Premiering this Wednesday, December 9, and continuing through next Sunday, Ann Arbor’s award-winning Wild Swan Theater is presenting a new stage adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel “Little Women.” Aimed at kids in grades 3 through 12 along with their families, the play will be performed at Towsley Auditorium, which is located in the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College.

With its high-quality productions, innovative outreach initiatives and extremely affordable ticket prices — top price for a ticket to “Little Women” is all of 12 bucks — it’s easy to see why Wild Swan has gained both local and national recognition for its programming. The theater’s executive director, Chris Barry, and co-founders/co-artistic directors Hilary Cohen and Sandy Ryder, recently talked to Ann Arbor.com about the history of Wild Swan, the new production of “Little Women,” and why you need to show your support for this outstanding arts organization.

Q: When and how did the Wild Swan Theater begin? A: (Sandy Ryder) The fall of 1980 is when we started it officially. We wanted to create the best theater possible for family audiences, a chance for kids to see great theater and for it to be affordable.

We wanted everything we did to be accessible to everyone. We started thinking quite early on about touch tours for blind kids, so that whenever we built masks, puppets and costumes they would be texturally interesting and informative to blind patrons. Very early on we incorporated American Sign Language into the shows, and we researched the idea of how to bring theater opportunities to everyone.

We started Wild Swan with four people: Hilary, myself, Julia Wolfe and Raizel Weiss-Heitzer. Julie is now working in New York and began Bang on a Can (a multi-faceted, avant-garde music organization) and Raizel became a therapist in Boulder. By 1984 it became Hilary and myself.

Q: How did this new production of “Little Women” come about? A: (Chris Barry) Hilary and Sandy have done a lot of beautiful work based on classic kids’ literature. They came in from a van ride one day talking about “Little Women” and how they loved it, and they decided to do the show. So my task was trying to get money it for it. The James A. & Faith Knight Foundation came on with a $10,000 grant in support of the production, which was the difference between doing it or not. We usually do small scale shows, but this is a period piece that requires a serious set and period costumes with hoop skirts and everything, plus we had to get a piano. So now we’ve got costumes in the works, a set’s being built and we got a used piano, so we’re all set.

Q: 2009 has been an incredibly tough one for most arts groups in Michigan, financially speaking. How have things been for Wild Swan? A: (Hilary Cohen) It’s really been hard for us. We’re hanging in there, we haven’t had to cut back in our programming, but we’ve seen a dip in our ticket sales and donations. It’s definitely caused by the fact that people have fewer resources. Major grants that we used to count on have disappeared, and Pfizer was an important donor as well, so that’s been a big loss. There isn’t anybody to make this up, so it definitely means that if people want Wild Swan to be here they really need to come.

Q: What would you say makes Wild Swan different from other theaters in the region? A: (Chris Barry) It is really a service oriented organization. Sandy and Hilary and our company manager Michelle (Trame Lanzi) have been doing this work for 30 years and believe this theater belongs to everybody. Nobody is turned down for tickets to our plays, kids are allowed in our camps or classes no matter what their limitations are. They do workshops for kids with all kinds of physical and cognitive issues; they do a program for young adults who are cognitively impaired. We do a class through the Ann Arbor Public Schools, a drama club for middle students with Asperger’s. They use drama as a tool for teaching communication, body language, and appropriate behavior. Improvisation can teach when it’s a good time to enter and exit a conversation, all the things that kids who don’t get those social clues need. Those programs are called our ‘dramatically able’ programs.

Q: Can you compare Wild Swan’s early days to where you are now? A: (Hilary Cohen) We didn’t earn any money for the first several years. After three years of doing this we had met all our expenses and had $600 left. We were going to pay ourselves $300 apiece, and then Sandy found an antique rosewood marimba at the Ann Arbor-Saline Antiques Fair. She called me up and said. “It’s $600, and we could pay ourselves or buy the marimba for Wild Swan.” So we bought the marimba!

I like that story because it shows that when we finally had some money, we put it back into the company. But now we earn a full-time salary. We pay 50 to 60 artists a year a sizable portion of their income. We pay all our actors, musicians, dancers and designers, and the wage is close to an equity scale. We’re not an equity company, but we’re close to equity scale, so we’re providing income for many practicing artists in Southeast Michigan.

Q: What accomplishment in your 30 years with the theater are you most proud of? A: (Sandy Ryder) It’s our longevity and perseverance, just the fact we’ve made it 30 years is an achievement. I feel like we’ve changed the world of theater for kids. We do shows that will fit their schools’ curriculum and we do things to make that relationship really strong, like providing study guides. We call them the ‘education trunks.’ The trunks are created for each specific show and have hands-on things inside them, so kids can expand the experience of the show, like when we did “A Christmas Carol” it had recipes from that period, photographs from that period and costumes we used. Just stuff that kids could get their hands on, plus a study guide that gives teachers ideas for creative writing that could come out of it, different readings, different questions, things to think about and look for.

Martin Bandyke is the 6-10am morning drive host on Ann Arbor’s 107one. Follow him on Twitter @martinbandyke and at his web site.

For “Little Women” performance times and tickets, plus more information about Wild Swan Theater, call 734-995-0530 or visit the Wild Swan web site.