On Nov. 1 in Poulton Hall, members of the Georgetown University Children’s Theater group arrive to prepare for the day’s performance of  “Painters and Pirates.” As the performers begin donning costumes and pumping themselves up for another show, Gianna Maita (COL ’15) co-director and co-writer of the production, addressed the cast. Maita focused the actors on the performance at hand and discussed how best to make use of the space inPoulton.

The cast formed a circle and began a rousing warm-up game that consisted of rhythmic wiggling and chanting. It became apparent just how much camaraderie existed within this cast and crew, each of whom was eagerly participating in the activity. This game, however silly it may have been, set the tone for what would be a fun-filled performance.

Soon after the cast had finished preparing, groups of excited kids from local schools began flooding the modest performance space. The room filled with the chatter of parents, teachers and small children, all of whom were awaiting the start of the show. Amid the bustle that comes with a room full of younger kids, Maita stepped onto center stage to commence the afternoon’s performance of “Painters and Pirates.” In her address to the room of expectant child-spectators, Maita thanked them for attending and made sure to mention that their participation would be essential in the events that were about to unfold.

With that, the show began. With tears, excitement and near endless enthusiasm, the cast of “Painters and Pirates” was able to entertain and engage the crowd — no easy task when it is comprised primarily of a younger age group that tends to not be attentive. As the kids were enthralled with the imaginative costumes and humorous antics of the swashbuckling squad of pirates, so were the parents engaged by the clever script. “Painters and Pirates,” co-written by Maita and Haley Maness (COL ’15), is derived from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and the script maintains the keen wit of the source material. Along with humorous allusions and references to its Shakespearian origins, “Painters and Pirates” presents a plot that draws upon the Bard’s play while simultaneously creating something unique and family friendly.

“Painters and Pirates” centers around twins Viola and Sebastian, played by Taylor Oster (COL ’17) and Mitchell Allen (COL ’17),  who are forced to take the guise of one another’s identity in order to pursue their own dreams. In Maness and Maita’s play, Viola, Sebastian, Lady Olivia, Duke Orsino and, of course, Feste, are all tastefully reimagined to tell a fun-filled story about love, kindness and identity. The script of “Painters and Pirates” really shines when the character of Feste, played by Kaley Beins (COL ’14), delivers lines of dialogue directly from the characters’ humorous jests in “Twelfth Night.” It’s in these moments that Maness and Maita display a tremendous ability to cultivate the best aspects of the source material into their own play, and that clever writing was enhanced by Beins, whose performance kept the laughs coming from the children, as well as the parents, in attendance.

“Painters and Pirates” also employs audience participation to keep the children engaged in the story. Characters on stage often call out to the children in attendance to tell them where other characters are, or give them direction or advice on what to do next. This culminated in pretty swift improvising that was both cute and comical. When “Painters and Pirates” had concluded, the cast provided time for a short question-and-answer session with the audience. In what was probably one of the most adorable aspects of the play, the children who raised their hands simply did so to tell the cast how much they loved the play.

“When I was a freshmen, I wanted to do theater, but I wanted something that wouldn’t take too much time. Children’s seemed to be the best option, it was a lower time commitment and it was fun,” Maita said after the play about her decision to join GUCT.

“I worked every summer in high school with elementary students, and I’ve done theatre since high school, so I felt as though it would be a good place to combine those two interests,” Maness added.

“I didn’t do [Children’s Theater] as a freshman. I got involved as a sophomore. At the time the show was “Aladdin,” and I got to play the genie. It was a great time and I’ve been doing it since,” tech director Nathan Oakes (COL ’15) said.

For the motivation behind writing “Painter and Pirates,” Maness and Maita were inspired to create something unique instead of something that already existed.

“Gianna and I wanted to direct a show together, and we wanted something that wasn’t specifically a love story and that had some strong characters with distinct personalities, so we ended up deciding to write our own show so we could have more creative control,” said Maness.

Because the two worked on the script over the summer, writing sessions occured over Skype and Google Docs.

“My favorite part of the writing process came when we were both on campus and we got to write a scene side by side. It was really creative and fun,” Maita said.

The kids in the audience become so engaged with “Painters and Pirates” and the children’s theater participants see their production as making a positive impact in the community.

“You always hear about arts and music budget cuts, and I think that this [children’s theater] is a nice way to provide that for kids who may not always have access to that,” Maness said.

Performances occur at Georgetown, as well as in different areas of the city. The cast puts on the production in Southeast and Northeast Washington, D.C.Not only is “Painters and Pirates” an enjoyable show — for both children and adults alike — but the people behind the writing, acting and directing were equally fun to interact with, making the entire play the perfect way to spend part of your day if you want to enjoy a little wholesome fun.