Students at St. Augustine Catholic School and Mecca Glen School were in for a cultural feast last week during Alberta Opera’s presentation of Rumpelstiltskin.
Actors with Alberta Opera put on the play Tuesday, March 3 that told the story of Rumpelstiltskin with a modern gameshow twist. In the play, Mr. and Mrs. Miller are presented as the happy couple who had everything they could ever want until Mr. Miller loses his job and the young family finds themselves on the verge of losing everything.
In comes Rumpelstiltskin to save the day with a Price is Right style gameshow with Mrs. Miller as the contestant. But the only way to play is by giving him something of value to her.
The play had fun plot twists and turns with some students helping out as crew or actors for specific scenes.
St. Augustine Catholic School teacher Angela Meyer said students in small, rural communities may not have a chance to see as much arts as in larger centres. “Lots of children don’t get the opportunity to go to shows. Tickets cost money and sometimes it’s not in the budget . . . so this brings the stage to them.”
She enjoys seeing the students getting a chance to be on stage in front of the school.
“They (actors) are very interactive for the students,” said Meyer.
Also in the crowd were high school students in the middle of rehearsals of their presentation of Seussical, a musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty presenting popular Dr. Seuss stories in one play. Meyer had her actors study the Alberta Opera actors and present her with a play assessment.
She suggested this was an ideal time to see how an actor needs to be larger than life while managing costume changes and keeping all their lines straight. Meyer has 20 students in her play program this year.
This is the third time St. Augustine was able to bring the Alberta Opera to the school. Meyer said the parent council paid for a portion of the event.