GOSHEN COUNTY – Sixteen years ago, Youth Theatre Workshop was born as a way for Goshen Community Theatre (GCT) members to give back to residents. The brainchild of Lisa Fluckiger, Lori Madrid and Lance Cates – the weeklong event, culminating in a free performance, is now a perennial highlight of early summer in the area.

“We were sitting around as a GCT board, and we were discussing what we could give back to the community, which had been so supportive of community theater,” Fluckiger recalled. “I had this idea … Lori joined in, and Lance showed up somewhere soon after that … what’s amazing, the first year we did this, all of a sudden Lance is building this giant crocodile – things I never thought we could do, puppets we’ve had and set pieces. When I thought about doing children’s theater, I never knew it could be so magic. It’s incredible we had the kind of talent Lance has around just waiting for someone to ask.”

In addition to Cates’ intricate set pieces and props, Fluckiger write scripts for and organizes the original plays, and Madrid adds songs and jokes.

“One of things that’s great about this, it is just so much fun,” Madrid said, adding she annually flies to the area from Arizona to help with the workshop. “Who wouldn’t? It’s the best week.”

Youth Theatre Workshop is open to students who have just finished third grade through those who have completed eighth grade. All plays are completely original and in a rotation, which means every six years, an all-new group performs the same play as their predecessors – although no one performance is the same, as student input is allowed and encouraged.

“’There’s a Home in Wyoming’ is set in 1869 in South Pass City, Wyoming,” Fluckiger said. “It tells the story of Simon COWell coming to Wyoming from Iowa, and he wants to put on his show, ‘Territory Idol’.”

“It’s a whole spin-off of ‘American Idol’,” Madrid added. “Of all the shows we do, this is actually the most fun. It’s just joke after joke after joke.”

While Fluckiger said putting on a great show is important, it isn’t the workshop’s ultimate goal.

“We want it to be a fun, rich experience for (the students),” she said.

“And it has,” Madrid added. “Because they keep coming back and coming back … it also makes it so seamless, because the ones that have been here before are so seasoned.

“What I like about it is, it looks like they’re just doing theatre, but they’re also learning life skills,” she continued. “A great secondary benefit (of the workshop) is learning to confidently speak in front of people. It’s just fun.”

Residents can catch “There’s a Home in Wyoming” on Thursday, June 28 at 7 p.m. at the Eastern Wyoming College Fine Arts Auditorium. Admission is free, and the 45-minute show is suitable for families and young children, Fluckiger said.

Along with Goshen Community Theatre, the workshop is sponsored by Eastern Wyoming College, the Community Pride Foundation and a grant from the North Star Foundation.

“We just encourage people to come out to support the kids,” Madrid said. “They work really hard.”