well-crafted, engaging, and dynamic. 

• We experiment with creative practices that expand the field of theatre for young audiences and uplift very young children as necessary makers and consumers of art. 

• We design experiences that invite both the audience and the creative team to co-learn, play as a community, and imagine new worlds together.