|
HAWK Theatre play is a good lesson for us all By Liz Dadson |
A&E To Comment on this article Click Here |
|||
 Discussing their wonderful Christmases past are adults Ben Miltenburg (L) as Cam, Amanda Scott as Alice, and Jonathan and Joan Nelson as Ron and June  Joan and Jonathan Nelson (L) play the part of Ron and June who have the children help them clean up the yard; the children are Jessica Nelson (Lola), Madison Dunn (Macy) and Abbi Bos (Claire)  The entire cast takes to the stage at the end of the play, back, Shae-Lynne Jones (L) as the teacher, adults Ben Miltenburg, Jonathan and Joan Nelson and Amanda Scott, front, the children, McKenzie Weber (L), Jessica Nelson, Abbi Bos, Jamie Menary, Madison Dunn, Sherydan Jones, Kelsey Fischer, Shane Logtenberg, and Robin Montgomery | ||||
|
If you want to get the true Christmas message across, hand it to a group of children and put them on stage. That's what Harold Menary has done and the results will be seen this weekend as HAWK Theatre performs "The Christmas Lesson" in the Lucknow Town Hall auditorium. Menary says he wrote the story with the idea of giving children more lines than they are allowed in a typical Christmas show. There are nine children and five adults in this play and the youngsters do have a lot more to say. That's a good thing, provided the young people are dedicated to the show and determined to make it work. Otherwise, you run the risk of a disjointed, haphazard effort despite weeks of rehearsal. The story is a good one, and well-written. It starts off with the adults talking about the Christmases they enjoyed in years past, and the fact that young people today just don't have the same spirit and joy. Switch to the classroom and the teacher has just assigned her students the task of coming up with some ideas to show that they know what citizenship in the community means. The students are divided into three groups and off they go to talk to - wouldn't you know it - the adults we just saw in the first scene. As the youngsters assist their neighbours with yard work and putting up Christmas decorations, they learn about the wonders of a community that used to clean up and then decorate the local park, cooked a meal together, and held a carolfest. They bring their ideas back to class and consider creating a better community by doing some of these projects in time for Christmas. It's a cute little Christmas story with a good lesson for all of us. Ben Miltenburg puts in a solid performance as the crotchety old Cam, while the remaining adults include Jonathan and Joan Nelson as Ron and June, and Amanda Scott as Alice. Shae-Lynn Jones is the teacher, and the students include Shane Logtenberg, Jamie Menary, Abbi Bos, McKenzie Weber, Madison Dunn, Jessica Nelson, Robin Montgomery, Sherydan Jones and Kelsey Fischer. Directed by Tony Miltenburg and Yvonne Brewer, with stage manager Sharon Nivins and producer Gail van der Hoek, the show has a great stage set-up. The opening scene is in front of the main curtain which then opens to show the classroom scene, and then closes to open on each subsequent scene. New to the HAWK Theatre stage are Robin Montgomery, Abbi Bos, McKenzie Weber and Jamie Menary. All the children do a good job, provided they remain focused on the play and listen to the director. With any luck, the entire show will be polished to perfection by opening night this Friday (Dec. 3).
Jamie Menary (L) as Sammy, Sherydan Jones as Kirsten, and McKenzie Weber as Taylor, chat with Cam, played by Ben Miltenburg, while they clean up his yard
|
The play runs Dec. 3-4 at 7:30 p.m., and
Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 each and are available at Jerome
Flowers and Gifts in Kincardine, Everlasting Flowers and Gifts in
Lucknow, the Village Flower Shop in Ripley, The Gift Chest in Wingham,
or by calling 519-528-3019. For those who find it difficult to climb stairs, the show will be video-taped Friday night and shown downstairs on Sunday afternoon at the same time as the live performance upstairs.  Abbi Bos (L) as Claire, and Shane Logtenberg (R) as Stefan, listen as Jessica Nelson (Lola) talks about their assignment  Jamie Menary (L) as Sammy talks about Christmas while fellow students Madison Dunn (Macy) and Kelsey Fischer (Bella) listen  Robin Montgomery (C) as Jayden has something to say in class, while her friends, McKenzie Weber as Taylor (L) and Sherydan Jones (Kirsten), wait to have their say Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
|
|||
|
 for
world news,
books, sports, movies ...Tuesday, November 30, 2010 |
|||
