Watch This: “Toy Theater” Pays Tribute to Childcare Workers

The virtual play-in-miniature from theater group Real/Time Interventions is dedicated to those who help raise our children — with little recognition.

SHARON Chapter One: First Snow from RealTime Interventions on Vimeo.

The theater piece “Sharon,” from innovative creators Real/Time Interventions, follows a day-care worker who has shepherded the growth of generations of children, helping to raise a village full of kids.

It’s a powerful and touching reminder of the many people who keep our children’s faces in their memories, even after our kids forget them.

nd it’s told in miniature with tiny toy figures.

“We realized early on during 2020 that childcare workers were essential workers, but maybe not at the forefront of people’s thoughts in the way nurses, doctors and other health care specialists might be,” says Rusty Thelin, who shares artistic director duties with Molly Rice. “We wanted to shine a spotlight on these very special front-line workers.”

The painstaking process of creating the tiny scenes in “Sharon,” which was loosely based on real Pittsburgh child-care professionals, involved “hundreds of photos and hours of video” for each episode, Thelin says.

“It’s the tininess that’s both the greatest joy and the most time-consuming part of making ‘Sharon’ — she’s exactly the same height as a post-it note!”

The first episode of “Sharon,” embedded above, is available for free; future episodes will be as part of Real/Time’s Patreon for recurring donations beginning at $5 per month.