Boston Family Days + What’s On Stage in Boston Right Now

Theater gives us a place to exercise our emotional brains, practicing how we understand other people

One of Boston's best programs is Boston Family Days, which provides free admission to local attractions (the aquarium, for example), on select days to Boston Public Schools families. Amazingly, the program also offers tickets for performances, including some of the biggest shows in town.

I just got the spring lineup, and here’s what families might get to see:

• The Outsiders at  Citizens Opera House
• Legally Blonde: The Musical at Boston College's Robsham Theater
• Curtain Up: New Musical Theater Songs by Berklee Students at Berklee Performance Center
• Charlotte's Web at Wheelock Family Theatre
• Wild Kratts at Boch Center Wang Theatre

Last winter, I talked to a family seeing Wonder at ART through this program. They were thrilled to have the chance to go.

It’s a lottery system, but families can rank their choices and apply for more than one show.

I’ve been thinking about access like this a lot lately. I'm putting finishing touches right now on an episode we're calling "Theater Brains" which is about how our brains work while we are in the theater, either as audience members or in the cast. One of the things we'll cover in that episode is how theater is a workout for our brains, particularly the parts that register emotion, empathy, and perspective taking.

Theater, it turns out, isn't passive at all—we’re constantly reading people, emotion, intention. We do this, of course, in our daily lives. But theater offers something a little different: a chance to practice those skills inside an imagined world. And it does take practice. Which is why programs like this, opening up opportunities to be in the room, matter.

There are other ways to find community tickets, too. The Boston Public Library sometimes includes performances in its museum pass program—it’s worth checking in from time to time.

Looking for theater this weekend and beyond? Here's what your options are:

Lifted, part of the Ufot Family Cycle (listen to our episode about the series here) will be at The Huntington Theatre March 24-28 and at Wellesley College on March 29.

You are Cordially Invited to the End of the World is at Boston Public Library through March 28 with all tickets "pay-what-you-can."

The Antiquities continues at SpeakEasy Stage through March 28.

Lyric Stage's opening of Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous has been delayed due to illness within the company. Performances will resume Wednesday March 25.