Canebrake Players offer double feature children’s production
Theater goers will be getting two for the price of one when they attend the latest Canebrake Players production this weekend.
The annual children’s theater is presenting two one-act plays Friday through Sunday: “Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook” and “Stories Under the Big Top.”
Co-directors Jennifer Roemen and Suzanna Naisbett have the daunting task of organizing 52 students for the two plays.
It’s not the first time Roemen has directed children’s productions with many, many students.
“I’m just a sucker for that,” she admitted.
What pleases her even more this year is that there are a lot of newcomers to the Canebrake Players stage.
Playwright Allison Gregory based “Junie B. Jones” on the book by Barbara Park, said Roemen. Set in a kindergarten classroom, the story involves the title character trying to find out what happened to her special furry mittens. Along the way she learns lessons about friendship and being truthful.
What is especially fun about the play is that the kindergarteners are played by students who are 12-15 years of age, she continued.
The second play continues the theme of children at school. “Stories” is written by Lorraine Thompson by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama. It involves students acting out four stories, each with a moral, and all the characters are dressed as circus performers, Roemen said.
The characters use props from their “classroom” to help tell the tales.
The audience probably will be familiar with the stories, she continued. They are Billy Goats Gruff, the Hat Salesman, the Lion and the Mouse, and the Fisherman and His Wife. As the stories unfold, the Bremen Town Players stroll through the scenes.
Spectators will be using their imagination since there is very little background, she said.
To go even further with the school theme, a “school store” will be set up in the Old School lobby where members of the audience can purchase Canebrake Player t-shirts.
Curtain times are 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission for those who are not season-ticket holders is $12 for adults and $8 for children.
Season tickets also will be on sale, and the purchase includes admission to the performance.