FARMINGTON – Trolls, a great white bear and a sweet brave girl are a few of the characters to hit the stage on Friday and Saturday as part of the Children’s Summer Theater Camp.
The Norwegian folk tale, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, will be performed by a cast of 15 players, ranging in age from seven to 14. The stage work production is sponsored by the Mt Blue Music Boosters and will be performed 7 p.m. on July 29 and 30 at Bjorn Auditorium on the Mt. Blue Campus. The camp and performances benefit the Boosters program which supports the Mt. Blue school district’s musicians.
The play is directed by Clare McKelway and is assisted by Matt West. While McKelway grew up in Belgrade and attended Messalonskee High School and West of Farmington, attended Mt. Blue High School, both are now college graduates who met in the theater department at the University of Southern Maine.
McKelway, a theater major, chose the adaptation for children by Tine Howe of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, because she loved it as a child.
“It was the fairy tale I really loved growing up,” she said. “Every night I’d want to read it.” When she was asked to direct the children’s theater camp, McKelway naturally gravitated to her favorite children’s story. The little known story here is something she wants to share with other children.
“I loved the idea of giving this story to them,” she said looking out across the auditorium to the stage where her cast was rehearsing the play’s first scene.
It’s her first time directing a younger set. Although she’s directed college age students, working with second-grade through ninth-grade students was a bit different. Most have little theater experience, lots of energy and have so many ideas, she said.
The camp runs two weeks, three hours each weekday, and culminates with two nights of performances. Besides the actors needing to learn their lines quickly, costumes need to be made, as well as the set. McKelway is adding a folk dance performance she choreographed for this production too. The show musical accompanist is Andrea Keirstead.
“It’s a huge learning process,” she said of working with a young cast. But there is one thing that they all share. “They all really want to be here and that’s great,” McKelway said.
Back on stage, it’s freezing cold and the snow’s deep. There’s a knock at the door and when it is opened a great white bear says, “I’ll make you as rich as you are poor if you give me your daughter….”
Tickets at the door are $6 for seniors and adults and $4 for students and children.
Can’t wait, looks to be an amazing production!