Tuesday, February 4, 2014

"Thumbelina" - Children's Play

Over the last couple years, my girls have appeared in several children's theatre shows at our beloved Canyon Theatre Guild.

This gave me a chance to reconnect with young actors and children's theater directors. Patti Finley said they were interested in doing a fairy tale story of Thumbelina, and she kindly allowed me to write the script. Writing for children's is a fun and challenging art form. You want the dialogue to be easy enough for the performers -- but you don't want to "talk down" to the audience or to the cast members.

As with Mermaid in Miami, I was adapting a Hans Christian Andersen story. And if you are an Andersen purists, you might not care for my adaptation. His story ends with Thumbelina marrying a fairy prince and living with the flower people -- and thereby never returning to the human woman that raised and nurtured. My tale of Thumbelina focuses on a little girl (very little) who is trying to find her place in the world -- and realizes that she and her mother need each other.

My good friend Fiona Perry starred as Thumbelina in the world premiere -- and my two daughters had some good parts too!

Here are some photos from Mrs. Stafford's drama class -- (She also directed JT and the Pirates -- thanks for your support, Mrs. Stafford!)
thumbelina thumbelina play thumbelina and mice

Thumbelina is available through Eldridge Plays.

No comments:

Post a Comment