THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 6, 1997 TAG: 9702060025
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 79 lines
IT WAS a Cinderella story, except that a frog, a cow and a fish took the place of the fairy godmother.
And the vibrant reds, greens and purples of Indian, African and Chinese clothing substituted for glass slippers and powder-blue ball gowns.
The 5- through 9-year-old student audience of this multicultural production - ``The Oldest Story Ever Told'' - expressed their approval of the differences with clapping and laughter and undivided attention.
Monday the Virginia Stage Company performed the children's production in the cafeteria of Virginia Beach's Trantwood Elementary, one of 35 schools in eight school districts where the play will be staged during the next month. Although the company has staged children's theater before, this is the first time the theater group has taken a production on the road to school children.
``This is a way to allow kids to see live theater, a way to make it more accessible to them,'' said Jefferson Lindquist, VSC director of education and outreach.
Because of budgetary constraints, many school districts have had to cut back on field trips to the theater during the past several years, and this was the Virginia Stage Company's way of making sure children still experienced the arts.
Lindquist first planned for the production to tour a handful of schools over two weeks, but the response from principals was so overwhelming, the tour grew into seven weeks, hitting schools in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Norfolk, Portsmouth, York, Hampton and Newport News.
Instead of ushers in black coats and ties, teachers directed children to their places Monday. Instead of the plush seats of a theater, the children sat cross-legged on the tile floor. And instead of subdued stage lighting, fluorescent lights illuminated the actors.
But the magic of theater still came to life. The children had to imagine that a blue cloth was a flowing river, that a man with horns was a cow and that a frog swallowed a woman whole, then spit her back up with beautiful African clothing.
``It was fun,'' said Andre Scotland, a 9-year-old third-grader. ``It had a frog instead of a fairy godmother.''
``I liked the costumes from the different countries,'' said 8-year-old Alexandra Kuklica.
A study guide sent in advance of the play helped school staff to teach the students on various aspects of the play: How the story was different in various countries, how the backdrops with snakes and lotus blossoms had various meanings according to different cultures and religions. And how the four actors would weave three different tellings of Cinderella in the play, with contrasting characters, costumes, genders and even different endings.
In one version, the Indian one, the story doesn't have a happy ending like the Disney movie. Rather, because the Cinderella character - a male in this case - didn't keep his promise to visit a magical cow before dawn, he lost his hair and the love of the princess.
Besides teaching the children about literature and different cultures, the production also taught them about theatrical arts.
``Do you have to learn your parts or do you make it up?'' one student asked in a question-and-answer period.
Principal Judith Lewis said having the company come to the school saves the district money, helps the children experience the magic of theater and also saves on instructional time, since the students don't have to leave the building.
``Field trips cost money and they also limit access,'' Lewis said. ``I can take one class on a field trip, but with this production, I can let the whole school experience theater in one day.''
While the setting was far different from mainstream theater, the four actors of the production said they enjoy performing for children and recognize the young students could be the theater audience of the future.
``This is the MTV generation of instant stimulation and videos and TV, so we have to get them attached to theater at a young age,'' said actress Hannah Howard. ``It's the type of thing that can help theater survive.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Photos by D. kevin elliott/The VirginiN_Pilot
Mark Woodard, left, Brad Breckenridge and Hannah Howard of the
Virginia Stage Company perform "The Oldest Story Ever Told" monday
at Trantwood Elementary.
Latoya Foreman, 9, enjoys the show.