Through their Klasses in Drama—or KIDs programs—for children between the ages of 7-14, many go on to join the theater’s touring performance group, The Inner Circle, said Robin Williams, the artistic director for Circle Arts Theatre. Those high school students tour Comal County elementary schools with their performances, perform at the Theatre Network of Texas youth conference each year and volunteer 100 hours at the theater in lieu of tuition.
As a nonprofit organization, Circle Arts Theatre relies primarily on grants, donations from patrons and ticket sales, Williams said. After a several-year streak of consistently selling out shows, the COVID-19 pandemic created a fallout in attendance from which the theater is still recovering, she said.
“We’re still trying to build our audiences back up to where they had been, and it’ll take a couple more years,” Williams said. “It’s not that people are scared to go out. It’s that people are used to not doing anything.”
Williams said the theater is planning performances for the 55th season, beginning with “Four Old Broads,” a comedy set in a nursing home, from Feb. 3-26,.
Roberta Elliott, who—until she died in October—served as the executive director of Circle Arts Theatre, founded the Fantasy Factory that later became the KIDs programs as well as The Inner Circle in 1978, according to Risa Miller, a former member of The Inner Circle and artistic director of The Brauntex Theatre. Elliott’s mother, Elizabeth Elliott, founded the nonprofit in 1968 when Elliott was 14. Elliott was involved in the theater until she died, inspiring thousands of students along the way, Williams said.
A memorial scholarship was created in Elliott’s name to go to one graduating high school senior from The Inner Circle each year.
“[Roberta Elliott] has been just a force of good and creativity in the community. Her big thing is our youth programs. She founded both of the youth programs and had been spearheading those,” Williams said. “She’s the one who insisted that theater needs to go to the schools and not just, like, bring the kids here, because not every school can do that. ... Tens of thousands of kids have been inspired by her in some form or fashion, whether they realize it or not, because of that.”
Circle Arts Theatre
124 Elizabeth Ave., New Braunfels 830-837-6172 • www.circleartstheatre.org
Hours, theater box office: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Show times vary.
