The thing is not to force the new food but just to let the kids see it's OK to try something new. Throughout the year, touring theater productions by the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, N.J., teach tolerance and respect. Allison Sussman, associate director of education at the non-profit playhouse, said the troupes perform mostly in schools but also at community gatherings and multicultural celebrations statewide. The family arrives in America and encounters unexpected prejudice. In it, the Blue People and the Red People live in separate neighborhoods.
Interaction is forbidden, and each group fears and mistrusts the other.
Then an unexpected friendship blossoms between two young people, one from each side. Callender said that, in reality, it's often children who break the ice for parents intimidated by people of different cultures. One of the great things that's happened with the story-time group is that parents now get together for play groups.