Artistic Director Maureen Miko's idea for Stone Soup Theatre comes from an old folk tale. In the story, a group of strangers arrive in a small town with nothing but an empty cooking pot. When no one in town is willing to share a meal with them, the strangers fill the pot with water and stones. A curious onlooker asks what they're doing and they reply by saying they're making stone soup, but need some garnish for flavor. So the villager offers up a few veggies. The same scene plays out over and over again, until everyone in town has donated something to the pot, resulting in a flavorful feast that the travelers and villagers are all able to enjoy together.

Miko brings that same idea of collaborative success to her nonprofit theater. The organization relies on the community around it to help produce one-act plays with both professional and child actors. And it also relies on the generosity of its neighbors to fund and volunteer for classes and workshops that teach kids aged 3–20 about the arts.