Over the
river and through the woods… Students don the
robe of Red Riding Hood.
 |
| Information Poster for the play. |
In a few weeks, "Red Riding Hood" is
set to hit the stage at the Russell Tripp Theater here at Linn-Benton Community
College. This will be a double cast musical version of the classic tale.
This will not be the traditional Brothers Grimm’s version with the Hunter, or the
slightly gloomier Charles Perrault version, without the Hunter, but a version penned by Mike Kenny, a multiple award winning playwright.
The play follow Stephen and Bridget as they are in the midst of a sleepover at their grandmother's house. To pass the time, the two tell stories using items in the house as props. When fantasy and reality begin to overlap, they find themselves in the deep dark woods with a wolf, stalking, nearby.
The play follow Stephen and Bridget as they are in the midst of a sleepover at their grandmother's house. To pass the time, the two tell stories using items in the house as props. When fantasy and reality begin to overlap, they find themselves in the deep dark woods with a wolf, stalking, nearby.
“Because this one is such a big
deal, whereas we bring elementary school students during daytime showings,
there will be almost 5,000 kids over the course of pretty much all of February
coming in to see this show. So, we run the show about 20 times for all the
school groups. Because of that, it’s typically theater students, or any
students, that are cast,” Michael Winder, production coordinator for the
theater, said.
While the show is being put on for kids, all are welcome to attend on the dates listed.
While the show is being put on for kids, all are welcome to attend on the dates listed.
Not only does LBCC put on plays and
musicals by college students, they also work with other primary schools as
well. When a high school production needs a larger venue, the college will lend
out the theater to help these productions.
“We support the events that the
music program does. They do a concert every term plus a couple other events. We
also support the theater program here, that does a show every term. The fall is
normally a student directed show, and every winter we have our big children’s
show. The one up now, "Red Riding Hood", is our 43rd annual
production,” Winder said.
This production of "Red Riding Hood" will be using a guest director,
Rebecca Douglas, who’s previous work has shown at the Majestic, and Albany
Civic Theater. The play stars LBCC students, Phoebe
May and Samantha Johnson as “Bridget”, and Jacob Birchard and Jakob Holden as
Stephen.
“I’ve had an amazing time in the LBCC theatre program, I’ve
learned a lot, I’ve met some incredible people, and I’ve had many wonderful
experiences. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat," said Jacob Birchard, one of the actors playing the
role of “Stephen”.
"The experience has been both a relief and a challenge at the same time. A relief that with this show being double cast it gives each set of actors a moment to sit back and take a breath while the others take over. This is a very high energy show and being able to take that time to center your self is really nice. On the other and there’s a lot of pressure with there only being two characters in the show, there’s a lot of lines to memorize and a decent amount of music too. But I think it’s all of the hard work that makes this process so worth it," Birchard said.
"The experience has been both a relief and a challenge at the same time. A relief that with this show being double cast it gives each set of actors a moment to sit back and take a breath while the others take over. This is a very high energy show and being able to take that time to center your self is really nice. On the other and there’s a lot of pressure with there only being two characters in the show, there’s a lot of lines to memorize and a decent amount of music too. But I think it’s all of the hard work that makes this process so worth it," Birchard said.
According to the posted dates, "Red Riding Hood" can be seen by general audiences on Feb. 10 at 2:00 pm or Feb. 17 at 2:00 pm are the dates on the promotional poster.
