February vacation week in Southern New Hampshire means skiing, day trips to Boston museums, and visits to grandma’s house. For many of the Monadnock region’s homeschoolers though, the public schools’ vacation week means it’s time for the theataaa! Once again, the Rindge Area Homeschoolers (in conjunction with the Rindge Rec Department and sponsored in part by The Armarium Press) contracted with Children’s Stage Adventures to hold a week-long theater program that culminates in a full-scale production of The Fisherman & His Wife.
The cast of home-schooled kids from early elementary through high school will sing, dance, and act their way through CSA’s original retelling of the Grimm’s fairy tale about a fisherman who catches an enchanted fish. Last year’s production of A Sword Called Excaliber (in which The Boy played Villager #3) was our first experience with Children’s Stage Adventures – and their operation is truly impressive.
The organization provides professional sets, lighting, costumes, and make-up – exciting enough for kids interested in theater both in front of and behind the scenes. But it was the seamless way in which the directors took a room filled with 50 kids and, in barely two hours, had them auditioned, cast in the roles, and ready to rehearse that made it clear why CSA is in such demand. Rob and Lorrie Gray, owners of the Sullivan, New Hampshire-based organization, have run more than 300 week-long theater residencies in CSA’s first decade.
The Fisherman & His Wife will be performed Saturday 1 March 2014 at 2:00 p.m. at the Jaffrey Grade School, 18 School Street, Jaffrey. Tickets are $5.00 and available at the door.
