Story provides 'Stimulus' for kids

Unfortunately, no children were present to hear a reading of the original play Ti Jack Finds a Special Purpose by College senior Benjamin Berman. Due to a printing error in Barnes & Noble's event schedules, the children's story reading Saturday was left off the listings. Undaunted by the lack of children in the Center City bookstore, Berman and his fellow Stimulus Children's Theater group members went out into the crowded park at Rittenhouse Square to find some children to read to -- and they found a handful. Berman claims that teaching children is the highlight of his work with Stimulus. "It's the coolest part because then it means something," he said. "Otherwise it's just art for art's sake." The work originally began three years ago as a short story. "It first was a little birthday present for my mom," Berman explained. "My sister did the drawings." Berman adapted the story into a play 1 1/2 years later. Stimulus will perform Ti Jack this Friday through Sunday in the Houston Hall Auditorium. Ti Jack is a story about a little boy who searches for meaning in his life. He asks a comic book, a tree, a germ, a poem, a dream, a monster-under-the-bed and his own reflection each to tell him their special purpose. In addition, each character speaks in its own rhyme scheme. "I think it has a good message," said Nursing junior Jessica Tkacs, the play's co-director. "I think it works on two levels, one that children can understand and one for adults." Tkacs read the story aloud to an intimate group while Berman, a couple of Stimulus members and several small children with their parents looked on. After the reading, two parents expressed a desire to see the upcoming show. There will be five performances at Penn and six at various elementary schools throughout the Philadelphia area. Stimulus does workshops before and after the performances at the schools. They teach the children about the theater and discuss the play with them. "We try to bring stuff from the play to the workshops," College sophomore Angela Jenks said. "We asked the kids what their special purpose was. A lot of kids said their special purpose was to stay in school and graduate." Berman credits the schoolchildren they work with for helping him with the play. "They give us so much," he said. "They give us ideas. They put art into the different poems." The story drew praise, not only from the children in the park, but also from Barnes & Noble children's department manager Eunice Ferguson. "The work is really remarkable," Ferguson said. "Working in the children's department, I've developed an ear for what works." Berman is looking into the procedures he would have to go through in order to publish his work, although he is a little unsure of how to go about it. He'll have to put a pending career as an author on hold after graduation, though. "I'm going into the Peace Corps for 27 months," Berman said. "But I'd love to write."