Each "Blue's Clues" episode creates a situation in which the audience helps the other main character, Steve, solve a particular dilemma that involves a real-life issue, such as taking the bus or making a cake.
Because "Blue's Clues" is a powerful voice among children, its staff will be working to create an episode that will help youth deal with the Sept. 11 tragedy. "We're focusing our dramas on the cost of freedom and the question of what it means to be human," said Lybolt. "The events on Sept. 11 have made us consider these things more seriously."
Lybolt, who teaches creative arts at New York University, is also a program director for the award-winning Creative Arts Team (CAT) based in New York. He likens the philosophy behind "Blue's Clues" to the dramas composed by CAT because both involve education through realistic situations. "It's a show where the kids are able to participate by feeling as though they are helping to solve the problems presented," said Lybolt. "In that sense it's very similar to what the Creative Arts Team aims to do."
CAT in the hat
Founded in 1974, CAT's goal is to stimulate and educate minds through simulation. CAT creates a series of interactive dramas-"Theater-in-Education"-that challenge students and community members of all ages to participate. "What defines the program is its participatory nature," Lybolt said. "There is no separation between the performer and the audience like there is in traditional theater." CAT trains and prepares actors to perform in the theatrical productions while children take on unscripted roles to incorporate a theatrical element in the educational session. "The kids become part of the action," Lybolt said. "In fact, they determine the action."
Production topics range from factual events to hypothetical situations that deal with complex emotional questions and issues. Lybolt, 33, currently manages the elementary department, and creates interactive dramas for children between the ages of 6 and 12. Lybolt helps to write two dramas per year.
Lybolt believes that a successful children's show should incorporate a variety of solutions to historical and philosophical dilemmas. This not only helps the students learn about the events presented in the dramas, but also encourages them to form their own opinions about them. "Those who have a real passion for education have a real passion for the theater," Lybolt said. "It's a complete stimulation of the senses."
By incorporating a technology theme to their dramas, Lybolt and his CAT team hope to teach children that human characteristics are still vitally different from the work of machines and computers. CAT's current, elementary "Theater-in-Education" production involves children trapped in a video game. "Basically, we want them to realize that you can still be human in today's modern technological world," explained Lybolt. "We do that by depicting what it means to be human: happiness, friendship and ultimately, hope."
Lybolt encourages education enthusiasts to continue their work and pioneer educational theater. He is currently working with two other Amherst graduates and is excited about the possibility of seeing it as a more involved industry someday. He also encourages students interested in acting or teaching to send in their resumes and to visit the Creative Art Team's website.
Lybolt believes that theater can be an extremely powerful educational tool. He cites one particularly rewarding program in which his team worked with students with severe mental handicaps. "The teachers basically told us that it was a lost cause," Lybolt said. "By the end, many of the kids had gone from being nonverbal to verbal-it was just incredible."
The CAT program had a similar experience with a program called "Seeds to Peace" with Middle Eastern children from warring nations. The point was to educate the children past the ingrained conflict between then and ended with many of the kids from opposing nations becoming good friends.
Teaching by acting
Lybolt attributes a large amount of his passion for the theater to Amherst College. Though he enrolled in 1985 with the intention of pursuing medicine, Lybolt's career plans took a dramatic turn in his sophomore year when he attended a theatrical production put on by the College.
During the play, "Six Characters In Search of An Author," Lybolt recalled moments when he became so caught up in the story that real-life occurrences became blurred with the reality the performers created onstage. It was at that moment that Lybolt said he was struck with the inspirational potential of drama. "We work in an objective reality," he said. "I'm continually fascinated by the power of theater, and what it can do for a community in terms of creating effective and emotional energy."
From that moment of inspiration, Lybolt explored and exploited the creative arts at the College in order to pursue a field in which he could direct that energy in a positive direction. "I've always wanted to help people," Lybolt said, recalling his childhood in Rochester, New York. "I suppose that's where the drive to be a doctor came in."
Having found a variety of role models in both the faculty and the student body that persuaded him to take on such roles as Student Health Educator, theater technician and member of the cross country team. "I definitely learned as much from the students as I did from any class."
Lybolt's favorite course was Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science Austin Sarat's class on Authority and Sexuality, despite his primary passion for drama. "Most of my mentors were associated with theater," he said. Lybolt has only fond memories of Amherst's current design chair Suzanne Dougan and senior resident acting and theory artist Peter Lobdell.
Lybolt also feels that he was able to gain the most out of a liberal arts education by taking a wide range of classes with everything from courses in Women and Gender Studies to Thermal Dynamics. "I think [Thermal Dynamics] was the final straw as far as going pre-med went," Lybolt said with a laugh.
Beyond "The Bubble"
In all, Lybolt described Amherst as "blissful-a wonderful utopia." He often wishes that he had taken more time to appreciate the comforts of the small town setting. There were such great opportunities for wellness [here]," Lybolt said. "The College really took care of you."
Lybolt particularly enjoyed the many afternoons he spent at The Black Sheep Coffee House engaged in lively intellectual conversation with his classmates. "You have to search a little for the culture," he said. "It's not so much a bubble as it is a peaceful nest, and I wish I had realized then what an amazing experience it really was. It's something that I grew to love very much." Lybolt's love for Amherst has kept him coming back to his alma mater every year until 1999, when it conflicted with his work schedule.
To infinity and beyond
Upon graduating from Amherst College as an English major, Lybolt attended a graduate program at New York University where he studied and eventually received a Master's degree in educational theater. That same year, he was employed by the CAT and later promoted to Elementary Program Director in 1996. "It's a very different environment from Amherst," Lybolt said. "If I could, I would do college all over again." Lybolt encourages student to take a moment to "enjoy the intensity of the talent around you [because] it's a truly brilliant bunch."
The CAT program, which has enjoyed immense success in the New York area, has prompted invitations for employees to speak and teach on a far more expansive level. In addition to working with special education students, the team looks to create educational bridges across age, gender and cultural gaps by promoting its projects beyond New York City.
Lybolt himself has been invited to speak in Arizona, Texas and Florida, and is speculating a program in Japan for next year. "We love travel opportunities," says Lybolt. "We've joked about starting a CAT West, but it hasn't happened yet."