How Tiny Trails brings pediatric theater bedside

Credit: Elizabeth Brendel Horn At the Main Street Fair kids’ stage this summer, you may have stumbled upon an interactive play from the Tiny Trails Story Company. This portable theater experience was created by Elizabeth Brendel Horn, an associate professor of theater at Northwestern University. “Our mission is to really bend the definition of theater, to create tiny productions that pack a big punch in their impact,” she said. “We create small-scale theater that can go into different community spaces.”  Welcome to bedside pediatric theater: accessible plays intended for children in hospitals, where Horn s students guide the patients through an interactive plot. “When I say bedside pediatric theater, I’m talking about something that provides a 30-minute kind of traditional dramatic arc, a play that has scripted elements and is designed to be very compact, and really a framework for child’s play,” Horn said. Taking center stage Four years ago while on the faculty at