The Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) will launch its 2025-2026 season with “Treasure Island,” a swashbuckling adventure adapted by Stuart Paterson and directed by Artistic Director Rick Dildine.
Running September 9 through October 19, the production brings pirates, sword fights and live music to the stage in one of CTC’s most technically ambitious shows in recent years. Among the cast is Anya Naylor, making her company debut as an understudy for multiple roles.
For Naylor, the journey to the stage began long before professional credits at the Guthrie Theater, Six Points Theater, or Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Her love of acting started when she was four years old, watching her older brother participate in a summer acting program.
“I was too young to be in it, but I would go with my family to the park where rehearsals were happening, and I wanted to do it so badly,” she said. “At that age I didn’t even know what acting was, I just knew I wanted to be part of it.”
Once she was old enough to join, she spent nearly a decade in that program.
“It felt like playing pretend for me, which it kind of still is,” she said. “Every year I wanted bigger and bigger parts. By the time I was about eight, I was saying, ‘I want to be an actor or a pianist. I want to be a performer.’”
That persistence led her to the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Acting Program.
“I always say you don’t need a BFA to be an actor, but I needed a BFA to be an actor,” Naylor said. “I had a lot of raw skills, but I needed them to be developed and refined. What I really connected with in school was learning to live truthfully in the moment, instead of pre-planning how I would react. That’s something I carry with me into every role.”
Now, at CTC she is taking on one of her biggest challenges yet. As an understudy, Naylor covers five different characters across three actors’ tracks.
“I am a very, very organized person,” she said with a laugh. “I have all my tracks color-coded in my script: yellow and orange for Job Anderson and Gray, blue and green for Harry and George Merry, and pink for John,” she said referring to characters in CTC’s season opener, “Treasure Island.”
“I also draw little diagrams of the stage to map out blocking so I can rehearse at home.” The complexity of the show does not intimidate her; instead, it motivates her.
“The first day you see the run of the show, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, that is so much to learn.’ But you manage,” she said. “And then when we get to do the understudy run, it feels like such a payoff for all that preparation.”
That preparation includes more than just memorizing lines. “Treasure Island” incorporates sword fights, elaborate technical effects, and live music. Actors themselves play the instruments on stage.
“I can play percussion, no problem… I took piano for 12 years,” Naylor said. “Guitar, I’m still learning. And upright bass, well, that might be a conversation with the music director.”
Although she was not deeply familiar with “Treasure Island” before auditioning, Naylor prepared by researching the story in depth. She watched film adaptations and read about its history, approaching the process the same way she does every audition, by making sure she understands the material as fully as possible.
The scale of the production only heightened her excitement, and she knew immediately that she wanted to be part of it. Naylor is also eager to experience the kind of audience responses that come with a children’s theater.
“I love genuine reactions,” she said. “When kids gasp or yell, ‘Oh my gosh, why did they do that?’— that’s the most fun. Theater isn’t supposed to be stuffy or silent. It’s about being in a room together, reacting together. For kids especially, I’d say keep going to theater. Theater is so fun.”
Audiences will have the chance to see Naylor take the stage on October 16 and 17, when she steps in to cover scheduled absences. Beyond “Treasure Island,” she will appear in “Men on Boats” with 10,000 Things Theater in January, continuing her momentum in the Twin Cities theater scene.
For now, she is focused on pirates, sword fights and treasure. “The only thing I can control is being prepared,” she said. “And I feel pretty good about it.”
CTC’s production of Treasure Island is recommended for everyone 8 and up. Tickets may be purchased at childrenstheatre.org/treasure or by calling the Ticket Office at 612.874.0400. Ticket prices start at $20.