Today we’d like to introduce you to Judith Kalaora.
Judith, please share your story with us.
History At Play™ was created to educate and entertain students young and old, from all over the world. Our living history performances breathe life into the stories of influential and often forgotten women. I discovered living history through my work as a historical interpreter in Boston, MA. It was there that I portrayed Massachusetts’ Official Heroine Deborah Sampson and noted the repeated occurrence of guests and visitors asking, “Tell me more about Deborah!”
It suddenly became clear that there was a hunger; a visceral need to reunite with our past; to learn from our history, and to create a more fortuitous future. It was from this need that History At Play™ was born.
Our debut performance, “A Revolution of Her Own!™”, chronicling the life of Deborah Sampson, premiered in 2010, and has been touring nonstop, appearing across the nation and on 42nd Street, in New York City.
Our living history adventures first brought us along the independent and assisted living circuit. It was at these communities that we found loving, supportive, and genuine audiences. After each performance, the resounding question was, “So, who else do you portray?”
Within one year, we created two more living history performances, chronicling the lives of Lucy Stone, a suffragist and human rights activist, and Annie Adams Fields, an author and philanthropist. Then, in 2013, we debuted “Tinseltown Inventor: The Most Beautiful Woman in the World™”, about Hollywood Starlet and technological genius Hedy Lamarr. In 2016, we returned to our Massachusetts roots, in honor of the 30th Anniversary of NASA’s Teacher in Space mission, to highlight the life and achievements of Christa McAuliffe. Finally, on Pearl Harbor Day 2017, we launched “World War Women: The Unsung Heroines of WWII” to commemorate women’s lesser known contributions to our military and civilian forces.
No matter what the venue, and no matter who the audience, History At Play™ inspires guests and exhilarates students of history! We perform for corporate events, museums, national parks, social clubs, fundraisers, places of worship, schools, libraries, and historic homesteads & societies! Anywhere that education and entertainment can come to life, History At Play™ can come to you.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Running a business is a struggle. As Founder, Artistic Director, Writer, Producer, and Performer, Kalaora finds herself doing the job of five or six people on any given day. There are aspects of business that are monotonous and don’t come naturally to a child of the theatre (who holds a BFA in Theatre from Syracuse University and has no formal business training), but one realizes that everything one experiences throughout her/his life, either for work or for play, allows one to obtain skills which foster a more sustainable future. Creating your own art is a challenge; realizing that people appreciate what you have created and are willing to support your livelihood by is a blessing.
History At Play – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are an immersive living history company. We chronicle the lives of influential and often forgotten women via immersive, professional theatrical performances. History At Play offers in-depth programming that compels audiences of all ages. What we do cannot be classified into one category: It is an educational history lesson, wrapped in a provocative theatrical production, mixed with immersive audience interaction, with a little storytelling and re-enactment sprinkled into the mix. It is unusual and unique. We hope it becomes the central medium for history education in the United States of America.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Performing as Christa McAuliffe for her friends and family on the 30th anniversary of the Challenger launch. Christa McAuliffe, the Teacher in Space, was on board the ill-fated Challenger shuttle, when it crashed less than 2 minutes into launch on January 28, 1986. After the program, McAuliffe’s best friend held Kalaora and thanked her with tears in her eyes. McAuliffe’s sister Lisa Bristol, along with her friend, said that when they closed their eyes and listened, it was as though Christa was in the room with them. No compliment is more powerful than that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.HistoryAtPlay.com
- Phone: 617-752-2859
- Email: info@HistoryAtPlay.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/historyatplay
- Facebook: facebook.com/historyatplay
- Twitter: twitter.com/historyatplay
Image Credit:
Karie Peterson, Al Conant Photography, Scot Langdon/The Lower Sun, The Daily Item, Chris Cavalier Photography, Metrowest Daily News, Greg Anthony.
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
